In the Market for Keyboards.

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   I am looking for a good keyboard for my wife. As in which brands to stay away from, which are among the better ones, and what models etc. I prefer it to be in the 300-500 dollar range. But will consider any that are a little higher if strongly recommended! She has some Piano training, but not a whole lot. Plus it was when she was younger! =)
Any suggestions would be appreciated , 

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Pezmerga Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: April 26 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 64	Topic: In the Market for Keyboards. Posted: November 02 2007 at 07:04
	I am looking for a good keyboard for my wife. As in which brands to stay away from, which are among the better ones, and what models etc. I prefer it to be in the 300-500 dollar range. But will consider any that are a little higher if strongly recommended! She has some Piano training, but not a whole lot. Plus it was when she was younger! =) Any suggestions would be appreciated ,


Easy Money Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: August 11 2007 Location: Memphis Status: Offline Points: 10617	Posted: November 03 2007 at 08:05
	I havn't gone shopping for keyboards in a while but I don't think things have changed that much. The 300 to 500 range is a little low for a keyboard you would use on stage but puts you in the higher range of home keyboards in which case Yamaha and Casio are good brands. These kybds have a zillion sounds and rhythm presets and a touch that is not quite the same as a piano. If you want to spend a little more you could get a low-end fake piano with a decent piano sound and similar touch to the keys. The best thing to do is go to a music store and try out stuff.

Slartibartfast Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630	Posted: November 03 2007 at 08:35
	Are you looking for a serious musician's keyboard or one of those that has speakers in it? I honestly can't give you any recommendations either way. I have a Kawai K1 that's well over 10 years old now. It's MIDI capable, so I can interface it with my music room computer, which is really cool. I don't think they make them anymore, but the keys have a nice piano like response and there's a gazillion different sounds including a very good imitation piano. Looking forward to seeing what others might recommend, but you might want to at least narrow it down between the two types to get useful advice. Edited by Slartibartfast - November 03 2007 at 08:37
	Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Easy Money Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: August 11 2007 Location: Memphis Status: Offline Points: 10617	Posted: November 03 2007 at 09:45
	His price range is a little low for a pro kybd but could get him one of the more high end built-in speaker types. Something else to consider is whether you want a kybd with all the sounds and rhythms or something that is dedicated to re-creating a piano.

Zitro Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: July 11 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1321	Posted: November 03 2007 at 11:17
	how about a Yamaha Portable Grand DGX-500 ? http://underbid.com/action/display/item/24508-1819/sku/dgx-500.html It's the keyboard I have and is under $500. It has many different sound settings, a pitch bend, exceptionally good piano sound for its price (also the church organ sounds too real). I have a terrible $5 mic, but if you want to hear the keyboard in action, go to this link and press the 4th song "Zitro CD snippets" and you'll hear how good it sounds despite the terrible microphone. http://www.myspace.com/hernysmusica PS: there's electric guitar in the first two snippets, it's not the keyboard. Edited by Zitro - November 03 2007 at 11:20

jmcdaniel_ee Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 141	Posted: November 19 2007 at 08:23
	I have a Roland Fantom X that I love, but it's also really expensive. Roland makes a more stripped down version called the Juno D: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-Juno-D-61Key-Synthesizer?sku=700558 However, you would need an amp with it (performance keyboards don't have built in speakers). If she needs speakers too, then a regular old Casio should do fine. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Casio-WK3300-76-Key-Digital-Workstation-?sku=700461 I would recommend getting something with more than 61 keys though, that way it would seem more similar to a piano. I played a Casio for years before I upgraded, and they're pretty versatile. Casio also makes keyboards w/keys that light up (but I haven't tried them out). If she still would need to do some learning, that would be a way to go. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Casio-LK94TV-61Key-Lighted-Portable-Keyboard?sku=706074