About to buy a board...Questions...

[BMan98]

Hello all,

I am about to go out and buy a new board. I am currently playing cello and guitar in a little folk rock combo, and am looking to add keys to it as well. I'm looking at a Roland RS9 really closely now and was wondering if anyone had ever played on one or had any opinions. Or if there is a totally different board you think I should look at. My price range is around a thousand dollars. Thanks for all the help, and God Bless.

Bill

[Nate]

Originally posted by BMan98
was wondering if anyone had ever played on one or had any opinions.

I'll most certainly give you my opinion.... but the person you should listen to the most is yourself. Go find a place where you can sit and play this board for awhile. Ask yourself things like "Do I like how it sounds??", "Do I like how it feels???", "Is there anything I wish it had???", etc, etc. Someone else may absolutely love this board..... yet you could still hate it. It's all a matter of personal preference. Don't buy ANYTHING just because someone else tells you to! Ok... that said... I'll move on. :D

Or if there is a totally different board you think I should look at. My price range is around a thousand dollars.

I thank you for giving a price range.... most people I talk to about buying keyboards NEVER give a price range in their initial question. I have to pry it out of them. ;) Well... let me recommend a few more boards in that range that you should at least "look at."

Yamaha P-80
Kurzweil SP-88x
And possibly a used Yamaha S-80. (or just find a good deal on a new one.... the usual retail price is around $1400-1500)

Ok, you weren't really too clear on what you're planning to DO with this new keyboard. Maybe you could explain a little of what you're looking for??? Are you looking for mostly piano sounds?? Or do you want to have more obscure things like synth leads and pads??? Are you wanting this to be an easily transportable board??? Or do you want it to be built like a tank??? Just basic information like that will help a lot.

Ok, as for the Roland RS-9. It's a great board.... and you probably won't find a better value ANYWHERE. I use a Roland XV-88, which is simply wonderful..... the RS-9's soundset is derived directly from the XV's. The RS-9's sounds are of VERY high quality... especially considering the relatively low price. It would probably be the board I would've recommended had you just given a price range and not said what specific board you were considering.

So, I'd recommend you go find a music store where you can play an RS-9 for about an hour or so (yeah... play with it for a LOOONG time... make SURE you like it!! :D) Also, while you're there.... see if you can check out those other boards I mentioned. You may end up liking one of them more. Most of all though.... let your hands and your ears make the final decision. If you like playing on the RS-9 and you like the sound of it..... go for it!!

Well..... hope this has helped you. If you have any more specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them! :D

[LWatford]

If you don't want "real" sounds, and don't mind older stuff, you can find some good buys under $1000. You could get a Yamaha DX-7 and a Roland D-50 for under $1000. The downside to these synths is that they are a little limited in what they can do (compared to modern instruments), and they are a pain (big, big pain) to edit (they are not <I>hard</I> to edit, there are just lots and lots of things to edit!).

I've played the keyboard you're taling about, and its nice(I might think about buying one, if only I didn't have this thing for outdated keys!). The sounds were all very good, alot like the JV-series sounds.

Roland apparently dosn't want to sell stuff based on their web site! You want find any information there! Harmony Central might have a reveiw (in the Keys section) or one of the other big equipment review sites might have one. Do a search in Google for "Roland RS-9" and you should get plenty of hits.

Lee

[BMan98]

Thanks for the advice. In terms of usage, I'm gonna be using it for some lead stuff in a band, and eventually I'm gonna try to incorperate it into the praise and worship team that I currently play cello in, but being an extrememly conservative church, they are slow to change for the old ways :-( But anywyay, thanks again for the advice, I'll definately take it into consideration.

Bill

[Nate]

Originally posted by LWatford
Harmony Central might have a reveiw (in the Keys section) or one of the other big equipment review sites might have one.

Oh my goodness!! I can't believe I forgot to list some review sites!! Ok..... here's a few specific links for RS-9 reviews so you don't have to do all that searching.......

http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Roland/RS-9-01.html

http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/roland_rs8.cfm

http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/may01/articles/rolandrs9.asp

http://www.zzounds.com/love.music?p=p.ROLRS9&x=4&z=1211681631334

I'd advise skimming through all of those reviews before you buy. If a link doesn't work, just let me know and I'll fix it.