23 Apr
2008
23 Apr
'08
9:38 a.m.
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(a)hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
--
David
gnome(a)hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community
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(a)hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community
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