[LAU] OT: Portable Keyboard

[david]

I don't know anything about Korgs. The school music room where we 
practice has a Korg digital audio workstation of some sort in it. I 
tried doing one practice with it and couldn't figure it out - way too 
many controls, configuration settings, etc. (Plus I didn't want to mess 
anything up for the music teacher who uses it everyday - he had a lot of 
custom stuff set up in it.)

As far as keyboard feel went, its keys were heavier than those on the 
Yamaha. I happen to like the lighter keys better, but if you're more 
used to pianos, it would be quite comfortable.

Oh, and the PSR-740 is one tough instrument. About a year ago, we had a 
speaker stand (complete with main speaker) that was standing on the edge 
of a stage topple off the stage and land the speaker on the keyboard 
(after bouncing off me). I can barely move one of the speakers, so it 
was probably 60-80 pounds. It chipped one of the keys, put a narrow 
gouge into the plastic near the LCD, and put a small crease in the metal 
grid over one of the speakers. Damaged nothing else. I stick some tape 
over the chip in the key and the keyboard is still going strong.

In its gig bag with pedals and power supply, it weighs 47 pounds - don't 
know how portable you might consider that. We looked at another 
company's idea of a "portable" model: it weighed 110 pounds. I thought 
that was a little extreme, even for something with 88 keys.

James Stone wrote:
> I thought the korg X50 looks quite nice.. I am considering getting
> one, although I don't think the keyboard will be much of an upgrade
> over the Evolution.. I think the built in sounds are pretty amazing
> though.
> 
> James
> 
> On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 10:41 AM, david <gnome at hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
>> My Yamaha PSR-255GM is 36" wide, 14" deep, 5.5" high. Has 61 keys,
>>  decent speakers built in, and one line out. It lacks any connection for
>>  a volume pedal or any other control widgets, although it has a
>>  connection for a foot switch. The keyboard can even run on batteries.
>>
>>  The PSR-740 I use in our church band has roughly the same keys, is a bit
>>  wider and deeper, better built in speakers and stereo line outs. Also
>>  offers foot switch, volume pedal, a pitch bend controller and a
>>  modulation controller that by default tries to function like a
>>  lightweight imitation of a Leslie speaker. The foot switch, pedal and
>>  both controllers are configurable via the keyboard's LCD menus. It has a
>>  lot of capabilities (including drum machine functions, etc) because it's
>>  sort of designed to be a "one-man-band" instrument. It even has a mic in
>>  connection and an assortment of DSP tricks you can use on an incoming
>>  voice (such as generating a three-voice chorus accompaniment from it).
>>
>>  I'm very partial to Yamahas, I think they have the best built-in sounds. ;-)
>>
>>  Of course, neither of them is made anymore, but perhaps later PSR models
>>  would be suitable. Don't know how it compares to your Evolution.
>>
>>
>>
>>  Simon Williams wrote:
>>  > Hello everyone.
>>  > I'm posting here more out of desperation- I simply cannot find what I'm
>>  > looking for anywhere.
>>  >
>>  > Basically I'm looking to replace my Evolution MK-461c midi controller
>>  > with something of a little bit better quality, and something capable of
>>  > producing it's own sounds (relying on a computer is often quite
>>  > inconvenient, especially since I haven't yet managed to find/setup good
>>  > enough quality sounds).
>>  >
>>  > The main problem I'm having is finding something portable. My MK is 5
>>  > octaves (61 keys), and measures approx 97cm x 23cm x 9cm. The main point
>>  > is that this thing is a long rectangle. Every single other 5 octave
>>  > keyboard is getting on for square- with the same length, but having a
>>  > depth of about 60cm instead of 23cm. What is going on? I know they put
>>  > the speakers in there, but seriously? That's hardly portable, and I
>>  > *know* the additional electronics doesn't need to take up that much
>>  > room. The other serious problem with these is that they aren't even flat
>>  > squares - that I might be able to deal with, but all the ones I have
>>  > seen are more like wedge shapes and end up being stupidly high at the
>>  > back as well (again, well over twice the height of my MK).
>>  >
>>  > The other major problem I have is that I need line out rather than just
>>  > a headphones socket. The main problem with the headphones socket (aside
>>  > from not really being as good for connecting to a PA system) is that it
>>  > mutes the speakers, which isn't very helpful since I'm likely to be
>>  > using PA systems without foldback capability. It seems that I have to go
>>  > to digital piano before I get line out.
>>  >
>>  > Actually, weighted keys would be nice, but again, I have to go to
>>  > digitial piano to get that, and digital piano's are all 7.5-8 octaves,
>>  > which doesn't fit in my car. I've considered the possibility of a 6
>>  > octave, but I don't think that will fit either.
>>  >
>>  > Does such thing as a "portable keyboard" suitable for live performance
>>  > actually exist?
>>  >
>>  > Oh- one other thing- price is a major consideration (I originally bought
>>  > the MK because it was cheap).
>>  >
>>  > I like the sound of Yamahas, and I nearly bought a PSR-E403 off ebay,
>>  > until I saw a better picture and discovered that it's a stupidly high
>>  > wedge, and that it has no line out.
>>  >
>>  > Please, can anybody help me?
>>
>>  --
>>  David
>>  gnome at hawaii.rr.com
>>  authenticity, honesty, community
>>
>>
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>>
> 


-- 
David
gnome at hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community