Buying a keyboard.

[Egens]

Hello mates.

I've been playing keyboards for like 4 years... I like playing metal (All that sppedy solo's), especially of these bands; Sonata arctica,Children of bodom, and of course , Dream Theater....

Anyway, two years ago, I bought a Casio CTK 691 keyboard, which is really unprofessional... I mean, I liked it very much, and I was surprised from some of it's quality sounds, and from it's synth options! (Like creating a tone and that).
For casio, it's superb, and I recommand it for begginers.

Well, as you probably figured, I'm looking for something new... something better.... I'm looking for a professional keyboard (though I don't want it to have too much synth options and stuff you hardly use... and I know many synth have loads of these stuff...). I want it to have many tones, maybe a couple of rhythmes... I'm looking for some sort of a "Workstation". Oh... and i'm not going to spend loads of money for it. I nedd somethin' cheap..

I checked a lot, and found the Roland GW-7, which seems very nice,and I think it will fit my needs... On the other hand, I met the KORG Triton Le... which is more expensive, and I think it has a better sound quality.

Anyway, I really liked the GW-7.
What do you think about it... should I buy it or not?
Or maybe I should go for the KORG I mentioned?

some info about the GW-7...cause I think it's new, so maybe some guys won't know it...
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=657&ParentId=83

Anyway, I'm not a professional, so ill be glad if youll tell me what do you think about it?

Thanks a lot.

[-=AnatomiC=-]

Yeah, it's pretty good and affordable workstation (roland)... But it doesn't have hammermechanics, wich can become handy if you play some real music. But nwm that... you'll probably have all things you need there. It looks very cool also.

[losmusicanos]

Do you need a workstation or an arranger? GW7 and your Casio are arrangers (they have rhythms with arrangements that change with the chords you play). The GW7 being a bit more advanced, Roland called it an "arranger-workstation".

Triton LE, Roland Fantom, etc. are workstations (sometimes called "synthesizer workstation"). They usually have a more professional sound and more options to edit the sounds and make your own programs. And they don't have rhythms.

[Egens]

Thanks for the answers..

Well, First of all, You must agree that the GW-7 is way more advandced and has better sound quality then the casio I have?
If I'm wrong, Ill need to reconsider what I'm gonna buy...

Anyway, I think it is quiet good, I know it's not very professional, but I saw it got some synth options, like creating,editing a tone, recording and that..

I checked out the Triton Le, and I did sense better sound quality, though I didn't like it's piano sounds.... It's very Electronic... and doesnt sounds like a real piano, unlike the GW-7's, which is reasonable (But of course no match for a real piano...).

Secondly, The KORG synth , probably like most of the professional synth, has loads of options that I don't need.... I mean, editing a tone is nice, and the record option also, but I don't need too much ways to edit, and a sampler... (seems like something very unpractic to me...), and loads of pro's stuff that will be useless for me...

The GW-7, from what I understand, is a combination of an arranger keybaord, which has lots of tones (by the way, it has much more tones then the triton...),and ryhtmes, which are nice to have, and from the other hand, have some synth options, and has a synth look.... I'm not sure about it's sound quality though... It was perfectly fine in store, but who knows? maybe the speakers were responsible for that...



So, what do you think?
Ill be glad to here an opinion from someone who owns the board, also.
oh,an What does hammermechanics do? I could'nt understand.

Thank you very much, I appreciate your kindness.

[losmusicanos]

Of course the speakers have an influence on how good the synth can sound, but from what you say, I think the GW7 will make you more than happy. In the meantime I've checked the video and it seems quite good.

And yes, it's certainly better than your Casio.

[Egens]

Guys, (especially the last responder, sorry for forgeting your nick..)

I'm more then greatful.... Youve helped me very much.

I think Ill go for the GW-7.

I think it'll serve me well in gigs with my band, and for recording songs and play in home, and it's cheap, and good, from waht I understood.

I'm open for more suggestions, and opinions about the GW-7,

[Omega Monkey]

The first thing to do when buying new equipment is figure out exactly what you will do with it. Will you use it live? Do you want to create your own sounds (you do)? What sort of sounds will you be using? What sort of keyboard do you want (# of keys and weighted/unweighted, etc....)? What sort of controller options do you want (ribbons, pitch and mod wheels, control knobs/sliders, etc...).

Then of course you need to consider your budget. Considering that basically everyone (unless they are a millionaire) is on a restricted budget, it makes sense to get the most for your money. And the best way to do that usually is to buy used (usually from ebay). Typically you can get about twice as much for your money when you buy used.

You say you dont want features that you wont use, but then you go for an arranger keyboard. But you play metal. How many metal styles do you think are included on this GW7 and do you really think they would be appropriate for what you do? I always saw arranger keyboards as being more suited for wedding bands or people doing commercial jingles or something that just need "popular" styles quick and easy, rather than doing original music on them.

Also remember if you are playing mostly metal, you DO want to be able to make your own sounds, though you might not realize it now. The likelihood that any synth will have presets that will be appropriate for your music is very low (if you were playing pop, classic rock, techno, or jazz it might be different), so you will want to have as much control as possible over your sounds.

Really you just need to decide how serious you are about music. To be honest, this isnt really a "serious" musicians keyboard. I imagine you could pick up a used Fantom or maybe Fantom S for what this thing will cost new and either of those would completely smoke this thing.

Some options to look into:

Fantom or Fantom S
Roland XV-88
Yamaha S90 or S80
Yamaha CS6X
Yamaha EX5
Korg Trinity

Dont just settle on the first thing you see. Thats a sure equation for disappointment later on. If you are going to spend several hundred dollars on something, dont you think you should do a little research to make sure you get the best thing available?

[Egens]

Hmm... Well, I know I can buy used synth, but most of the used ones in my country, are old, and I prefer buying new.

About the style I'm playing, metal.

Well first of all, I play lots of styles, also metal.
Actually, all of the tones that I need can be found in the GW-7.
For metal solo's for example, all you need is strings and leads kinds of tones.
And I tryied the GW and found them.

I'm saying again, that I'm not a pro, so I'm not looking for a very serious professional keybaord.

I play live with my bands sometimes, and with the CTK 691, I have no problems.
I was told, by friends, by researching the net... (And, friend, let me surprise you and say taht I did made some research.... the GW-7 is one of the boards I found most suitable for me.... I played loads of boards in shops, including the Roland Fantom (Which is very expensive for me, even used one in my country... and if ill buy from e-bay, itll cost me loads of money cause I'm from Israel (Not from the US).... You see, stuff like these , electronics and that, are very expensive here. For example, the Roland GW-7 wiil cost me something like 900$! 200$ more then it'll cost in the US.... So imagine how much the Fantom or the Korg triton will cost me..

Well, the GW-7 seems professional enough for me! It has many options, by the way, that I discovered after reading the manual, it looks good, and again,it fits my needs.

Again, I would be more then happy to hear from people who bought it.

[EloHiR ElEnDIl]

Well I have listened to the GW-7 and I think it'll be great for you..But I really think you should consider things I meen look forward look in advance:P ...maybe there're things you don't need now but maybe in the future as you advance (in the synths world) you'll need..! I think i'ts better at least for me to buy things with lot of extras 'cause in the future you can use them....because that happens to me...I said I'm going to buy a roland rs-50 ( i was between the 50 and the 70 which has a floppy disk) but I said "I'm not gonna use the floppy and the little sequencing thing" but now I'd be glad If I'd had buy the 70 'cause I get to the point that need to record my things....so is better looking for things that have all that looking for the things your synth doesn't have later....IMO

[EloHiR ElEnDIl]

Well I have listened to the GW-7 and I think it'll be great for you..But I really think you should look forward, I mean look in advance look to the future ... 'cause maybe there're things you don't need now but maybe in the future as you advance you'll need..! I think i'ts better at least for me to buy things with lot of extras 'cause in the future you can use them....because that happens to me...I said I'm going to buy a roland rs-50 ( iwas between the 50 and the 70 which has a floppy disk) but I said "I'm not gonna use the floppy ad the little sequencing thing" but now I'd be glad If I'd had buy the 70 'cause I get to the point that need to record my things....so is better looking for things that have all that looking for the things your synth doesn't have later....IMO

[Egens]

Now that you mentioned it...

What about the rs70? is it good?

I mean, it's older then the GW-7, but it seems good.

And what do you think missing in the GW-7 that ill find that I need in the future?

Damn... Another great board... Alesis QS6.2///
I'm not sure i can get it in my country, though...

Anyway...My options are;
Alesis QS6.2
Roland GW-7
Roland RS-70

What will it be?

[EloHiR ElEnDIl]

Well the Rs-70 is as the 50 the only difference is the floppy! IMO the gw7 is better but why don't you buy and alesis HD6? is in the same price range isn't it?

Oops it isn't you should save for one...

[-=AnatomiC=-]

Fusion is a good keyboard... or so the legend goes.

You should go to a music store and try them yourself.
And don't forget what your need are. Just write all your need down, then go the a music store, try them all out and buy a keyboard wich corresponds best to your needs.

[Egens]

ok... So the GW-7 is better from the RS70... I figured it out by trying to play both of them, also...

Hmm... I think this alesis HD6 is a future product, and too expensice for me,anyway..

but what about the Alesis QS6.2? it looks kinda good...the reviews are really good.
You think theres a big difference between it and the GW-7?

Cause if it's much better, I should try buy from abroad.. cause they don't sell Alesis in Israel (my home land).

[Egens]

ok... Never mind...

I won't have a chance of getting this Alesis.