Good 61 key second board?

[DT4L]

Hey folks, I was hoping to get some advice from a few of you chaps on what kind of nice little board to buy. Yes I know the question has been asked hundreds of times already but Ive searched this forum and google and whatnot but still aren't sure. what I am looking for is a compact 61 key synth with joystic/pitch wheel, and good basic sounds like piano, strings, organ etc. It doesn't need huge sound creating capabilities but it would be nice to be able to make a descent lead sound
(I have a LE88 so it doesn't need to be better then that) The reason I am looking for something is because it really isnt practical to lug my LE in its "road ready" case everywhere that i want to be able to play, ie. little jam/writing sessions and stuff like that. Im not even considering on of those shitty casio type things with the speakers in it. Ive narrowed it down to the Roland Juno-D, Yamaha EX5, Korg M1 or Korg 01/W. what do y'all think about them and do you suggest any others? thankyou muchly for any suggestions!

Lou.

[losmusicanos]

Korg 01/W has a keyboard that doesn't get old very well (so you'd have to check it's ok)... Strings & organs are OK, piano not that good, but not too bad in a mix.

[Omega Monkey]

Out of the ones you listed, the EX5 is the obvious choice. Not the best thing ever for sampling stuff, but the onboard waves are mostly pretty nice to begin with. Plus of course its got a full function sequencer and additional synthesis types. The D is pretty much junk, I would never recommend someone buy one. And the other 2 are ancient with fairly "dated" sounds (so I would only get one of those if you wanted those particular sounds).

THe EX, the pianos arent the best, but they are passable (and to be honest I really havent messed with them yet to try and get something better). Of course if you get some sample ram and a scsi board you can load any piano you want up to the amount of ram you have. Same with strings (although I like really agressive string sounds whereas most people seem to like the really slow swell kind).

But when you enter the realm of electric pianos, synth leads and basses, freaky pads, organs, guitars, clavinets, and of course wind instrument emulations is when the EX really shines. The FDSP is really great for electric piano, electric guitar, and clavinet sounds, but it can be used on any wave (so in essence you could put an electric guitar pickup on a flute). Of course FDSP can do a lot more than that like crazy phasers and flangers, as well as some limited FM and other effects.

The AN engine is pretty sweet too. I believe its 4 oscillators total, which can be used together or split for duophonic mode. The sound is really nice too, and very controllable (how many VA's have an "edge" parameter for the oscillators?). Some slight aliasing when you get way up high, but not really enough to worry about.

The VL engine is something youre not really going to find on anything else for the most part, unless you get a MOSS board or a Fusion. So thats a nice extra and its really good for flute sounds and stuff like that.

And the effects kick ass. You get 2 inserts per voice, plus a chorus and reverb section which also have modulation and delay effects between them. All the usual stuff is included in the inserts like various modulation effects, delay, pitch shifting (I guess for using on samples), various distortions and amp simulations, plus all kinds of crazy shit like bit reducing, "auto synth" (I cant even describe this one, its very freaky), turntable simulation with controls for "click density" and noise, etc... The only problem is I dont think there is a "live mode" for the effects (or if there is I havent figured out how to do it), to use them with external sources (like I can do on my ASR-X).

The main "problems" are the slow scsi speed (which supposedly can be somewhat alleviated by replacing the floppy drive with an internal card reader) and the somewhat underpowered DSP section. The DSP problem is only noticeable in the lack of polyphony for the VL and AN sections (but of course you can always resample those sounds and then have 128 voices of them), and similarly when trying to have too many "special" voices or insert effects at once in a performance.

All in all a very nice synth, adn the problems are pretty minor compared to what it can do and the going price.

The other obvious choice would be the Trinity. I probably wouldnt go for anything older than that though. The Trinity is already 10+ years old.

[DT4L]

okey dokey then, thanks for detailed the reply omega monkey, im still deciding if i can afford another board as yet but i will take your advise i think.. you seem to know what you talking about (i remember asking about stereo sound and live amp/PA or something and ended up getting two 15"s and a little yamaha PA... the stereo sound is really worth it! cheers) i tried out the Juno-D and didnt like it much, didnt like the sounds and hated the roland joystick. thanks again for the help mate, its good to know that their is a place where a keyboardist can get alot of really helpful info about pretty much anything.

Lou.

[Omega Monkey]

(i remember asking about stereo sound and live amp/PA or something and ended up getting two 15"s and a little yamaha PA... the stereo sound is really worth it! cheers)

Oh really? Cool, I think I remember that thread. Im glad you like it.

The EX5 is really cool board, I like mine a lot. It does have some limitations, but especially for your uses, I think it will be really good. Still a bit on the heavy side maybe (but not too bad, I can carry it by myself although I prefer to have another person to help). Good luck with whatever you end up with.

[Bastardo Demono]

i think the juno-d is a good bet if you want to keep things cheap. those other synths are older and might not be too strong nowadays, and also the sounds are really old and sound kind of poor these days. the juno-d is newer at least and although nothing awesome, it still is better since it uses more modern technology. if not, try the alesis fusion out, it gives you a lot of bang for your buck if you are willing to spend a bit extra

[Alkemist]

The EX5 Rocks,

BUT!!!!

It is not the light board you want to lug around to small jam sessions and the like.

It is not made of plastic, and its metal casing weighs a lot. Mine is about 28 kilgrams with its case (a soft gig bag!) with my music, cables, two pedals... And its not something you swing over your shoulder and walk a couple of miles to your band practice, not something you feel comfortable throwing around in the bus, train, subway, or pretty much anything else. I've never felt myself to be the skinny weak type, but I find it very straining to carry with me. I don't recommend it for lugging around. Unless you have car, that is.

Oh, and the dimensions! I had to get an 88-key keyboard gigbag for it. 127x40x17cm. And it has 76 keys, not 61. The 61 version, EX7, is far less advanced, but has almost the same soundset, and is probably loads lighter and cheaper.

The sound side - I have to completely agree with O.M. Its by far the best keyboard at that price..But If you're just looking for something that's first prioirity is portability, you should concider the above.

Daniel.

[Staccato]

i think the juno-d is a good bet if you want to keep things cheap. those other synths are older and might not be too strong nowadays, and also the sounds are really old and sound kind of poor these days. the juno-d is newer at least and although nothing awesome, it still is better since it uses more modern technology. if not, try the alesis fusion out, it gives you a lot of bang for your buck if you are willing to spend a bit extra

Have you tried it out.. cause I wouldn´t say the sounds are that good.. not sure if they are better then older ones.. some pads and stuff are good.. but the rest.. no thanks..

[DT4L]

Thanks again guys (and gals) i think ill just keep looking around a few more music stores and watch ebay and whatnot. i dont think id be able to go for the EX5 im interested in seeing the EX7 though. cheers. lou.

[normthesamurai]

Yeah stay away from the juno.But the Ex7 does look cool I'll be idly looking at buying one myself, or an Ex5 in a few months.

What about a DX7? (I'm sucha fanboy)

[jeebustrain]

the Juno-D will give you absolutely nothing you have already in the Triton LE. It would be a big step downward, actually. Find a deal on a Fusion 6HD. You won't be sorry.

[Maximus]

At the end it comes down to how much money you want to spend, but from the ones you mentioned in guessing from 400 to 800U$

My advice is don’t go for another korg, (Unless you want a carbon copy of what you can do with the LE88, in witch case a used LE61 would be the obvious choice plus there very light in weight), if you buy another 61 note korg, (M1, O1W, X3, X5, N364, N5ex, Trinity) your sound palette is not going be as wide as it could.

A Roland would complement perfectly the sounds of your LE, a XP60 or a XP30 (If you don’t need a sequencer) make great choices, forget the juno-d you’ll feel like you’re seeping down too much from the LE, the XP’s come loaded with very commercial sounding meat & potatoes sounds with a completely different flavor than the triton series.

From Yamaha a EX7 will serve you very, very well Just listen to Mr. Monkey a very satisfied EX user, for less money a W7 (a generation before the EX), or the venerable SY77, old, recogniciable sounds but it has FM and there build like tanks

If you can afford it, a Fusion HD6 would be an awesome addition, a QS6.2 is kind of a mix bag, great value Synth (Much much better than a Juno-d) but lacks some of the bells & whistles of some used synts at the same price.

Finally lets Not forget an oldie but still very useful Synth, a Kurzweil K2000 they do a lot of stuff, it was a pro machine still capable of holding its own with current machines polyphony it’s the only issue, (28 Notes) plus you can get a very expanded one with hard drive, sampling, P-ram, Sound expansions (i.e. fully loaded) for about 700U$