Members trevcda Posted May 16, 2014 Members Share Posted May 16, 2014 ~~I'm looking for a small keyboard inexpensive with built-in sounds, particularly the Wurlitzer piano sound on the song "Happy". I'm playing bass and running sound these days and have zero interest in dragging out anything of my typical gigging keyboard gear for one song. I've got the gear to do it right. I want the gear to do it easy and cheap. Frankly, if it were powered by batteries, that'd be a bonus as I'm probably just going to plug it into the acoustic guitar wireless pack and rack that shoots right into the monitor board and main mixer, that I'm already using. I'd like full size keys but a reduced octave count. 1/4" jack(s) would be good. Not interested in controllers. Definitely interested in used and older gear. Just really trying to make this super simple. And hopefully super cheap. Maybe a 25 note keyboard? Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted May 17, 2014 Members Share Posted May 17, 2014 Maybe MicroKorg XL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChipCurtis Posted May 17, 2014 Members Share Posted May 17, 2014 Actually if you can snag a 2nd-hand Korg Micro-X, that would be more suitable for your purposes than a MicroKorg XL. Micro-X is a portable, 25-key rompler with Triton sounds in it (and full size keys), while the MicroKorg is a VA with "mini-keys". You will get way better Wurlitzer emulations on the Micro-X than on a keyboard designed to emulate analog synths. I believe both synths have battery power option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted May 18, 2014 Members Share Posted May 18, 2014 Korg microStation? if you can deal with mini keys.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockPianoman Posted May 18, 2014 Members Share Posted May 18, 2014 Yamaha MX49....all the sounds from the Motif XS and 49 keys.....layering and splitting can be done from the panel but certain editing requires a computer (set it up with a computer at home).....$500 new but on Ebay they are less.....4 knobs allow quick edits.....octave up and down buttons allow the full range of MIDI....it even has 128 note polyphony..... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keybo...zer-controller They start under $400 used on Ebay..... http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?LH_BI...a+MX49&_sop=15 These are the sounds in it.....(the MOX also has the Motif XS sound set).... Yamaha MOX Demo - ALL 1217 voices in 100 Minutes ! All the manuals are free downloads....type in MX49....Data List has all the sound names....http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/ The MOX6 used is 61 keys and doesn't need a computer to edit, but will cost more used and is only 64 note polyphony....it's also quite a lot bigger...the MOX6 also has a 16 track sequencer.... http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&LH_BIN=1&_nkw=yamaha+MOX6&_sop=15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted May 18, 2014 Members Share Posted May 18, 2014 Actually if you can snag a 2nd-hand Korg Micro-X' date=' that would be more suitable for your purposes than a MicroKorg XL. Micro-X is a portable, 25-key rompler with Triton sounds in it (and full size keys), while the MicroKorg is a VA with "mini-keys". You will get way better Wurlitzer emulations on the Micro-X than on a keyboard designed to emulate analog synths. I believe both synths have battery power option.[/quote'] The MicroKorg XL has a selection of PCM sounds in it in addition to its synth functions... including electric pianos. Also, the Micro-X does not run on batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted May 20, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 20, 2014 Thanks for the great suggestions. I'll take a look at all of them. Honestly cheap, small and if possible batteries are the keywords here. I was really hoping someone could recommend a great Casio P.O.S. that would do the job and was a little bit of a sleeper until plugged into a proper sound system. Much more than that and I might as well drag one of my "real" keyboards. I do like the form factor on the MX49, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockPianoman Posted May 21, 2014 Members Share Posted May 21, 2014 They make an MX61 too (61 keys of course) and it's very compact for 61 keys but for $700 new you can probably find a used MOX6.....you can do all editing on an MOX6 without a computer and you have a much larger display.... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/keybo...ic-synthesizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted May 22, 2014 Members Share Posted May 22, 2014 Thanks for the great suggestions. I'll take a look at all of them. Honestly cheap' date=' small and if possible batteries are the keywords here. I was really hoping someone could recommend a great Casio P.O.S. that would do the job and was a little bit of a sleeper until plugged into a proper sound system. Much more than that and I might as well drag one of my "real" keyboards. I do like the form factor on the MX49, though.[/quote'] The MX49 is a great board and should work well for you, but FYI, contrary to the post above, it does not have the same sound set as the MOX/Motif XS. Its sounds are derived from those boards, but it is scaled down. It has 166 mb wave ROM instead of 355 mb, and it supports only one insert effect per sound instead of two. If you do end up looking at the MicroKorg XL as a smaller, cheaper, battery-powered solution, make sure you look specifically at the XL, or the newer version XL+. The original MicroKorg will not do what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockPianoman Posted May 24, 2014 Members Share Posted May 24, 2014 Thank you Scott (I thought it had the entire sound set)....I wonder what's missing.....it sounds like a lot is missing...I guess he would need to play one and see if it still has what he needs.....it's possible that they left out some acoustic piano versions....a large portion of the Motif XF's sound set is additional piano samples that aren't in the Motif XS....it would be interesting to see what the Motif XF actually has other than those additional acoustic pianos that the Motif XS doesn't have.....acoustic piano sounds can use huge amounts of samples.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted May 24, 2014 Members Share Posted May 24, 2014 Thank you Scott (I thought it had the entire sound set)....I wonder what's missing. I don't know of a complete list, but I believe that differences include absence of some of the stereo sounds (leaving only mono versions of those instruments), and absence of alternate articulations. I don't know what else. I guess he would need to play one and see if it still has what he needs. You can also download the data lists for the instruments from Yamaha's web site, which can give you an idea of which XS sounds are still in the MX, at least in some form. It's a little confusing, though, because the Voice names are not identical... when the Motif voice was brought to the MX, they often had to truncate the name of the voice so it could be displayed on the MX screen that is not capable of displaying as many characters. But you can often figure it out. (And again, even the sounds that are in both may sound different, because of fewer effects on the MX.) .it's possible that they left out some acoustic piano versions. I don't believe so. .it would be interesting to see what the Motif XF actually has other than those additional acoustic pianos that the Motif XS doesn't have.....acoustic piano sounds can use huge amounts of samples.... Basically, everything in the USR1 Voice Bank of the XF (or the PRE9 Voice Bank in the MOXF) is based on the extra samples that are not part of the XS set. (And again, short of playing one, you can get an idea by downloading the data list from the Yamaha site.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roland_McDonald Posted July 31, 2014 Members Share Posted July 31, 2014 Arturia Microbrute is an awsome little synth. They sell for the price of microkorg, but are much more capable in my opinion, look much better, too. Check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roland_McDonald Posted July 31, 2014 Members Share Posted July 31, 2014 Novation Bass Station runs on batteries and it sounds good, but it's monophonic, though. Great synth, non the less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted August 1, 2014 Members Share Posted August 1, 2014 For piano and pop sounds in general check the older Jv/Xp by roland they go dirt cheap nowdays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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