felipe Posted February 3, 2001 Share Posted February 3, 2001 I'd like to buy a keyboard on the 1000-2000 dollars range basically to use as a stage piano, but which included good jazz organ sounds. It would also be good if it had a synth, to give me more flexibility. I'd appreciate if someone could indicate a good dealer on the SF Bay Area. Thanks. This message has been edited by felipe on 02-03-2001 at 10:57 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted February 3, 2001 Share Posted February 3, 2001 North Bay - Bananas at Large in San Rafael East Bay - Leo's in Oakland South Bay - Gelb Music in Redwood City. Ask them to show you a Korg N1, an Alesis QS8.1, and Yamaha S80. Any of those will do everything that you specified. The Yamaha definitely has the most impressive specifications of the three; however, it is my recommendation that you give all of them a try, and trust your ears and hands. One of them will probably sound and feel better to you than the others; plus, see if you just click with one of them in terms of the way that its operating system and controls are laid out. You should trust your own instincts more than anything that you read or anything that anyone tells you. Even if you may think that you are inexperienced, you know what works for you better than anyone else. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph Posted February 3, 2001 Share Posted February 3, 2001 I agree whole-heartedly with dB, with an addition: the Kurzweil PC2X. It's also got a great action, killer piano sound, plus, it can do drawbar control on the organ sound (Kurzweil call it KB3 mode). It's slightly over the budget (I think it sells for $2100), but if you love the sounds and the feel, it's worth it. Bill Murphy www.murphonics.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 3, 2001 Share Posted February 3, 2001 I'm fairly new to the bay area but the other store I can think of is Guitar Center down in San Jose I agree on the Dave's 3 selections. The pc2x is excellent but I still think the yamaha s80 is a better bang for the buck, and the best of the 3. For less than $2,000 you may still be able to get a few accessories with it too. Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felipe Posted February 4, 2001 Author Share Posted February 4, 2001 Thanx! What about the Roland A-90? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bryce Posted February 4, 2001 Share Posted February 4, 2001 Originally posted by felipe: Thanx! What about the Roland A-90? The A90 by itself doesn't make any sound - it's just a MIDI controller. The A90EX which includes the VE-RD1 expansion board has an MSRP that is out of the price range that you specified... it lists for $2995; however, I've seen them selling for under 2k. Once again, your ears and hand are the final judge and jury, but I'd have a hard time justifying the A90EX against the S80 - you just get so much more...especially sonically - the VE-RD1 board is no match for the ROM set in the S80... ...or the QS8.1, IMHO http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif Plus, the S80's plug-in expansion capabilities give it sonic possibilities that nothing else in it's class can even begin to touch, and make it very affordable to add entirely new synthesizer engines that increase the instrument's polyphony. Ya gotta love that. Hey, if nothing else, the S80 is the only one of the bunch with resonance filtering. dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 4, 2001 Share Posted February 4, 2001 The s80's filter implementation allow more complex and 'modern' sounds than the other 2. I own a cs6x (almost identical synth engine) and the thing rocks. If I had to strip my setup to only one keyboard it would probably be the s80, since it would give me the most of the capability of the cs and the weighted kybd and piano sounds of my kurzweil (the two instruments I use the most). I own a qs6, and I love the way it complements the rest of my setup, but as a standalone instrument I would take the yamaha over the alesis. As far as the expansion cards, you can't go wrong. I think the prices are reasonable, and you can get a lot of mileage of the synth that way. If you need GM/XG compability, you can throw in the XG card (The qs8.1 is GM compatible, I'm not sure if that matters to you) Keep in mind, though, the qs8.1 are going cheaper than the s80, so as a price comparison I would balance getting the qs with maybe two of the qcard... this will probably match the price. See how you feel about the action too... I think a lot of times that makes a huge difference if you're a piano player. Rod BTW I was at Bananas at large yesterday... I would recommend going to that store, good place to have some quiet while trying out keyboards. The last time I went to guitar center it was a freaking zoo in there, you couldn't hear yourself think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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