Korganism

Ugh, you're right. It was a typo--my apologies. I was looking at the 76. Although now I know there's a lighter 73. Also I clearly need to investigate the options on my SonicCell a little more--thanks for that tip. @CEB I checked out the online demo of that Artis7. It does seem fun.

Thanks so much for your advice, and a couple of other leads I can follow up. I have yet to find a brass patch that doesn't hurt my band nerd soul just a little . However I would miss the wide gamut of built-in synths at the touch of a button so it's good to know of those other two options. I do like the idea of being able to layer synth with piano--something I can't easily do now but seems to be more and more common in the songs we cover. You also make a good point about the Nord's weight--and it seems like a good gig bag with backpack straps for the Nord stage 2 76 is a bit hard to come by. As far as Nords go, do you think an electro might meet my needs better than the stage? It seems more designed for portability, although it's less feature-rich.

Hello friends, I am the keyboardist in a very casual band that plays rock covers in bars. My current keyboard setup is starting to show signs of failure so I'm hoping for some help looking for an update (and forgiveness when I get some of this terminology wrong). My current keyboard is a Korg X5D which I use in conjunction with a Roland SonicCell. I like it well enough and am sort of proud of how old/weird it is but I've now got power issues on the SonicCell and the buttons on the Korg are starting to become less responsive. Things I like about my current setup: - lightweight - pre-existing sounds on the SonicCell acceptably cover most classic synths and organs/EPs, right out of the box - Korg has decent key responsiveness and works fine both as a midi controller and an emergency backup incase the SonicCell fails me What I need: - technical reliability: I tried to run VSTs via a midi interface off an iPad mini and then an iPhone but neither one could keep the apps running through a show, and some things had significant lag. I don't currently have a laptop that can manage this either, and honestly I find the technology kind of a headache. However I'm willing to go this route if it can be done without constant reboots (and isn't super expensive). - a wide and good-sounding base of classic keyboard and synth sounds so I don't have to mess around with finding/making samples/sounds--we cover stuff from Elton John to the Black Keys to the Doors to Van Halen, sometimes with little notice. - easy sound selection during performance so I am not dialing through a zillion sounds looking for the one I need when the band calls an audible on the setlist - portability--I am a small weak person and I have to schlep all this stuff myself on public transportation - to stay under $2000 (better yet if I can stay under $1000), unless this truly can't be done - a minimum of 61 keys (better 70+ unless it's really huge/heavy) Obviously Nord is the name I see the most out there, and while it seems a bit like overkill for the level of musician I am, there is currently a used stage 2 (73 key) for $1200 that seems like maybe it would do the trick? Or would a different model/setup suit me better from the sounds of things above? I'm open to options and would be grateful for any insight you might have...