Hi All,

 

 

'Fraid I'm on a bit of a downer at the moment. Missed out on a bargain Korg N5 keyboard on eBay today (came with flight case, stand, headphones etc). Plus, for the money, even though it's potentially 8 or 9 years old, it's way better than anything I could buy new.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7406032639&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

 

Got beaten to the punch by £2 which really winds me up. Thing is it's really my fault because I bid right at the last minute and didn't put in the maximum I was willing to pay. At least if I'd done that and been beaten I'd feel it was all fair and square. But hey, you live and learn. I really can't imagine what I was thinking though. Been watching the flaming thing all week as well.

 

Anyway, thing is this. I've wanted an electronic keyboard for some time now, a few years at least, not really because I'm a keyboardist (I actually play guitar), but just for messing around on and trying stuff out. For example, I always find working out melodies a lot easier with a keyboard than a guitar. It'd also come in useful for other things, so I want something with a decent range of sounds, a few fx, and some synthesis capabilities. And I don't mind spending a bit of time learning how the thing works either. Hence the N5 would have been perfect. Was planning to drive up and get it tomorrow if I won. Anyway... *must* *move* *on*.

 

Now is slightly the dangerous time though because feeling slightly peeved there's at least a 50:50 chance of me going and blowing £300 - £400 on something without really thinking it through. So I was wondering if any of you had any recommendations as to what would be a good keyboard for me to get? I don't want to spend a bundle of cash, because there's really no point, but I want to try to get the best I can for the £££. So what can I get for £200 that'll do what I'm after?

 

 

Cheers,

Bart

Have you thought about getting a contoller keyboard to plug into your PC and getting a program like CuBase or Reason? That way you can get as many sounds as you like and control it all easy as pie.

 

And you can sequence too.

Got beaten to the punch by £2 which really winds me up.

 

Hey dude, yeah really sorry about that - should be getting it delivered to my house within the next few days so i'll let you know what it's like!!! :mac1:

 

Sorry, couldn't resist!!! On a serious note though it did go for a bit of a bargain price and for the money it's got some really good sounds... If your looking for something else at a bargain price get yourself a Yamaha DJX which is an awsome piece of kit for the money.. Have seem them go on ebay for as cheap as £30... I use one as my controller synth and it also boast some really good synth dance techo sounds which the parameters can be fully altered... Don't get a DJX2 though as they we're poo and didn't feature the velosity sensitive keys... Good luck with your search mate... ;)

let me know what sort of things you want the keyboard to do ie: built in sequencer, velocity sensitive keys, after touch, voice mapping, filters, voive layering etc..

 

i can get keyboards at good prices and secondhand ones at excellent prices, sorry i dont have anything for sale everything in my studio aint going anywhere!!

 

if you want help or advice just ask.

 

si

LOL. Thanks guys. Yeah, I thought it was a bargain... would have been happy to pay £180 for it to be honest. Still dumbstruck as to why I just didn't enter that as my bid. Anyway, like I say... you live and learn.

 

I've considered going down the controller keyboard/software route before... but the plain truth is I just don't like software that much. I know it's more flexible and everything, but I've used Cubase and just didn't get on with it. So now all I use my computer for is recording stuff. I also don't want to have to lug my computer around if I actually want to use the keyboard somewhere.

 

I'll keep an eye out for the DJX though. For £30 or so it's kind of hard to go wrong. Thus far I haven't seen much else on eBay I was that impressed with. Just going to have to be patient again I think. Bit gutted really.

 

 

Cheers,

Bart

me and my toys!

Hey Si, thanks for that. If nothing else this I suppose has given me an opportunity to think a bit more about what I want to do. I guess the following is a quick wish-list:

 

- Plenty of decent preset sounds so I can prototype things really quickly, and also use them as a basis for developing my own sounds

- A reasonable degree of tweakability on the sounds

- Nice to be able to create completely new sounds but may not be entirely essential (not even sure if the N5 has this or not)

- MIDI interface (obviously)

- A decent level of polyphony

- Velocity sensitive keys (think the N5 has 64 levels, but I could settle for a bit less)

- A decent range of FX and at least a couple of FX channels

- Built-in sequencer could be useful

- Preferably with a stand

- Any required leads + manual, or at least an easily accessible downloadable copy (just because I'm not too familiar with these things).

 

I'm not sure quite what you mean by after touch, voice mapping, filtering and voice layering as I'm pretty new at this game, but I can look this up. If you hear of anything though I'd certainly be interested. Like I say, anything around the £200 mark, maybe a bit more. Where are you based?

 

Thanks again for the offer of help. Much appreciated.

 

 

Cheers,

Bart

me and my toys!

 

Mmmm... toys. :)

me and my toys!

 

I take my hat off to you Si. I have to use my computer to get anything half decent. I have got a Yamaha W7 and its just so excellent I wont part with it. But your little studio looks ace. I envy you mate. :bow:

ring andy horrel here : http://www.aues21.dsl.pipex.com/

 

andy supplies me with all my equipment and he is very cheap, he has lots of stock in new and second hand, he can help you no end, tell him simon from abergavenny forwarded you to him and he will sort you out. his knowladge of synths etc is enormous, he has the largest private collection of synths in the uk and some of the most rarest synths also.

I have a roland xp-30 with all the above reqs. apart from sequencer, but you can use cubase (free) on your pc through midi, was looking for about £380

also got midi cables + stand.

 

p.s. I can record some sounds if you're looking for something specific......

me and my toys!

 

Sorry mate has to be done....

 

It's tv's Paul Merton!

 

Thanks Si. the website is noted mate. If anyone want to know of a really simple to use sequencer interface software program get Ejay music director gold. Its 6 discs 5 of which are samples and more samples can be got quite cheap. You can add your own and its really good. Ejay yes but believe me its better than the other shit they produce. You can add fx to each track too.

Si i can see you got the gear but have you produced anything decent yet mate?

I spent 2k on an Roland EM2000 about 7 years ago, stunning sound quality and an inbuilt tracker. Load s and Loads of functionality so keep your eyes peeled on ebay.

 

Worth the money, the drum kits alone are worth the price

Si i can see you got the gear but have you produced anything decent yet mate?

 

 

yes matey.. my bio is quite long winded!! i did put it up in an older post..

 

kirsty hawkshaw ( whom im still currently working with.) brian ferry, steve lipton, hugh mcdowell from electric light orchestra, art of trance, mauve, geri halliwell, delirium, john occlusion and many more.

 

had quite a few releases and credits, still get royalties every year

yes matey.. my bio is quite long winded!! i did put it up in an older post..

 

kirsty hawkshaw ( whom im still currently working with.) brian ferry, steve lipton, hugh mcdowell from electric light orchestra, art of trance, mauve, geri halliwell, delirium, john occlusion and many more.

 

had quite a few releases and credits, still get royalties every year

let's hear some of your work pk1

buy the cds....

me and my toys!

 

That is a VERY impressive home set up! And looks like you've worked with some 'proper' names in the industry! Do you write/play/produce then?

 

I've got a Roland MC-303 that I haven't used for ages Bart, it has a sequencer and loads of good sounds/drum kits etc. Not sure that it's what you'd be looking for though, it's not really a keyboard for a start.... I think it will be looked at as a retro synth by now!

 

Cheers,

 

Christian

I have the KORG TRITON. Very nice sounds and i believe nowadays you can get it for cheap. Especially the rack module.

I have a roland xp-30 with all the above reqs. apart from sequencer, but you can use cubase (free) on your pc through midi, was looking for about £380

also got midi cables + stand.

 

p.s. I can record some sounds if you're looking for something specific......

 

Thanks for this. I think at the moment that's a bit more than I'm looking to spend. I just want something I can play with for now, and if I get on OK will spend a bit more... trouble is with this kind of thing the sky's obviously the limit.

I spent 2k on an Roland EM2000 about 7 years ago, stunning sound quality and an inbuilt tracker. Load s and Loads of functionality so keep your eyes peeled on ebay.

 

Worth the money, the drum kits alone are worth the price

 

Dude! You might be better at spending my money than I am! :rofl:

Guys, thanks for all the help and advice (particularly Si - some impressive credits there to say the least). Right now I'm keeping an eye on a Korg N364, although I'm finding it slightly tricky to work out whether or not this is better than an N5, since both of them have specs as long as your arm for the money.

 

I'm really amazed at the number of people on here who are quite seriously into making music. Very cool.

 

 

Cheers,

Bart

I've got a Roland MC-303 that I haven't used for ages Bart, it has a sequencer and loads of good sounds/drum kits etc. Not sure that it's what you'd be looking for though, it's not really a keyboard for a start.... I think it will be looked at as a retro synth by now!

 

Hi Christian,

True, not exactly what I'm after... but that thing'll be worth a packet. I've seen them back along going for £700-£800 on eBay. It's a nice sound but a bit specialised for what I'm after.

Cheers,

Bart

Bit of an update here.... I did some reading around, listened to some samples, increased my budget, and generally got somewhat more serious about the whole thing. Have just bought myself a late Korg Trinity Pro 76-key workstation synth for £470 from eBay. Price is pretty much in line with sales of same model of keyboard over the past few months (I did check first), albeit at the high end, which I guess is probably down to it having 76 keys rather than the standard 61.

 

Should be arriving in a couple of days or so. Must say I think I'm going to be more than happy with this, the only problem really being where to put it. I also thought about getting a Korg Triton, since you'd think it'd be loads better being more recent etc (it's certainly more £££), but whereas virtually all the Trinity reviews I read absolutely raved about it, a lot of the Triton reviews rated it as mediocre so I decided to save a few quid and go for the Trinity in the end.

 

Thanks again for all the help and advice, particularly from Si.

 

 

Cheers,

Bart

Hi Christian,

True, not exactly what I'm after... but that thing'll be worth a packet. I've seen them back along going for £700-£800 on eBay. It's a nice sound but a bit specialised for what I'm after.

Cheers,

Bart

 

 

the 303 that you are thinking of is the old tb-303 bassline generator, you can fook with the settings toget the acid sound, but its not as grainy as you would think it would still need external processing, not worth the cash for a monophonic synth in my opinion. the waldorfs are good so are the novations for that sort of thing.

 

a trinity is a good option very nice synth with lots of good features, you can also assign velocity resonant filters to the keys etc.. very good for filter sweeps defined by velocity or you can assign it to a cc change and do it by sequenced control changes.