Learn-to-play'instrument

I wonder if any 1 could suggest me any digital keybord/synth/arranger in the affordable price.



First of all ill add that it needs to be fully compatible with GM or other Midi standard and Windows 7/vista becouse i want to learn how to play using free synthesia [synthesiagame.com] which is very powerfull application especially with its Practice mode.

Second . . . . i really do like to play with dsp effect so the synth station would be nice for me but they are usually expensive. . . . .

3rd. I heard that if learning how to play, use 88 full weighted keys[HM3] with touch sensitive option, becouse it will help to strenghten the fingers

4th. I am kinda stylish man, i propobly couldnt play on something that looks very . . . . . . .bad, u know . . . i couldnt force myself to play on ugly $%&# thing. . . i would prefere to puke.
But. . . . the only thing i found that has all of these 1-4 requirements is Korg Open Architecture Synthesis Studio (OASYS). . . the problem is. .
OASYS cost more than Clavinova in my country (arround 10'000 usd) (. . . . .which is at least 5 times too much for a beginner's new hobby.
Any 1 have propossition what should i choose ?

I was also considering:YAMAHA S-03 SL, YAMAHA DGX 230, KURZWEIL SP2, Korg PA-50, KORG TR 61, Roland e-50, and my new love for its
style & beauty Korg Pa-588 which is totaly perfect [ except price ]. According to what i feel about thoes instruments, i would buy Oasys or pa588 but i cant afford them ;/


so for every1 who doesnt want to read that stuff^ bcs its totaly boring i need: 88 full waighted keys with touch sensitive, cool look and sound, dsp / synth effects and midi/usb support . I dont need prof. arranger, prof, synthesizer, 80" lcd multi touch color display, nor the cd/dvd writer or something as stupid as that. Any 1 have some propositions?

Seems you want more like a synth or workstation rather than a piano. Depending on what you intend to do with it the weighted keyboard might not even be important however in decent price category I _think_ they are anyway...?
About MIDI, it's ancient technology and they are kinda all compatible, I'd rather check about Windows, Microshift likes to go rogue on industry standards sometimes (seriously, I doubt they do, Midi is pretty much standard since a long while afaik).

If I would be looking for what you're looking I think I'd go (as 1st choice) for a Nord Stage. I am no expert but they are highly regarded. If too expensive, there's the Roland Fantom X8, or Kurzweil PC3X are more affordable, Kurzweil PC2X being even cheaper for some more compromises I think, but you do need to look at exact specs (and to try them at a store etc).

Edit: Kurzweil SP2 is less "fancy" I think as far as samples etc. are concerned. If you want to have toys to play with go with the P series.

Lolz Fantom X8 & kurzweil PC3X are totaly totaly out of range for me. Thoes are FF class instruments, like korg Oasys. Thoes things cost like
15' 000-25'000 . . . . hymm . . . i bough my car for 6 000 so . . . thats kinda heavy price.


What i intend to do hymmm i guess i want to learn something advenced and to not get tired and bored, "play" with dsp effects and mayby create some ambient. I heard that 88 HA3 full weight keys are the best for learning and practicing.

Ye, midi is ancient but man u dont even know what the f* did i do to make it work on my friends Yamaha e-stage piano . . . first of all the "midi to usb" adapter was totaly uncompatible with USB 2.0. I had to use some old 1 to 4 usb switch becouse its incompatible with some common now usb controllers, then omfg, this device was totaly not compatible with plug&play. I mean on Win Xp the Sound host service was responsible for Midi devices installation & stuff but now win Vista/win7 doesnt use this kind of old fasion stuff, just DirectSound and OpenAL so there is no application/controller that know " wtf to do with that new thing". So i needed to install Win Xp but i have sata drive and 6gb of ram so it would be kinda hardcore to run XP . . . so then i had to try some Virtualization programs for virtual Xp etc etc etc . . . i spent 3 days on making it to work. I dont wana go thru all of this again . . . .

They have usb-midi these days ( plug it with an usb ), and as long as you use a generic driver there shouldnt be any problem in any OS. My Roland RD-300GX ( 2000 usd ) works perfect in Windows 7 who also works perfect ^_^

I bought a Roland SH-32 synthesizer ( synth module ), but I dont use much since all I need is a program like FruityLoops and a couple of VSTi's. Sure it's fun to have the knobs and stuff tho. But atm i'm just using my digital piano connected to my computer.

You can find alot of stuff that got weighted keys, cool look and sound, synth abilities and midi/usb ( most modern stuff have a usb connection now ) for under 10k usd. And you can save more if you'll do the synth stuff through the computer. Most synths today are digital anyway, so it doesnt really matter if you go for a synth with knobs or a computer program. Sure, with the synth inside you can use the instrument whereever you want. But if you're planning on having it at home, the best is to spend some money on a good VSTi.

yyyy . . . yeeee. . .most keybords even thoes with weighted keys are under 10k dolars . . . . but yyy.. i think i written it in a wrong way. korg Pa588/roland E-60 are already higher than by budget. . . thoes two cost 7'000 in my currency which is the highest max i can ever get even when i decide to starw myself to death just to buy it.

So i need some cheaper alternative i quess. Heheh i see u know what i mean . . . playing with knobs ftw ;p

While expensive, the Fantom X8 is about 4000 usd here, g8 maybe 5000. The Kurzweil pc3x about 3000 (maybe less and we have high taxes, so it will be somewhat cheaper in most countries).
Double check your prices, it can't be 4-5 times higher wherever you live...

Edit: You probably don't want to use midi to usb for synth, it's slow as hell, get a cheap sound card instead with midi input.

in my country:

Fantom X8 = 10899.00 =2341.51 USD
G8 = 14236.00 =3058.42 USD
Kurzweil pc3x = 7899.00 =1696.00 USD
Korg Oasys = 26119.00 =5611.30 USD

Thats preety expensive . . . the max i can afford is pa588/roland e-60 which will be 6' 000 = 1289,03 USD [ is way cheaper than in Usa]. Mayby in usa 1300 USD is preety cheap but here it isnt ;/ . . .

See they are much cheaper than in Hungary
Sorry you mentioned dollars and in first post usd so I figured you are talking of 10-20000 usd keyboards, and that seemed wrong, hehe.
Well here it is a lot of money too, I got my piano for about maybe 1400 usd and that's some months savings for me. :p
Difficult to find something really good for little money.

Maybe see the Kurzweil pc2x, I think it is small brother to pc3x. I'll go further, you could check if you find some second hand, you can get good deals but you will not have warranty and better take someone with you that can at least evaluate them better. But yes, second hand can mean a good deal, a 1 year old instrument (might still have some warranty, depending) loses quite a lot of its value compared to new price and it should be in very good condition.

PS: To avoid further confusion maybe give a price range in euro or usd, it can help whoever has some ideas for you.

huh funny fact. . . in most shops in here kurzweil pc2x is actually more expensive than pc3x . . . . the cheapest price i found is 7777.00 so its like 1630 USD (1696 usd for pc3x) Its actually more than pa588/e60 price so its kinda to high ;/
My musician friend adviced me to choose between my first love Korg 588 and Roland e-60 which i dont personally like . . . i mean ye its kinda flashing your eyes out but hymm kinda out of my style xD thoe i like flashy button xD hehe.

Ill check the auctions for thoes pc3/2x. .. ..but . . .

<joking arround>

According to Andrew lesson #40 i have to love my instrument. . .the only 2 i love is Korg Oasys and korg Pa588 . . . .becouse if i dont like my instrument i wont have any have fun playing it[ and i think that way too, u cant express ur inner feelings on something that u actually hate]. Its seems that my ' love' is preety expensive xD hehe ill better get some girlfriend i guess xD Gona be a lot cheaper ;P [ at the first point ;P]

</joking arround>

Which of theese would be the best ? (most of them are pocket friendly for me) :

YAMAHA S-03 SL,
YAMAHA DGX 230, [ thoe most of users says that low price dgxs are ekhm . . . . "cheap Casio" level . . .
KURZWEIL SP2,
Korg PA-50,
KORG TR 61,
Roland e-50 / e-60
Korg pa588