Stokely

I kind of feel the same, though it's early days with my electro 6. I'm still using my (flaky) pc3 as a bottom keyboard and was planning to have it midi'ed to the nord and play pianos...but I'm finding that the Kurzweil piano works just as well if not better for the rock I play...so why not keep it simple. I run mono so this may be a factor. Part of it too may be that I'm just used to the Kurzweil piano, as long in the tooth as it may be. The Nord pianos all have a sort of "detuned" or "round" sound to them that may well be a more accurate piano sound than the Kurzweil...I suppose it may be a bit like using a synth string patch for years and then having trouble getting used to sampled strings (obviously they aren't *that* different but same principle!). I've also never heard the Nord pianos from any keyboard other than the waterfall one on the electro, that could make a difference.

Yamaha could take over (our little) world if they added a good organ engine IMO I'm interested in this dp...though debating going after a modx8 simply because I could gig it far easier (despite the dreaded wall wart, grrr). Obviously the GHS action isn't going to be quite as nice as the action in the P-515, but I'm hardly a "pianist" so it might not matter. Ironically, my ancient studiologic controller finally having key issues (got it used in 1995 or so) is what is creating the interest...that still feels mighty good to me, it has the fatar tp40. Part of me would hate to go from that to the GHS in the modx, though another part of me would love to have those modx sounds available at my gigs!

Same here, the K&M bag I have for my spider pro is very thin and cheaply-made. I've had mine less than a year and it's not going to make it much longer, and I'm pretty careful with my gear.

Speaking of Pro Audio Star, ask for a quote on new. They offer some great deals (if Canada isn't a deal-breaker). I just got an electro 6D from them brand new for cheaper than almost any used price I've seen.

I shopped around for a bit on reverb myself for Stage 2s, and realized they hold their value REALLY well--so well I would just buy new. I think I did see one pretty good deal either there or on Guitar Center used but it was gone quickly. Since I like two boards anyway, I just got an electro and would like to pair it with something like the modx eventually to retire my ailing pc3

I'm 51 and work out regularly--one of my favorite exercises is "farmer's carries" where you pick up a lot of weight in each hand and simply walk. I still value lighter weight in my gear. I'm not there for a workout, I'm trying to reduce headache and time when loading in/out and setting up. Easier to re-position my stand with light boards on it, less banging into stuff if I'm carrying too much etc etc. Just easier across the board. That said, my rock'n'roller cart has made this less of a thing. As far as size, we unfortunately play on some REALLY small stages (which I can tolerate due to IEMs) and even 61 keys can sometimes be a squeeze if I want to be able to get out between sets! A big beef with most of the light new boards is that they are going away from built-in power supplies; this is a major buying factor for me, I like everything using the same standard power cords. I'm buying a Nord electro today actually and I like that it is light and has a power supply, so it certainly can be done....

Grr, Roland...it's especially maddening since they have had keyboards that DID send simple cc messages with drawbars....

As far as music stores go...and speaking primarily of the Guitar Center and Sam Ash closest to my work...the main keyboards left in there are Williams digital pianos, a lot of midi controllers, and a few Yamahas. Korg, Roland and Kurzweil (let alone Nord) are nowhere to be found at the GC. If you are lucky they will power up; even more lucky if they have audio hooked up to anything. These particular stores have given up on selling pro keyboards. Granted, I've been in other Guitar Centers and stores through the years that had a much wider selection.

Once bitten...too many issues with my pc3. I'd have to wait and see if they have gotten better with quality control. I love the fact that they have a decent b3 organ engine *cough* Yamaha, c'mon *cough*

Gah, I keep going back and forth between a Nord electro and a modx8. Eventually I'd like both, or something similar, to replace my single pc361 that has been having issues, and will be retired to a nice life in my home studio. So it's mainly a question of what to get first. Currently leaning Nord, but as Scarlett said: "Tomorrow is another day." Heading to Guitar Center tomorrow to see how I like the modx8 action. I tried it once before and thought it was fine. I REALLY wish it could use standard power cords, that sounds like a minor deal but I really like when all my gear (mixers etc) can use the same power cords. For the Nord, I'll see if my buddy's electro can manage to cover 80s tunes (Loverboy etc) in a pinch. We don't do that many currently and I don't need many/any splits with multiple sounds.

Always liked the one on the Cars' Bye Bye Love...maybe not technically difficult but just gets the blood going and fits perfectly. Maybe not "pop" but Head East's Never Been any reason has some nice stuff. A more recent "solo" (of sorts) I heard in Walk The Moon's Shut Up and Dance...again, not a hard one but hearing a keyboard solo on pop made in the last 10 years was a bit of a shock. Yeah, not a lot of solos of any kind in pop over the last 30 years. Then again I don't listen to pop that much so I'd be out of touch. There's a couple nice solos on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, though not on the singles.

Man, really hoping for a summer sale on Komplete upgrades this year....then again, I picked up a couple u-he synths during that rare sale so it's not like I don't have enough to keep me busy!

I bought a used...K2, I think...back in the late 80s. I really liked it for leads. I can't for the life of me remember what happened to it. Pre-internet, pre-email days

I am a former owner of a VR700, and I gave a hard look to a fa-06 recently. I was very surprised at the difference between the two organs, specifically the leslie. The VR700's was MUCH better. The basic organ tone sounded about the same from memory but as mentioned you don't have the control, and no C/V iirc (which I don't personally use much anyway, but still). A big killer for me was not having separate overdrive on the keyboard but of course with a vent you'd have that. If the 730 overcomes some of the limitations of the 700--namely, the non-organ sounds were VERY limited and I didn't particularly like the pianos or the synths--and IF it has that same awesome action, it would be recommended.

Something i've learned is that you should never use the L/Mono out when running a Leslified sound in mono, but use the R output instead. The problem is that when the keyboard combines left and right to get mono, you end up with the horn hitting the mic position twice per rotation, so that instead of seven Hz speed you get effectively 14 Hz, turning the fast rotary into a hummingbird effect. As regards the FA08, i've used the aux outputs to route all the organ patches out into a GSI Burn - much better than the internal sim (especially with the tube overdrive on the Burn). Though i've since dropped that setup and now use Blue3 VST for organ. - Jimbo Interesting, that does describe what I heard, and we we were using the L/mono out. Though I also used my vr700 with L/mono out and never heard anything like this. Different implementation I guess. Overall, it just wasn't good. It reminded me of my old Motif's leslie: more of an LFO sound that wobbled the entire tone like a siren. I still am considering it since the other sounds are great and I can get it for a great price. The patch management and lack of controls do bother me though, as does the Roland pitch stick. I've hated that since way back when I owned a JX-10! No perfect keyboard I guess, especially when taking price into account as most of us have to!

No, not another contender! ;-) I did play an sk2 at a jam gig and it was pretty nice. I wouldn't be able to compare to a real hammond, only played one a few times.

Argh, really no separate overdrive? Even as a non-organ player that's a control I like to tweak! Good to know the Lester K sounded good. For the price I may take a flyer on a mint used one. Bottom line, my heart is kind of set on an electro and I'd probably be better served saving up a bit for it and pair it with my pc361. That's a nice rig, and the electro can finish the gig if the Kurz has another issue. My one hesitation with it--other than price--has been the action...and for whatever reason, my buddy's electro seems way easier to play than the old electro 3 that was in Sam Ash for the longest time....

I'm pulling this back up, rather than starting a new thread. I am considering buying my buddy's fa 06, lightly used for a very good price. I went over and tried it out. As a former owner of the vr700...I was *shocked* at the difference in the leslie. We went in and tried to deep-edit the thing, it sounded so bad. Like, the horn was "spinning" at double speed and in general sounded like an LFO. We turned off stereo spread since we were in mono. The lower sound was ok, it was mainly the upper that was so horrendous. This was "rotary 03" fwiw, the default one on the patch we were on. It's possible the others were better but none of the patches sounded any better. The underlying organ tone did sound like that from the vr700 though. AnotherScott did warn me in the modx thread that the leslie was different...I just wasn't expected it to be soooo bad. This board is intended to replace a pc3, though for now I'd be using both. With that leslie and lack of draw-controls, and overdrive (though maybe I could map it to a knob) I'd have to keep using the pc3 primarily with organ. All the other sounds were nice, even in mono, which was a concern. I liked the tap tempo, which will help hopefully with delays, and I'm hoping the vocoder is good as a nice extra. I wish it had more physical controls to help with part volumes, like the pc3 has. Back to the leslie--I'm really considering a Lester K, even though I dislike adding more gear. The demos I heard sound nice, there was one in mono from a board member here, thanks for that! I suspect it would be far better than the Roland organ, and probably better than the pc3. Any thoughts? I'm not getting a vent, it would be most of the cost of what I'm paying for the fa06! The unfortunate truth is that my buddy's Electro 5d was sitting below the fa06, and that didn't help me appreciate the Roland's organ sound! I think ultimately, if a work raise comes through, I'd like to end up with the Fa06, an electro, and the pc361 could retire to home studio duties before the screen craps out more than it has (I love the action). Bottom line, everyone happy with their Fa?

FA and MODX are both good matches for an iPad. MX61 less so because user patches can' include MIDI program changes for external devices, though MX does let you use its 16 buttons to effectively select from among the 16 MIDI channels which gives you another way to switch among a bank of iPad sounds. As for organ, the FA has the edge over the Yamahas, especially since it has the assignable sub out which lets you easily put a Vent or similar on your organ sound. Though the fact that you play mono anyway also gives you the option on the Yamahas to pan your organ sound to the opposite side from your other sounds so it effectively has its own output for doing the same. FA also has a true 9-drawbar organ engine, though. MODX does have some semblance of 9-drawbar control in some of its performances, but within the standard sample engine, which also means that a 9-drawbar sound uses 9 instances of polyphony per key. Thanks, all good info. It turns out that the buddy with the fa06 wants to thin the herd...and unlike me, he cares about what the thing looks like ...and he doesn't like the fa06. He'll give me a great deal on it so I'm probably going to go that way if I try it and like it. I like the option to add a pedal as you say, though the vr700 leslie was fine for rock mixes IMO. Paying less for something that wouldn't be a studio mainstay is probably the wise choice. Something I use at home needs to have aftertouch, though after seeing some Roli mpe vids I could see that being the future too! Anyway, back to the modx, didn't mean to derail.

What sounds do you most need out of it? If primary need is organ and VA synth (which are not Yamaha's strongest points), I'd be more inclined to look at the Roland FA-07 (assuming you're not looking at a Nord Stage 3 budget). Maybe even VR-730, though it still has too many gotcha's for me. An excellent question My original goal was to improve organ with either an electro or a mojo 61. Then I started veering into VA and even analog territory, thinking I'd make something of a sea change...I used to gig these same songs with an older Virus and made great use of it, had to sell to get a VR-700, which I sold in turn. The VR730 would be a little too samey, feel like I'd like to try something different. As long as the pc3 is working, it can cover all bases so I can go any direction: another do-it-all, focus on organ, focus on synth. Yeah, I can't justify a stage 3. If I used it at home that might be different, but I'm 100% software and have no wish to ever go back to hardware with wiring and patch saving etc. I have typically bought used or newer on sale and try to keep my cost between 700 and 1300 or so. The modx synth sounds--even the fm--sounds good enough for my needs just based on the vids. This will only be for live use. That said, the fa is an option. My buddy has one, I'll go over there and try it out. If either can play an ipad with convenience that is a selling point, someone mentioned they use the Galileo organ with theirs...organimation as another option for organ. I am concerned about mono though. If indeed it sounds wimpy, I might well just consider an mx61. Speaking of drunks on stage...had that happen several times, even at very nice places. It's a big reason I don't want to bring a laptop out.

Welp...I need a second keyboard, gigs are picking up and my kurz pc3 has had a few issues...don't want to rely on it even though it can do our gigs. I prefer two in any case. What a saga--after pining for a Nord electro and then switching through almost every board out there--including stops in "analog-ish-ville" to consider the kingkorg, blofeld and even the Prophet rev2--this Modx seems like it would be quite the gig monster. I think seeing the organimation vids and hearing recommendations from some of you might be tipping me over...I play rock but do use quite a bit of organ, which up til now the pc3 has been covering. I've been in a synth mode lately and want to maybe explore that for our tunes. We have been adding more synth-heavy tunes lately also. All that blather aside, I truly do wish this didn't have a wall wart. I hate those things. My main concern though that some of you can address: how is this thing in mono? I didn't read every page but I saw some people stating the sound was quite a bit worse. That isn't a surprise, this happens with most of them (due to fx, and of course widening can sound great)...but my old Motif was by far the worst offender of any board I"ve owned. I had to edit almost every patch on there. Secondarily, did I read that people are easily able to use an ipad with this, with no extra interface? Lastly, does it allow vocoding? I've been itching to try this live, and surely overuse it on many songs!

Hmm, I'm just going by what some of the KVR folks are saying. They seem very sure! I believe one of them is also a beta tester. Considering all the soundsets and tunes that use Massive, it would be a mistake IMO for them to just discontinue it. One thing people seem sure about is the fact that patches from one won't work on the other. I certainly don't want to steer anyone wrong by repeating false info. Perhaps contact NI and see if they can tell you definitely. Edit (again). Ok, found why everyone seems so sure, this is from the NI main massive X page. "MASSIVE X will be available in June 2019. If you already own KOMPLETE 12, youll get MASSIVE X as a free download via Native Access. MASSIVE X is an addition to the MASSIVE family, and will exist side by side with the original instrument." I had to scroll down a bunch (not a fan of those newfangled web pages honestly....)

It is not an actual upgrade, it will run alongside Massive. Patches from the original won't work in MX, so it's pretty much a different beast all round. I'm guessing the similarity will be wavetables chiefly. I understand the guy who mainly did Monark is involved (Mike Daliot) and folks on KVR seem plenty happy about that. Sound quality probably won't be an issue, I think most of the "worry" is over workflow changes.

Yeah, I found this out last night after my last post. Anything I actually wanted was either too much $ for me, or it was coming in Komplete eventually anyway, or I couldn't get it due to it being an upgrade (Replika for example). So I just used it on an expansion, which conveniently are 49 bucks Well, a free expansion, and who knows I might actually use some of the samples! I got "Arcane Attic", seemed a bit different than all the "phat chill beats" that all the others seem to be....

Just an fyi since I mentioned the voucher...as I suspected, I can't use it for a Komplete upgrade, on sale or otherwise: "The e-voucher is valid for all Native Instruments software products in the NI Online Shop, excluding hardware, updates, upgrades, crossgrades, educational versions, and products already on special offer. " Considering I am hoping to get Komplete, that means something that isn't in Komplete standard...razor...flesh...scanner xt...alicia's keys (which I can't use yet without kontakt....might just go for the replica upgrade to replica xt, I hear great things about it.