I plan to buy a keyboard in the next few days...my budget is arnd 12k (and can stretch on 1-2k if theres a good reason). I am a total newbie and dont have an idea as to what all effects to check for before buying one. I have played on a casio and a yamaha (dont know which model) and I could not differentialte much -except for the fact that the yamaha one had lot more sound/effects (voice/styles) and additionally had a metronome. Appreciate if anyone could guide me on some best buying practices (kindof..) and suggest a particular make/model ... within the budget! thanks!
In that budget, go for yamaha PSR 295.. In India you don't have many options.. you have casio/yamaha to be popular in entry level boards. Casio is more toyish, yamaha PSR models are decent. PSR 295 has got 480 voices, 150 styles, auto accompaniment is there, and you can store 5 songs (5 + 1 drum track each) in its internal memory. But it doesn't have a MIDI interface, it has got USB. If you can shed out around 16-18K, then you can get a model with Floppy drive, it helps in storing MIDI/yamaha song files. This may be useful. https://music.yamaha.com/products/categoryProducts.html?groupId=23
thanks a lot guitar boy for ur views! Agian can you/anyone also let me know what is the difference/advantage of having the midi interface over usb or vice-versa? I have a pc and is my assumption correct that there would be some mean to store recorded files on pc (hard drive) ...so does it make sense to to spare xtra money for floppy based kbrd? thnx again!
MIDI port on your keyboard will be useful to connect other devices to their MIDI port. Example: You can connect a MIDI guitar to your keyboard, you play your guitar, but keyboard will produce the sound. (Say you can assign a flute voice to the notes you play on ur guitar.. and it will sound someone is playing flute). USB is not an issue, you have USB to MIDI converters. For that particular board PSR 295, Yamaha has given a USB port for easy connectivity to your computer. (If it had been MIDI, then you should have MIDI interface at your computer too, to save MIDI files and data). And Yamaha provides XGlite software along with the kboard, which you can use for recording, and MIDI editing. And regarding that floppy drive.. its nothing when compared to have a computer to store data. It's just handy, and you can instandly save files. (impacts are like you want to save a riff which came to ur thought.. and u forget it before you setup the computer to save it). If I say, I won't spend 4k or 5k more, just to have floppy drive feature.
^ great explanation! lots of thanks man ! and... any idea how much do the usb to midi converters costs? and do the normal pc soundcards have midi interface? or do we need any additional h/ware?
no problems. https://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOUNO <<for USB/MIDI converter. YAmaha converter costs $49. I am not sure about the price in india, i hvn't purchased any so far. No, normal PC sound card (I take it as inbuilt / AC97 chip card) doesn't have MIDI. Sound cards with MIDI interface will be a bit costly. If you think of those options, then you will end up in spending more money(even u feel to get a synthesizer costing 1lakh). If I am given 12-13K to get a keyboard and I already own a system, then I will go for PSR 295, and an USB cable.
Congrats man. Finally. I didnt post here for the fear of displaying my ignorance. Congrats once again, you coming back to delhi?
thanks alph !! ..yeah finally got one ... will try out some elton jon kindda stuff now ..to trouble my neighbors :annoyed: I'd consult u b4 gettin my 1st electric guitar (..probably in the next 'financial quarter' now ] abi dillli dooor hai yaar :dance:
