Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards For me other voices more important than the piano voices

I noticed most forum posts here do not mention quality of other voices such as Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B3, Vox Continental, Farfisa, Yamaha CP80, Yamaha DX7, Roland JUNO 60 etc

Will not be using much of the piano presets hardly at all, as music I like to learn is The Doors, Super Tramp, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Phil Colins, Genesis, The Cure, The Cars, Queen, Roxy Music, Santana, Steely Dan, Yes etc

Dan

Well, this is pianoworld, so it's not surprising that the focus is on piano. There are other sites with different emphasis.
Are you looking for recommendations for a board that is good for those things? Or just making an observation?

Recommendations for different boards be hopeful as well.

Learning new stuff every day, keyboardist is different from pianist !!!

this forum still helpful in understand differences in DP, midi keyboards, stage pianos etc

thanks anotherscott

For the variety you're looking for. Kurzweil Forte, Korg Kronos, Nord Stage 3 probably lead the pack, as they all have drawbar organ emulations, some amount of FM and VA synth, and a good selection of piano, EP, and transistor organ sounds. You might also be better off with two keyboards rather than one, especially since pianos and organs play best with different actions. Do you have any budget or size/weight constraints?

Didn't we already have this discussion in a separate thread?

I highly recommend the Casio SA-76.

Kinda,

We recently discussed which board had the best ep's etc..
Didn't really go into which board does the best Vox Continental or Farfisa.

Yes, there was the EP focussed one, and there was also the one about wanting lots of sounds, but on a low budget.

Yes , I posted thread focussed on EP but as I researched more realized I also liked the classic transistor organ, hammond type sounds as well the EP sounds.

I read review on Nord Electro 6D that I really like. In Canada the Nord Electro 6D 61 sells for $2999, more than I had wanted to budget for. Will have to delay purchase for 6 months. Better to wait, than purchase product, I not happy with. To be able to learn how to play keyboard, will purchase midi keyboard for now to use with GarageBand.

So my question for now is:

I always knew about Yamaha, Roland, Korg but know very little about Nord in general. Are they considered as good quality. How do they rank for build quality etc ? Really like the red colour ))))

Really appreciate the help here on this forum, saved me from making expensive mistakes.

Dan

Nords are professional gigging pianos and are probably a bit expensive. You can check the Yamaha reface line. Each of these keyboards emulate classic vintage instruments. I have the CP with Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clavinet and CP70 piano. There’s the YC which emulates various vintage organs like Hammond, Farfisa, transistor, etc. they have mini keys and are very portable but the sound engines and the vintage effects are top level.

Thanks for this. found out Yamaha YC on sale for $359 Canadian ))))

found list of songs to learn:

https://www.classicrockforums.com/threads/my-top-35-organ-tunes.2955/

Dan

Electro 6D is a cool board and is good for most of what you mentioned (and excellent for some of it). Weaknesses could be the "Yamaha DX7, Roland JUNO 60" part. If by DX7, you just mean the (in)famous DX7 EP, it's fine for that. But if you want the range of sounds that the DX7 had, maybe not, as it does not include FM synthesis (or even multi-velocity samples of any non-piano sounds). Similarly, it's Juno-style analog synth sound selection is limited, and does not include many things associated with those kinds of sounds, like pitch bend, modulation, portamento, or substantial abilities to modify the filters and envelopes.

I mentioned Kurzweil Forte, Korg Kronos, and Nord Stage 3 but they would all be even further out of budget. Since you're waiting to save up anyway, maybe look at the forthcoming Kurzweil PC4, though I don't know how its price will compare to the Electro.

You could also consider a pair of boards. For example, the combination of a Yamaha MODX (esp. with the optional sounds I mentioned in the earlier thread) and Roland VR-09B would probably cover you quite well, and if you picked the 88-key Yamaha, would also give you both a piano-style and an organ-style action. For less money than the Roland VR-09B, you could also consider the Numa Compact 2X... which also brings me to...


Mac or iPad? Either way, integrating external and internal sounds can be useful even after you settle on your other board(s). Not a strength of the Nord Electro, though.

Anyway, if you're going to start with a controller, you could consider that NumaCompact 2X, which gives you 88 keys and aftertouch. and 9 sliders for organ control, and also has a bunch of sounds built-in. So it could serve you for now, and also possibly still serve as a building block toward where you want to end up. And it's actually pretty decent for many of the things you mentioned. The rotary effect on the organ isn't so great, but here's a demo of it straight and then (at about 2 min) using an external pedal which you can add... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7TlQao9ubU You might even find that it does all you need, especially if you can supplement it with an app or two.

How much is the Numa Compact 2X? It will cost more, but it will give you a lot more. Both give you organs, but the Numa also gives you your Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Yamaha CP80, Yamaha DX7 (pianos), and a VA synth which will let you do things reminiscent of JUNO 60. Plus 88 full-size keys. (Though the Reface looks stronger for transistor organs.)

Numa Compact 2X is $899.99 Canadian , Hammond Xk-1c is $2300 if I was ok without the EP sounds but has Vox Continental, Farfisa as well

Dan

Since I mentioned the Reface, I find it fair to also note it is three octaves only and has mini keys. I wouldn’t rely on it as my only keyboard.

That is why I thought it may be better to get midi keyboard for now to use on GarageBand ( 2018 Mac mini, MacOS Mojava )

not sure how well pianoteq Hohner collection or Komplete Start + Vintage Organs , Scarbee Mark 1 , Retro Machines MK2 would do for now?

Dan

Numa has one Vox sound and one Farfisa sound; Hammond has adjustable Vox and Farfis sounds, and a better Hammond sound. But you're back to looking at higher priced keyboards, and unlike the Numa, you still don't have any semblance of "Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Yamaha CP80, Yamaha DX7, Roland JUNO 60." The Numa may be good enough for you; and if not, might eventually be good in combination with something else. (Both the Numa and Hammond are also good at letting you combine their sounds with external sounds, i.e. from an iPad.)

Hi Dan, this topic is frequently discussed on other forums and the bottom line is that for some players, there will always be a level of compromise if you are searching for a one board solution to cover the bases you listed. A midi keyboard and Garage Band will take you a long way with the list of songs you are interested in learning and playing. On the other hand if you are experienced and familiar with the nuances of electric pianos and the different organs and it is important for you to dial in those tones then you should look closely at the suggestions AnotherScott and others offered for your consideration. Don't get in a hurry, you will discover pros and cons to every board you investigate, you will begin to realize what is and is not important to you. Good luck, shopping for keyboards is a lot of fun . . . have fun.

When I was looking for a new DP, besides a great grand sound, I wanted a great Rhodes sound. There is just something really engaging about a good Rhodes. Rhodes are great if you write your own tunes as it totally changes your mood and creative perspective.

However...... what I learned.... I purchased a Roland RD-2000.... In the store with headphones, the Rhodes sounds are fabulous... but now at home, I hear things I don;t like. For example, the Rhodes sound I chose to play the most, really overloads (distorts/blats) in the lower registers. I know many period recordings have this but I don;t care for it all that much..... So, in particular to the Roland RD-2000, if you dive into the menus, I found the preset Rhodes sounds are really just a few "root" sounds with one of their simulate effects in place and that configured in a "cool" way. So... I discovered a Rhodes I liked the most, then dug in and they have some sort of stomp pedal in line causing the overloading... so I just turned it off, then saved this configuration into my default, startup "program". Now I have a simple, stripped down Rhodes.... just fabulous. For those who don't know what I am talking about, remember the Wurlitzer practice pianos in schools? Yea, sounds kinda like those. I love it.

So.... Just playing an EPs presets don't always tell you the full story. In short, the RD-2000 has almost an infinite way of tweaking basic electric piano sounds.... I can't imagine there is sound from say 60's and 70's recordings it can't make... conjecture of course, but cripes this this is massively configurable.

So.... with a highly configurable machine like the RD-2000, it is hard to say "which has the best Rhodes or Steinway D sound". Some of these boards will allow you to tweak and get you where you want to go.

Peace
Bruce in Philly