Re: [LAU] OT: Portable Keyboard

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've got at least some stuff to look at
now.

cdr wrote:
> U-Key has line-out. 1/8" mini just like the plugs on my radios,
> soundcards, and amp. convenient..

1/8"? That's 3.5mm- the sort used on computers. This is almost certainly
a headphone socket (see below).

david wrote:
> My Yamaha PSR-255GM is 36" wide, 14" deep, 5.5" high. Has 61 keys,
> decent speakers built in, and one line out.

Hmm. I looked at the manual for the PSR-255GM and I can assure you that
it does *not* have line out. It has a headphones socket. Everything has
a headphones socket. But I want line out, which will usually come as
Left and Right channels as two separate mono 1/4" jack or phono/RCA
sockets. Any stereo jack socket is certainly a headphones socket. It has
to be labeled "line out"- "headphones/output" isn't line out.
A headphones socket has a different impedance to a line out socket,
which makes it less useful for connecting to a PA system. You will get
more noise when using a headphones socket to connect to a PA system
because the levels will be all wrong.
The other issue is that a headphone socket will mute the onboard
speakers whereas line out will not.

Al Thompson wrote:
> My suggestion would be to stop looking at low-end consumer grade
> gear.

That's great in theory. Except for one thing- I can't find what I'm
looking for in higher end gear either. Most of it is 8 octaves long
which is too big (though the Korg X50 looks promising). Has no-one
considered churches and small bands?

> If I were to put together something like this, I would get a
> MIDI controller keyboard, which will be about the size of what you
> had before (or maybe even smaller), and get a used Roland JV-1010.
> You'd end up with something as portable as you want, with vastly
> superior capabilities from what you had before. Controllers or
> cheap, and a used JV-1010 is cheap too.

david wrote:
> 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.

Perhaps I didn't mention that my Evolution is a cheap USB Midi
controller keyboard. It's supposed to be good, but I'm convinced that
the pads have worn out or something because I often get notes suddenly
played way louder than the rest.

I had a look at the JV-1010, and it's a possibility, but the problem is
that I still need to replace my MIDI controller with something better
and then buy some sort of amp. I'm not sure it's worth it.

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.

I really like the look of that. But at 450 pounds it's still somewhat
over my budget.

Cue everyone rolling their eyes and thinking to themselves "you can't
have everything and get it cheap". But in all seriousness I shouldn't
have to be looking at expensive high end gear to get what I want. The
perfect solution would be a consumer grade keyboard, but with line-out
added (there's no way that's hard or expensive), and different
proportions. I'm not really asking them to cram stuff into less space
(though I *know* there's no need for them to be that size). Just change
the proportions.
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Received on Fri Apr 25 04:15:01 2008