Current crop of "Workstations"??

[ElmerJFudd]

The Korg Krome is chock full of useable sounds and then some. Its action ranks extremely low on the 'piano like' scale. PC4 is also a strong choice for sounds and as a controller - but to get the weight down they ditched the TP-40 they used to use - which was generally a decent action for playing a wide variety of timbres - from piano to organ and orch, synth. I haven"t played the PC4 or SP6, but I have played Medeli keyboards. As usual, need to try it to see if you like it.

[Werno]

As an owner of an SP6, I'd say it would be a good fit for the criteria. Prior to buying it I've divided my playing between my Baldwin Acrosonic spinet and a Kurz PC376, and I find the SP6's 88 keys very playable for AP sounds and workable for organ when you turn on the 'high trigger' option in the menu settings. If they have an outboard set of drawbars I'd say you're good for organ too. Quick category search is a yes, as is pitch&mod wheels, CC pedal and up to 4 switch pedals, one of which can be a half-pedal-compatible sustain.

 

Out of the box you're good for 'bread-and-butter' programs, plus the SP6 ROM includes everything from the PC3, Kore64, and some upgraded sounds from the ForteSE. I've loaded up a bunch of my favorite PC3 sounds and downloaded sounds from the ForteSE- many of them use samples that none of the SP6 presets use, but the whole orchestral, percussion, and world instrument samples are in there. Piano programs from the ForteSE use the 'string resonance' effect that adds some verisimilitude over the PC3 versions. I haven't tried using it for multichannel sequencing, but the SP6 has twice the FX processing of the PC3, so some of the FX management issues that can complicate multi-timbral use on my PC3 should be less of an issue.

 

I got mine (b-stock) for slightly under 1k, YMMV.

[BenWaB3]

For a lot of bang for the buck the Casio S3000 is definitely worth checking out. That being said though, the buyer definitely needs to check it out for himself. Steve Fortner liked the action and his opinions are always to be taken seriously. On the other hand Dave McM didn't like it & sent it back. I'm in the same camp as Dave. I bought one & sent it back because I couldn't stand the action. The one who's opinion will count the most though is Steve's friend who would need to try it & decide whether he likes it or not. Other than that though it does check all the boxes.

[Jim Alfredson]

It's hard to beat the Kurzweil PC4 the price. It is a workstation with a very powerful sequencer. However, if he's used to the Yamaha way of doing things, he may be better off with another Motif or the Montage, though the Montage isn't really a workstation.