Reezekeys

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Alto TX308 for lightweight gigs (ceremonies, cocktail hours, etc.). Not a cube but very easy to travel with. These days they’re $120 apiece, can’t beat that.

And now the scammers have your credit card number.

One day later, different "store", same photoshopped picture, now it's "slightly damaged package" instead of "misleading advertising prices." Comments are once again new FB accounts, all fake. I report these as scams and it does NOTHING. Why bother?

The TX312 and TX315 have combos - only the TX308 and TX310 are XLR-only. TS3xx all have combos and a more powerful amp. The TS4xx have bluetooth and DSP for different EQ settings.

My Alto TX308 offers no 1/4" input at all - it's XLR for both mic and line. I think most others have combo jacks. My K8s have combos and either type of input can be line or mic level (and as I've said a few times here, the "mic/line" switch just puts a pad in the input circuit - it's not like the signal is going to separate input stages). I know there are some serious "pro" powered speakers like the RCFs that have only a +4 XLR input - those would require a preamp or mixer to connect a keyboard. Aside from those, I'd rather have to buy a few adapters or adapting cables than a mixer or preamp.

Wrong why? Less stuff to buy, carry around, set up and tear down. If all you need is gain - go direct, I say.

Here we go again! Any powered speaker when set to mic level input, will be able to be driven to full output power by your keyboard. You do not need a mixer or preamp if you're only amplifying your keyboard and can make do with its own effects and eq, assumming the keyboard has them onboard. Some powered speakers also have EQ settings but those aren't meant to be adjusted a lot. When I say full output power, for almost any powered speaker over $200 - $300, we're talking a (claimed) 1000 watts or more. Sure manufacturers can and will fudge these numbers but it's all moot because the drivers in those speakers will blow long before those class-D amps start clipping - that's why all these powered PAs have protection circuitry. I've had my QSC K8s for fifteen years, and have used them doing gigs with punishingly loud bands and they held their own. My ears ring permanently so I don't take those kinds of gigs anymore. I needed to switch the input to mic level to do the gig, so I did it. These days it's set to line level or I stay home! "I've tried them numerous times and they're just not loud enough." Something is definitely wrong with this picture. Any of the current 1000 - 2000 watters out there - Alto, QSC, EV, etc., should easily work for you. Switch the input sensitivity to MIC and you will be fine! (Start with the gain all the way OFF when you do this!!). (PS - I said "here we go again" because I'm probably gonna hear it from everybody here that my way is not the way to go - they will tell you to use a mixer or preamp. I've been cabling directly to powered speakers since I got Mackie 450s twenty five years ago. I've never needed a mixer or preamp that whole time.)

The hits keep coming! Everybody loves these Nords! Look, everybody is signing up with Facebook just to let us know how great this deal is! (That's right, every commenter in this thread is a brand new Facebook user!)

I'm sure your assumption is correct. Imagine that, a musician using the avenues available to him or her to try and make a living doing what they enjoy. To some people (not you ABECK, I'm speaking in general terms!), this is somehow a bad thing? More power to him. If you don't like someone's youtube content there's a perfect way to deal with it - don't watch it! If someone starts a thread here about a video RB posted, don't click on it! Why do some feel the need to comment about how much they don't like the guy? If you don't agree with a premise he puts forth and want to make some points in opposition, that's a great way to start a discussion and what forums like this are for - but it seems like some can't resist crossing a line into ad hominems. For the record and especially in this thread, I think I've see more of the former than the latter - but it happens enough to be a topic on its own, since some variations pop up in almost every thread I've seen that has RB as a subject. I watched some of that video. I wouldn't call it a rant; more a misunderstanding of what "out of tune" means and how a trained musician might misinterpret what lay people think about in terms of "tuning." I'm guessing some interpreted that as a kind of elitist "why can't you all hear this" viewpoint; I didn't. I actually think anybody can hear an out-of-tune component inside an otherwise in-tune performance - like the flat guitar string that Ricks family immediately recognises as being out-of-tune as soon as he clarifies what he means by "out of tune." OK so this particular RB video might not appeal to some or ruffle others' feathers a bit - but can you imagine your mortgage payment dependent on cranking out multiple videos every week of the year, year after year? If I were to ask anybody here if they could come up with good topics to make 5 - 15 minute long videos about, twice a week, continuously for a few years, how many of us could do it? Not to mention the time involved editing them. I've done some of this myself - it f%$king took me HOURS to make 15 - 20 minute long videos for an online kids' music course I did during the pandemic. Try it sometime!

Thank you. I thought I was the only one in this thread to actually get what Rick was talking about.

Hot off the facebook press... a "packaging mishap"... right!

Understood! I agree with this. Believe it or not there is a youtuber that upgrades SSDs on new Mac laptops - a procedure far above the pay grade of most electronics tinkerers!

Don't want to bust on you, but research - or asking here - would have told you there is no Kontakt for iPads, and no way to directly load Kontakt instruments to an iPad. Roland Cloud I know nothing about, but haven't heard of an iOS app associated with it. Again, I don't mean to knock you on this; I think you'll eventually be fine with your iPad. It took me a while to get my iPad system to the point where I could leave my laptop home. There are new apps coming out and developers doing some very cool things on the platform. You didn't waste your money. There is an indirect way to get Kontakt sounds onto in iPad but unfortunately you're on the wrong computer platfform. Logic and Mainstage include a plugin called Autosampler. You can create a Logic sampler instrument (.exs) from any virtual instrument plugin that runs in Logic or Mainstage. The iOS app AudioLayer can import .exs instruments. That's how I got my Native Instruments piano into my iPad. Of course you don't get 100% Kontakt functionality, with their UI, scripting, etc. but for a lot of sounds it works fine.

I see these Sweetwater scams on FB all the time - usually it's a "shipping mistake" where you click a link to get a FREE keyboard. The comments are all fake accounts, some with the exact same text ("I love my new keyboard", etc.). Just looked and found this (doesn't mention Sweetwater but you get the idea). It sure says something about the intelligence of a population that these kinds of ads exist and some people actually think they're for real. Sad.

So you already have a laptop? Or you're considering a different one to use for gigs? It's not too clear. And - Reaper (or any DAW) is not what you want for a gig setup. DAWs are not built to do the things you would typically need to do on a gig. As to all the reccs so far: all I can say is that when I'm doing a gig with my laptop, I only have the software I need to make music running. Once again the choir is here, worrying about memory swapping, needing Thunderbolt speeds, etc. etc. I'll bet anything a refurb M1 Mac Air with the minimum config would make an excellent music machine for 90% or more of folks here doing a typical gig. If you do studio work, soundtracks, stuff with large orchestral libraries, etc. you probably want more juice, but for playing a cover band or tribute gig, some of the comments seem to be making much ado about not too much. IMO. As far as regretting spending the bucks on your iPad rig, you seem to think it's not much of an advantage over a laptop. Sound-wise that's probably true, although there are plenty of good VIs for iOS now. For me it's all about ease of transport and setup. I carried an SKB Studio Flyer for the laptop, and a laptop bag to hold the computer and all my cables - now I leave both of those home. I have the lightest and easiest rig to schlep I've ever had in my entire working life, and it sounds great. Then again, I purposely went for the older iPad 9G for the headphone jack so I could connect it directly to my speakers. And I only have a bumper case for the iPad - it fits onto a clip stand I put on my keyboard stand. No more bringing a music stand and stand light either! Simple is better imo. iPad apps like AUM and Midiflow or Midi Layers will let you set up as elaborate a rig as you probably need. If you honestly can't find the sounds you need on an iPad, I guess that makes your decision easy - but I'm betting they're out there.

Found this on another forum - seems to be confirmation that if you have AUM and Midi Layers (or Midiflow as I do), you really don't need Module "Pro" - go with the free version and only add the expansions that work for you. I'm a little skeptical of those 130 programs you get with the Pro version vs the one with non-pro. My guess is that it's not 130 separate instruments - more like a few instruments, each with multiple presets having different eq and efx settings. I unlocked their basic strings and clav when I plugged in my nanoKontroller. They're nothing special; GM player quality is how I'd put it, but that's just my opinion. The one sound you get with the non-pro Module is a basic acoustic piano. When I first got into iOS device music-making I posted here about how impressed I was with that sound, considering it was a freebie. A few years later and I have to say it hasn't aged that well! It'll get you by in a pinch.

I'm tempted to get this Liano just for the keybed as I'm toying with going to 88 keys for some local gigs, but severely allergic to schlep. USB to my iPad for all the sounds, unless I like the built-in piano more than my current one. I'm curious if the USB audio connection makes any difference in latency for iPad sounds vs using the iPad's own headphone out. Thanks for the report!

Those Korg Module expansion packs still give you a demo period? It was at least a week iirc - so no need to purchase it right away. That's pretty rare in the VI world. I tried the Ivory and it didn't do it for me either. Same with the Wurli. The Scarbee rhodes is pretty good though. I also bought Pure Piano and vTines but they're both in my digital dustbin.

Also - you said you're considering the NanoKontrol 2 right? You know it comes with coupons to download free software bundles? Check this page for details. I just remembered that when I plugged my older nanoKontrol 1 into my iPad with the free Module running, it automatically added some of the "pro" features!

I got the free version of the Korg Module. Pretty sure it will load any of the expansion packs. I have Scarbee Rhodes. It's OK but doesn't have that top bark layer. When I really dig in there is some finger-ear disconnection, I have to say - but for more "normal" playing it sounds nice. I'm generally satisfied with it on gigs. I think AUM will replicate the splitting, cc learning and other details you get with the Module Pro, so if you were already going with AUM you might be fine with the free version of Module. I'm running four instances of it in AUM.

Either you're extremely sensitive to latency or there might be a problem with your setup - with Ravenscroft (which I havent tried) or maybe something in the chain of software to audio output (or the audio device, if you use an external one). I'm mainly a piano player and all my local gigs are on an iPad 9G with a 64 or 128 buffer. I hear no discernable latency, using Virsyn's AudioLayer inside AUM. Could be me for sure, but I don't feel any lagging at all. On topic - the apps that make iOS music-making happen for me are AUM, Midiflow, Streambyter, and the aforementioned AudioLayer - a quite full-featured sampler that reads Logic .exs instruments. My piano is an older Native Intruments piano I used Logic's autosampler to render to .exs, then imported to AudioLayer in my iPad and iPhone. I love it.

What does the amount of ram in the computer have to do with its ability to stream samples off a SD card or USB stick? The very definition of "streaming" means the audio data is playing directly off the card or stick - going through a buffer of course, but that's not comparable to loading samples fully into ram. Until it failed (after a year of use), I was streaming samples from my USB3 stick on my late-2013 MacBook Pro with 8GB of ram without an issue.

I bought a hub for my new Air that has an SD card slot, among other things. However, using a card or USB stick to stream samples may not be the best idea. It didn't work for me - one of my very few on-the-gig failures years ago (it was a USB3 stick with more than adequate transfer speeds). I used it instead of an external SSD because it was tiny and I didn't have to deal with a cable - plug it in and go. After it failed I read that flash memory and true SSD memory chips are not always the same.

I got one of the first batches of XP50s and it died the first gig I used it on. The store took it back and sent me a new one and that lasted me the whole 11 year run I had with it (1995-2006). The keybed was pretty crappy! I got used to the feel though, and was actually pretty happy with it, especially after I loaded all four expansion slots.