Re: [LAU] OT: Portable Keyboard

From: david <gnome@email-addr-hidden>
Date: Wed Apr 23 2008 - 14:37:56 EEST

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@email-addr-hidden> 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@email-addr-hidden
>> authenticity, honesty, community
>>
>>
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>> Linux-audio-user@email-addr-hidden
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>>
>

-- 
David
gnome@email-addr-hidden
authenticity, honesty, community
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Received on Wed Apr 23 16:15:02 2008

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