newbie question

[samkristy2]

hello, am going to be buying a lower end keyboard/synth for some basic home recording. nothing fancy, but want it to have midi and a good variety of sounds such as strings, bass, and drums. 2 questions:

 

1-any recommendations on a decent one for between 200-300 dollars? is one brand better than others such as casio vs yamaha?

 

2-as a person completely new to MIDI, would it be easier to buy a keyboard with an actual midi in and out or would MIDI via USB be a better way to go as far as ease of use?

 

thanks in advance

 

sam

[Tube_Tone]

The casio in my sig was nice for that but its out of your price limit

[xmlguy]

Casio WK-500

[Yoozer]

 

2-as a person completely new to MIDI, would it be easier to buy a keyboard with an actual midi in and out or would MIDI via USB be a better way to go as far as ease of use?

 

 

This doesn't matter but something that has the old-style MIDI in and output is more useful in general. With USB, you're limited to hooking it up to a computer. With the old MIDI I/O you can hook it up to anything. Furthermore, a simple USB MIDI interface only costs $30 or so.

[Qrolla]

Possibly the korg R3. It has a a lot of potential for hardware synth sounds and midi compatibility. I just brought an R3 and it's possibly the best decision I made, it has so much to offer. I'm very new to synths but I hook it up to my computer with the korg soft synths and I can get it to sound like anysort of instrument like a grand piano or a cool sax.

[samkristy2]

thanks for your suggestions. i'm currently deciding between a casio wk-500 and a yamaha psr e413. the casio may have the edge due to being able to record samples with it's mic input.

 

i had planned on recording to my computer daw (reaper program) via a m-audio profire 2626 which has midi in/out on the back....so here's my stupid question. would i be able to use one of those usb to midi cables referenced in the reply above to run from the usb jack on the keyboard into the midi in/out ports on the profire? or would it be better to run the usb from the keyboard straight into the computer for recording? i plan to use both the onboard sounds and softsynths via the keyboards midi. would this keyboard allow me to pretty easily accomplish that? i guess the usb scares me a little cuz it seems like it'll just be more technical stuff to worry about working right, as opposed to simple midi in/out jacks on the back of the keyboard.

 

thanks in advance

 

sam

[xmlguy]

The biggest problem with both of these keyboards as a midi controller isn't the USB-midi interface, it's that neither have a mod wheel or aftertouch, which are very useful for adding expressions like vibrato while playing.

 

If you're going to primarily be recording on a computer powerful enough to use DAW software, then the built-in sounds on the keyboard aren't that important in this price range. If you can find a used Novation X-Station 61 at the right price, you get a much better midi controller for using with softsynths and sound libraries. The X-Station also has a built-in audio interface with good effects on its two inputs.

[samkristy2]

thanks for the reply, actually, they both are listed as having a pitch bend wheel, im not sure if that's the same as a mod wheel or not?

 

i looked up the novation xstation on ebay, i think that one is a little much for me right now (and more expensive than i can spend), i know i face a pretty broad learning curve and want to keep it as simple as possible.

 

would still like to know if anyone can help me out with my question on whether hooking up a usb to midi cable between the usb out on the keyboard and the midi in/out on the profire would be the way to go.

 

sam

[Gunslinger69]

 

thanks for the reply, actually, they both are listed as having a pitch bend wheel, im not sure if that's the same as a mod wheel or not? sam

 

 

No, the two are different.

 

The pitch bend wheel bends notes up or down, is sprung, and returns to the center position when not in use.

 

The mod wheel is not sprung, does not return, and is used to express what ever function is mapped to it to easily control that parameter - a typical mod wheel setting would be to add vibrato or change a resonance frequency.

 

Synths and controllers generally have both in one form or another, e.g. a stick or ribbon controller is sometimes used instead of a wheel.

[xmlguy]

 

would still like to know if anyone can help me out with my question on whether hooking up a usb to midi cable between the usb out on the keyboard and the midi in/out on the profire would be the way to go.

 

 

That definitely will NOT work. First of all, there really is no such thing as a usb to midi _cable_, even though some products inaccurately describe themselves as such. These are usb-midi interfaces that contain electronics, not just cables, and the USB connection requires a driver to be loaded on a computer, thus will not work when hooked up to a keyboard usb connector.