For some reason my wife and I were discussing buying an electronic keyboard the other day.Originally Posted by DacoRoman
Turns out she took lessons as a kid.
My Grandfather played by ear for Silent Movies in the 30’s, and was the Pianist in a old-time band in Portland OR in the 40’s.
What budget do you need for a decent 88 key keyboard these days?
Amazon links appreciated.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
$500-700 for 88 weighted keys. Weighted keys feel more piano-like than the $100 keyboards. Some have built-in sustain you can switch on and off, it's much more authentic to get a pedal.
So: weighted keys, sustain pedal (not toggle switch). This seems like a good one: https://www.amazon.com/d/Home-Digita...+weighted+keys
Thanks, I might take you up on that.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
When we were looking a few years ago it came down to the Yamaha or the Casio at similar price points. We ended up with the previous version of this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0106BXESC..._t3_B07DL1TLVB
No complaints, but nobody in the house is an expert.
You can get an 88-key keyboard for less, but if you want it to feel like a piano, weighted keys are a must.
Last edited by peterb; 02-01-2019 at 06:48 PM.
That would be cool if she got back into it.For some reason my wife and I were discussing buying an electronic keyboard the other day.
Turns out she took lessons as a kid.
My Grandfather played by ear for Silent Movies in the 30’s, and was the Pianist in a old-time band in Portland OR in the 40’s.
What budget do you need for a decent 88 key keyboard these days?
Amazon links appreciated.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow about your Grandpa! How neat is that!
Well, it depends what your budget and targeted style of music is. Since you are looking for 88 keys I'm assuming you want to be able to have nice piano sounds with weighted keys (instead of a keyboard that gives you retro hammond, vox, et.al. organ sounds).
Therefore I would say to take a look at the following ones:
https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-88-Key...ey+synthesizer
https://www.amazon.com/Roland-Lightw...ey+synthesizer
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ey-synthesizer (same one as above but sweetwater is a great place to buy musical equipment, and in this link they have a demo video of the Juno; it looks like they don't have that particular Yamaha unfortunately)
Next you need amplification. This is a tough one but I think I wouldn't go less than 20watts, even if mainly playing at home. I'd probably go with 50watts so that you have a good amount of clean headroom and a nice full sound.
Something along these lines:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...h-keyboard-amp
You will also need a 1/4" instrument cable:
https://www.amazon.com/d/Studio-Patc...strument+cable
This would constitute a very nice rig that you can use even in a professional setting. As such resale value for either keyboard and the amp ought to be decent too.
Also you can also check out reverb.com as one can find some great deals, even from dealers. I've gotten some amazing deals on reverb. For example here is that Roland Juno DS 88 at a 14% discount:
https://reverb.com/item/18498318-rol...-88-2019-black
Reverb.com is run by Chicago Music Exchange and tends to be a very reliable site. Especially when buying from a store or dealer.
Good luck!
This comment, and a pic or two upthread, just reminded me that I had to give up motocycling when my eyes started going. For a moment, I forgot that I used to own and ride street bikes. Weird.
At any rate there comes a time when everyone has to evaluate activities they enjoy against declining abilities as they age.
Clearly, Stephanie’s decisions in this regard are well-grounded. Unsurprising, as she’s never struck me as someone to just wing it.
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
I am not a keyboard expert. But my wife—who has her own highly regarded vocal coaching studio—uses a keyboard daily in her work, and she decided on a Yamaha P-series, based on debriefing a bunch of people who *are* seriously expert in keyboard. Hers is a p-90, and the feel and sound is great. She’s about due for another one—hers is 15 years old, and has been dropped a time or two on the gig, etc. But for a sub-1k keyboard, it’s been great. Next one will probably be whatever is the current version of the same thing.
Some P-series come with built-in speakers, but she just runs hers through a full-range powered speaker, specifically a Mackie SRM350. The PA speakers sound better than an amp, to me. FWIW.
https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-SRM350...67546954&psc=1
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
Yeah I didn't mention powered speakers and I debated if I should or not. I use 800w D class 12" Alto powered speakers myself, sort of budget but they work really well. I use 2 for vocals and one as a monitoring wedge. I'm a guitar player and my wife is more into retro organ sounds and so we actually use a 100 watt Kustom head through a matching cabinet from the early 70's for more gritty organ tonal mojo. We also use a powered speaker at times but since there is no EQ onboard this is at times unsatisfactory.
So especially for HiFi piano and synth sounds some keyboard players seem to want additional EQ, which powered speakers don't generally provide. Your keyboard may or may not have enough EQ control onboard to give you the EQ you need. So we use a small mixing board with the powered speakers. Good news is that small mixing boards are cheap. I use a small Yamaha mg102c mixer that I bought for around $129 if I remember right, many years ago, but I think it is discontinued. Yamaha sells a small mixer for $99 but only gives you Hi and Low control, and having control over mids can be a great thing and I'd recommended it, esp. if you'll end up doing any type of vocals.
A dedicated keyboard amp will have onboard EQ which simplifies things. Now having said this, if you can try out a powered speaker with synth piano sounds in a store and you are fine with the tone, you could run with that directly and not worry about getting a mixer! Another advantage is that the powered speaker will generally be much lighter and much more powerful.
Last edited by DacoRoman; 02-02-2019 at 01:43 PM.
Haven't posted any screenshots in a long time, but I picked up Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice for $5 on the Steam Winter Sale, very impressed, story based linear game, heavy Norse mythology, combat is great, eye and facial animation is amazing, haven't finished yet, just entering Hel, but strong implication the main character is literally insane, the dev suggests headphones for best experience, you basically have voices in your head the entire time. I think the best sound design overall since Dead Space. Sequel was recently announced with music composed by Heilung, I cannot wait, I can't believe how little attention this game received.
These are all in-game, but there is a photo-mode as well.
Last edited by t1tan; 01-09-2020 at 06:58 PM.
Snomobiles are my toys. We call them snowmachines in Alaska. Guns are tools to me, sleds are pure joy and recreation. My whole family rides and most of my friendships are the results of being riders. Primarily we ride off trail, backcountry, and mountain, which are all legit in our vast expanses of public lands up here. I'll ride until my arms stop working...The best part is that I've lost 60lbs and won't look like this fat guy this year
and my machine will perform better.
Last edited by AKDoug; 01-10-2020 at 02:01 AM.
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