I have been playing the piano\keyboard for about 7 months now. i am 23 and only like level 2 but i am moving on now, getting to where i can do more and more. and my goal is leading praise and worship for my church. i have been playing on a Casio CK-1600 i think it is, a 76 key unit. but i want to move on and get a good board that i will have for a long time now, a full size, with a lot of sound options, or many very good sound options. can anybody with knowledge suggest a good board for me with the $1500.00 or less price zone. and please let me know why you like it or suggest it. All help is appreciated!!
Thanks, Dan

[Nate]

Hey Dan,

First of all... does your $1500 budget include an amp? Most "good" keyboards do not have built-in speaker systems like Casio has. (of course, that's a very good thing, seeing as most built-in systems are junk anyway)

Ok... for now, I'm gonna assume that the $1500 is for keyboard alone and you're gonna use a home stereo or headphones for right now.

The first keyboard I would recommend is the Yamaha S-80. It's probably the best bang-for-the-buck keyboard you will EVER find. The usual selling price for the S-80 is about $1400-1600; I've seen it priced at both ends of this range... so if you end up deciding on this board (or any other for that matter), don't just buy it at the first price you're quoted.... shop around a bit.

Here's the rundown of the S-80:

It is a full-size, fully-weighted, 88-key synthesizer. The feel of the keys is really, really good.... very close to an acoustic piano. The sounds are great, but in relatively short supply when compared to comparable boards, such as the Roland XV-88, (these comparable boards are usually priced about $500-1000 higher though). There are 256 preset sounds, covering nearly all categories. The sounds themselves are of really high quality, acoustic and electric piano sounds are a particular high point. If you're looking for mostly these type of sounds, you'll be more than satisfied with the S-80.

The S-80 is also expandable. Yamaha has quite a few expansion boards, most of which also add more polyphony in addition to the new set of sounds. One particularly cool expansion board is the Vocal Harmonizer board. It allows you to plug in a microphone to the back of the S-80, and then the keyboard will add harmonies to your voice based on what chord you're playing. VERY COOL!

A couple other keyboards that you should at least look at:

Alesis QS8.1 - Another 88-key, fully-weigthed synth. This board is very similar to the S-80 and comes with a slightly smaller price tag. I think it usually sells for about $1300. The 8.1's soundset is a little bigger than the S-80's.... but it's not quite as nice. I've messed around a little bit with the QS8.1, and although it IS a good board and has some good sounds; I think the couple hundred dollars more for the S-80 is well worth it.

Roland RS-9 - This board is possibly even more of a value than the S-80 is. The RS-9 sells for only about $1000. It is Roland's newest 88-key synthesizer. Most of it's soundset was derived from the sounds of the XV-series synths. (I play a Roland XV-88, and the sounds are incredible... the RS-9 doesn't fall too far behind.) It's got some great sounds, and a pretty decent feeling set of keys (88-key, semi-weighted I believe). If your budget is on the LOW side of the $1400-1600 range (and you still need to buy an amp with that)... you might want to look into this board.

Korg Triton LE, 76-key version - If you're familiar with keyboards at all, you'll probably instantly recognize the Triton name. This board is a newer, more budget-friendly version of the industry-standard Triton. The 76-key version sells for $1500. Now, I know you said you wanted a full-size board (which I assume meant 88 keys)... but I think this one deserves at least a look. The main thing that sets this board apart from the others is that it has a full-blown sequencer. If you want to record music directly on the keyboard itself without having to hook-up to a computer... you will want an onboard sequencer. Neither the S-80, QS8.1, or RS-9 have one. Another thing that is quite impressive (if you're at all familiar with keyboards), is that this newer version of Korg's flagship has the same high-quality sounds as the regular Triton. I recently messed around with the 61-key LE at Guitar Center and found that it was quite a nice board indeed. If a sequencer is more important to you than a really good full set of keys... check this one out.

Ok... I hope this helps get you started. My best advice would be to go to your local music store (preferably Guitar Center ) and play as many boards as you can. Trust your hands and your ears and keep track of which boards you like and which boards you don't like.

Let me ask you a few questions so I'll have a little more to go on next time you reply:

Do you want to get an amp? If so, will this fall into the $1500 budget??

Can you stretch your budget at all? If so, by how much??

Do you want/need an onboard sequencer?

What styles of music are you gonna be playing with this board? What kinds of sounds are you most interested in?


Well... hope this helps.

P.S. I'd also recommend checking reviews on all of these boards (and any others you might be interested in) at www.harmonycental.com and www.sonicstate.com (go to the SynthSite tab at SonicState). If you want a good look at some of the specs of these boards and what kind of prices you'll probably be paying... check out www.musiciansfriend.com www.zzounds.com and www.americanmusical.com

[Nate]

By the way, I own and play a Roland XV-88. I was actually debating between it and the S-80 for about a month. I went for the Roland because I wanted access to Roland's huge expansion library (Yamaha's is nice... but Roland's is incredible) Of course, I paid a pretty good bit more for the XV than I would have for the S-80. I got mine for $2150.... I do know where you can get one for $2000 though... if that interests you.

Oh.... and you might also want to go back to the main keyboard/piano forum page and look for the thread "Which keyboard is easy to learn to use?" started by FlatPicker. I just recently helped her select a keyboard as well... her budget was a little higher, but you might still find it useful.

Just trying to give you as much info as possible.

Thanks alot, yes you have helped me very much. I honestly have not thought about an amp, so i will say that the $1500 price does not include an amp. And i really haven't thought much about an onboard sequencer, i am glad you brought it to my attention. That is why i asked for help though, and you have given me a whole lot, now I guess I need to just go out and really look around. I will have to travel a ways to get to a good music store, that is why I was wanting suggestions first, from some people who knew more than I. Oh about the music, the only real reason I am learning to play is to be able to play alot of praise and worship music.

Thanks again for your help, it is always appreciated,
Dan

[Nate]

Originally posted by Unregistered
Oh about the music, the only real reason I am learning to play is to be able to play alot of praise and worship music.

Ok... my highest recommendation still goes to the Yamaha S-80. In fact, I know of quite a few people who use that exact board for P&W in their church. The church right down the road from me bought one about a year ago and I think they use it every Sunday. Also, another interesting tidbit about the S-80 is that Michael W. Smith uses it quite often when he brings a keyboard on stage. I think for the most part, when he's not using his piano.. he's playing the S-80.

alright man, you have been most helpful so far, i need a little more, with the recommendations you have given me, i will go shopping here before long, but if i decide that i really like the S80 what would be a good amp to put with it.
thanks a million,
Danny

[Nate]

Originally posted by Unregistered
but if i decide that i really like the S80 what would be a good amp to put with it.

That all depends on how much you want to spend.

The hands-down winner in the "Best amp for a keyboard" category is the Mackie SRM-450. It is a 400-watt powered loudspeaker with REALLY good, studio-quality sound. Of course, it runs for about $700-800. (At that price... most people, myself included, can only dream about this thing)

You don't have to spend that much to get a good amp though.... fortunately. I think if you plan to spend around $250-350, you could get yourself a really nice amp. My first thought was the Roland KC-300. It runs about $370.... a little over what I told you to expect, but it's really nice. It's got 100 watts of power, along with two keyboard channels and one designed specifically for a microphone. If you step down one notch in the KC-series, you come to the $270 KC-100. It's not really that much of a step down from the 300, actually. You still get 60 watts of power, and one keyboard channel and one microphone channel. You should also check out the Crate KX-50 (50 watts, $280).... I've never heard it in action, but Crate is a respected amp maker.

If you're looking to spend a little less than that (say around $100-200).... you're most likely going to have to go with an amp designed for guitar. There just aren't many "cheap" keyboard amps out there. I do see one (the Crate KX-15, 15 watts $120) at www.musiciansfriend.com, though. Never tried it, but it looks ok. It's only 15 watts... so it probably won't be very loud. As far as guitar amps go, maybe check out the Crate line of practice amps (I think there's a 20-watt one for about $200).... but whatever you do, stay away from Rogue amps. Rogue has a very bad reputation and they live up to it all too often.

I'd probably recommend going for one of the Roland KC's.... the KC-300 would be my first recommendation just because it has more power and a couple more features than the KC-100. But I think the 100 would do pretty well too. If your budget is really tight, look into that Crate KX-15... but don't expect to get much sound out of it (I could be wrong though, you never know.. it might sound really good).

Anyway... hope this helps. (BTW, you can find all of these amps at www.musiciansfriend.com )

[joshhem]

check out the yamaha psr 1000 or 2000. I ahve the 2000 and i must say it is the best keyboard I've ever seen. The sond is really crisp and they actually have built in speakers. I'm from australia, so i wouldn't be able to give you any idea of price, but the amount of options that you get is quite incredible I have fallen in love with it.

I do p & w with it and it certainly meets my needs, We're actually without a drummer at the moment and the keyboard fill that hole beautifully!

[Nate]

Originally posted by joshhem
check out the yamaha psr 1000 or 2000.

Aren't those both 61-key boards though?? I know for a fact that they're not 88.

Keyboards like the high-end PSR series are an interesting thing to consider though, Dan. They have built-in accompaniment which comes in VERY handy if you're in a situation similar to what Joshhem has just described..... without a drummer or something like that. The S-80 cannot do this.

[joshhem]

Originally posted by KeyboardFreak


Aren't those both 61-key boards though?? I know for a fact that they're not 88.

They probably are, it's just I've never heard them called that before. 2000 is a little more pricey, but that's because you get some extras like a midi thing where you can play around with your voice though a microphone (no included)

Let us know what you end up getting.

[Nate]

Originally posted by joshhem
2000 is a little more pricey, but that's because you get some extras like a midi thing where you can play around with your voice though a microphone (no included)

The S-80 has this same option (it's called a vocal harmonizer, BTW) available in an expansion board.