Questions re:Roland RS-50, Kurzweil KME-61, Roland A-37

[Phait]

I'm looking at boards less expensive than the Fantom-S that have a good selection of strings/piano/bass patches but will allow me to load my own samples and control softsynths.

 

I also can't find any demos of either of these keyboards.. if anyone has any input they'd share on these boards, thanks.

 

Meanwhile I'm gonna wade through all the threads to see if theres answers to some other stuff I need addressed.

[Buddtopps89]

I don't think there are many, if any, sampling boards for less than the Fantom-S. These are pretty expensive, so you might need more than one piece of gear to do what you want for that budget.

 

The Roland RS-50 is the synthesizer like the RS-5 and 9. It has the same feel, size, probably weight, just some new features and a new look. It has many new and better sounds, and it would be a pretty good synth. If you know the RS-5/9, just consider it that, but silver, with new sounds, different buttons, a D-beam, and a bit more, but it's not that different. All IMO. Hope this helps!

 

Austin

[Carlito]

How about a used Kurzweil K2000?

[Phait]

I've considered K2000.. afterall Trent used it The Downward Spiral and having that board would give me some hope as to having the right piece to do what I want to do (akin to his work)..

 

but they're pretty pricy. Also how reliable is used or refurb anyway :\

[Carlito]

I almost bought one at Guitar Center Boston for 450.00. I just didn't need it at that time. It had a broken key and some scratches. Still could do everything a new one could.

 

Everything I have now was Demo, used or refurbished when I bought. Never had a problem. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[dilbert]

The A-37 has no internal sounds. It doesn't harness too well with the XV 3080 or XV 5050 either.

 

And the key patch change switches are like the old Korg Poly 61 (two key presses to change a patch) - which is one too many on a "live" performance synth. Key touch is very light.

 

I have used it and it is *very* light to carry.

[Phait]

What would it cost you to fix that key? Damn good deal too..

 

but it's an older board and your polyphony is limited right? What all can you do on the K2000?

[Carlito]

I could swap that broken key with one from the last octave. Or called Kurzweil and tried to get a new one.

 

Polyphony will always be a problem.The more you have, the more you're gonna use. You just have to deal with it. I think that's why modules are so popular.

[Michelle ggurl]

The Kurzweil KME-61 has the same sounds as the PC2, but less editing features (I don't know if there are any editing features, but I'm sure the Kurzweil website has info on this). And I like the sounds there.

 

The RS-50, if it does indeed have the same sounds as the RS-5/9 ... well, I was not impressed with the RS-9 at all. I just sold a 1989 Roland U-20 and I KNOW for a fact the RS-9 had many of the same sounds, right down to the patch names.

 

Where the RS-5/9 improved on that were SOME new sounds, and six knobs for some fun real-time tweaking.

 

Really, though, if you're on a budget and you have a community board like Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) for your area (check the right-hand column, see if there's one in your area), you could troll the for-sale and musician's community areas for used gear. AND, you can actually check the gear out to see if you like the sounds and make sure it works, which eBay is not likely to let you do (unless you bid only on local auctions, but if you don't like the sounds you'd still have to buy).

 

I mean, I got a Nord Electro 2/73 with case for $1100. I coulda gone to the local store and bought it without case, and PLUS sales tax, for $1800. See what I'm sayin'?