I need help finding a nice sounding battery powered keyboard

[rickyd123]

that's a good idea. If I can get it down to a few, I'll go to a brink and mortar piano store and play the finalist.

[JimboKeys]

The first question to ask yourself, based on your intended use, is how much are you willing to schlep ? Will you be satisfied with a 5-octave keyboard with lightweight action (some better than others), or do you really need something that you can play like a piano, even though it's twice as big and weighs 3 times as much ? Without answering this first, you're comparing apples and oranges.

 

- Jimbo

[rickyd123]

I played the go keys and it cost $250. I thought it's action was terrible, but it didn't bother me. I was getting used to it. You had to be careful how you struck the keys. A small tap and the note would explode out of the speaker. I care about sound. THAT'S IT. I want it to sound like a good piano. I don't care about voices or synth stuff or layering or backing tracks.

 

Is the Roland VR-096 battery powered. I watched a YouTube video of it today and it's huge. It's bigger than my Roland FP30. Does anyone know how much it weighs. It looks heavy.

[AnotherScott]

Roland VR-09 (or VR-09B) can run on battery. It's small and light. See dimensions/weight at https://www.roland.com/ca/products/v-combo_vr-09-b/specifications/ - but I don't think it's a great choice for you. It's strengths are organ and synth. For piano, I think you can spend less money and get something that sounds/feels as good or better.

[Groove On]

I played the go keys and it cost $250. I thought it's action was terrible, but it didn't bother me. I was getting used to it. You had to be careful how you struck the keys. A small tap and the note would explode out of the speaker.

Sounds like you just need a decent action. Good news is that you started at the bottom of the barrel so the only place to go is up. I had the same problem with the Go Piano, the action was a pain in the @$$ to control, it really put me off. It's a real shame because Roland put decent sounds in the Go Pianos/Keys - but hobbled it with a craptastic action.

 

Definitely check out the Casio CT-S1 and CT-S400, for a budget keyboard, it has a decent action, much better than the Roland Go. I'll even go on record and say that the Casio action is better than the more expensive Korg Kross 61. You'll probably like the Casio PX-S series (1000, 3000, 1100, 3100), but they're much larger keyboards - so not as portable.

[stoken6]

Will you be satisfied with a 5-octave keyboard with lightweight action (some better than others), or do you really need something that you can play like a piano, even though it's twice as big and weighs 3 times as much ? Without answering this first, you're comparing apples and oranges.

This is the key question: 7-octave hammer-action or 5-octave sprung? (I am aware that some have posted 6-octave recommendations above).

 

Whichever you choose, I would recommend starting with Casio.

Is the Roland VR-096 battery powered. I watched a YouTube video of it today and it's huge. It's bigger than my Roland FP30. Does anyone know how much it weighs. It looks heavy.

I wonder if you looked at the 6-octave VR730? The VR09 is 5-octave, small and light. Crappy action though.

 

And as Scott posted above, don't worry about polyphony.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[16251]

I would search for a used Casio PX-S1000. A 61 note non-weighted will not be very inspiring.

 

used casio pxs1000

 

2nd one I found

 

3rd one

 

4th