Need somthing to start with...

[Roy]

I have the Alesis QS6.2 keyboard and I play piano for a short time (2 years)... The small range started to be annoying... So now I'm searching for a 88 keys keyboard that sounds good and also feels like piano...
I want an electric keyboard because I like to play stuff like Dream Theater and other hard rock/metal bands. Is there any keyboard that you may suggest?

:confused:

Thank you

and sorry if my English is hard to understand...:frown:

[hephiroth]

maybe a used Korg Triton Le-88? although, for not that much more money, you could get a brand new Alesis Fusion 8HD, which is a killer synth (i have one!).

[-=AnatomiC=-]

I think Fusion 88 is a good option. Triton LE 88 also
To be honest, 88 key synth is expensive anyway. I think, if you want something good, you will have to spend atleast 1800$.

Triton LE (1800$) and Fusion (2000$) are workstation, and yet they are much cheaper that other beasts like Triton Extreme (2300$), Fantom X (3000$), Motif (2900$) or K2600xs (3900$). Fusion is probably the most recent workstation with 88 keys.

Also, there is Yamaha s90 (1200$) - it's not a workstation (it does not have a sequenser) but I believe it does have a synth engine, what makes it a synthesaiser. And it's much cheaper than Triton and Fusion

If you like prog-rock, DO NOT BUY A STAGE PIANO - they don't have synth engines.

So, you have like 3 options - Triton LE, Fusion or s90.
If you want to spend more money, you can also try Extreme Triton, Fantom x8, Yamaha Motif ES or Kurzweil k2600.

I have Fantom x8 - it rulz :cool:

P.S.: all keyboards in this topic have 88 keys, and if you buy them from second hands, they can be much cheaper.

[Omega Monkey]

Yamaha S90

/thread

[Grey Loki]

I agree with Omega Monkey!

And in proper HTML formatting, it's actually

</thread>

[hephiroth]

fusion8HD is actually $1500, not $2000!

[Analogkid]

The S90 is kinda lame for the money, spend a few more bucks and get the better action on the S90ES

[Omega Monkey]

I dont think most people would consider @$800 or so "a few bucks" especially for a looking for "something to start with". But yeah, obviously the S90ES is a bit better.

And GL, in message board code it would actually be [/thread], but I was lazy.

[Roy]

Alright... thanks for the replys people... you are really helping...

well, I don't really know what is sequenser, can someone explain to me what is it?

And also... when I looked over the net I saw the Korg TR... it's 1600$... what do you think about this keyboard? no one mentioned it and it's around the prices you suggested, so I was wondering....

thank you for your time...

[Omega Monkey]

THe S90 would make the TR look like a childrens toy quite frankly and new ones if there are any left are about $1300. Used ones obviously would be a bit less.

A sequencer is basically a way to "record" sounds. But rather than record audio like say a tape recorder, it records control signals of the notes you play, how you play them (velocity, pitch bend, etc...), then you can play that control signal back later, either with the same sound, or a different sound, or even send it to other MIDI devices and use sounds from those.

[Roy]

Is the TR that bad?

It sounds like the s90 is a good deal but I cant find it anywhere...

[-=AnatomiC=-]

hmmm - it's pretty hard to find, new... because Yamaha want to sell more s90 ES'
I'm sure you can order it at internet.

Btw - s90 is a good deal. It doesn't have a sequencer or sampler, but it has a Standard Midi player, so you can upload midi file into it with an USB, if it has one :smile:
But you can not record anything and you won't be able to use audio samples, in the keyboard.

But you can always connect your s90 to a PC and record midi with other software.

Also - they say it has very nice piano sounds and the keyboard should be realistic enough, if you are a beginner. Btw - Korg has very weak piano sounds.

[Omega Monkey]

Its not entirely true that the S90 cant use samples. Actually, Im not sure if they can load samples and just not record them (like the Kurzweils without the sampling option). BUT, you CAN get PLG cards which have additional samples of keyboard and percussion instruments, as well as PLG cards which add complete synthesis engines such as FM, physical modeling, or analog modeling. THey go usually for about $150 or so eachand there are maybe 5-7 different cards. Thats really cheap when you think about what you are getting. They also use their own polyphony and insert effects.

The best place to get one now might be ebay, or find an out of teh way store that still has a new one.

[hephiroth]

the Korg TR has all of the original Triton sounds, plus 32MB extra of sample ROM (for 64MB total). the only weakness in it is that the FX section only has one insert effect (as opposed to five on the Triton/KARMA). you still get the two Master FX, though, so that's still 3 FX on any sound or combi. it's not that big of a deal really, plus you get a ton more samples, and while some Korg piano sounds aren't great, they've lately been improving in this area--the TR has piano samples from the same sampling session they used for the OASYS piano.

however, i still think, for the price, the Fusion 8HD, at $1500, is the best deal right now

[Roy]

Does the fusion sound good? does it have some problems?

[-=AnatomiC=-]

Does the fusion sound good? does it have some problems?

Well, everything has some problems. But there are small and big problems. It doesn't have big problems, I think.... :rolleyes:
I think Fusion is a great deal, if you want lots of stuff and you want to save some money. It's actually the cheapest good quality 88 key worstation.
If you buy Fusion now, it will serve you very long (till it's totally broken) and you won't have to buy anything else, like an external sequencer and stuff...

[Analogkid]

I dont think most people would consider @$800 or so "a few bucks" especially for a looking for "something to start with". But yeah, obviously the S90ES is a bit better.

And GL, in message board code it would actually be [/thread], but I was lazy.


I could have walked out of guitar center with a s90es for about 2k and from what I remember the plain s90 was about 1400 but i could be wrong

[Grey Loki]

Does the fusion sound good? does it have some problems?

If you check the 'User Submissions' part of the forum, the improv I posted there a few days back was recorded in real time from the Fusion. It's a very powerful piece of kit, and all of the samples (or most of them, anyways) are top-notch.

[hephiroth]

as long as you make sure you have the latest OS for the fusion downloaded and installed, and you download all of the awesome hollow sun sounds, the fusion is really hard to beat. the people at hollow sun were hired by alesis to create a bunch of new sample libraries for fusion users, free of charge! on top of that, the main guy there, steve, has added a bunch of "free packs" of other sample libraries he has.

on top of that, you have a KILLER analog modelling synth engine, along with the ability to load in your own samples to the 40GB hard drive!

[Roy]

People, you really helped! thanks you so much for your patience! you really affected my decision...
Sounds like the fusion rocks! I think ill get one in the end of october...

Grey Loki, I heard your thing, thats really nice... I like the atmosphere that it creates, and it sounds like the fusion is really fun...

:smile:

[hephiroth]

before you buy the fusion, check out these sites for info and demos:

http://www.promusicproducts.com/forum/phpBB2/index.php <user forum

http://www.alesis.com/product.php?id=20 <official page with a link to official and unofficial demos

you can hear its power!

[Grey Loki]

On top of that, you have a KILLER analog modelling synth engine, along with the ability to load in your own samples to the 40GB hard drive!

My current lead tone of choice is a purely VA saw/square wave job, inspired by Arjen Lucassen's lead on the Ayreon albums, and slightly by JR's Octavarium and normal leads. I think it sounds pretty good - i'll get around to posting a sample sometime.