HELP CHOOSING A SYNTHESIZER!!!

[saigon0521]

Korg X5D, Alesis QS6.2, Roland Juno-D, Roland RS-70, or Yama

Korg X5D, Alesis QS6.2, Roland Juno-D, Roland RS-70, or Yamaha S03?
I need a synth that's light weight, has a lot of organ sounds, assignable/control jack for volume pedal, and where I can "turn off" the touch sensitive or touch response from the keyboard/manual.

Your input on this matter will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Moogulator]

well, these are all quite low profile ones..

the korg and

well, these are all quite low profile ones..

the korg and alesis do not offer resonance (maybe you do not need it, anyway.. ?)

also the juno d and rs70 are very very entry level synths..

well, if it's about organs:
1) B3 from emu as a module? (no key version ..)
2) there are specialized organs and organ modules, maybe thats a better solution , or is it about having good organ sounds ALONG with synths (and what should the synth part do in your music??)
its helpful to know for better suggestion..
3) hmm, what about motif and fantom??

sens: you can alway set your sounds to zero sensitity. that can be done on ALL synths.. so, not a problem.. all mentioned allow this.. in fact all synths allow it at least .. some need to slightly reedit the sound then, but nothing special..

aaaand:
welcome to the forum!!!

 

[saigon0521]

Moogulator,

Thanks for the feedback and the welcome. I w

Moogulator,

Thanks for the feedback and the welcome. I was getting frustrated cause the sales people at Sam Ash or Guitar Center here in South Florida don't seem to know anything and I don't know aynthing about all these too.

Well to better explain my situation. I'm an organist (this is why I need sensitivity off cause I'm used to controling the volume with my feet not my hands) and our church was badly damaged by Wilma and we have to hold our services in a hall that we're renting. I need to get a keyboard that I could easily transport back and forth and someone suggested I get a synth and an amp. Right now I'm using a Casio WK1300 and it's so big and quite heavy that it's had to transport and I need more volume. When I found out that 61-key synths are quite lightweight that I really wouldn't mind transporting that along with a small amp like Roland KC-60 or KC 150 (I haven't decided yet).

Our church budget is quite limited so I'm trying to keep everything (synth and amp) around $1000, so that's why I only looked at low profile ones. You mentioned resonance, I know what that means with singing, but what does that mean with synthesizers?

I also know that they are entry level synths but I figured that's mostly what I'll need. I basically just need good organ sounds to accompany the choir and to play preludes and interludes, and also some other sounds like strings, choir, horns, etc. for when I do solos and other pieces for variety. I tried looking at organ modules but the ones that I found were $1500 and up. The keyboard is only temporary as we're hoping to actually just tear down our building and build a bigger church in which I would finally have a good full-pedal organ.

I thought I narrowed it down to the Juno-D and Yamaha S03 (because they seem to be the easiest to operate). In my attempt today to find out more about it, I asked the sales at Guitar Center about "taking off" the touch response/sensitivity of the keyboard and he said that you can't do that on synths. I'm glad that he was wrong after reading your reply. I'll go back again tomorrow and try to adjust the SENS or sounds as you have mentioned.

Thanks again for your help and I would appreciate it if you have any more suggestions for me with the info I just wrote.

Erwin

 

[Moogulator]

hmm, another completely different idea: why not going fo a n

hmm, another completely different idea: why not going fo a nice sampler? you can play cool pipe organ sounds then, sampled!

samplers are very cheap these days, because no1 uses hardware anymore.. (Seems so..)

 

[saigon0521]

It took me a while to actually figure out what a synth reall

It took me a while to actually figure out what a synth really is and I don't wanna get too complicated. I looked up samplers and it gave me a device with buttons and knobs on it... I wouldn't even know where to begin. <g>

 

[serenadi]

Erwin,

because your budget is quiet low for keyboard and

Erwin,

because your budget is quiet low for keyboard and amp, why looking for a second hand keyboard like Roland JV-series, or Korg i-series ?

They all have organ sounds, more or less better.
But they all have a wide range of other "symphonic" sounds, you're looking for. And they are not much expensive.

Your question about resonance: it is a parameter in synthesizer-filters, which emphases a single frequency around the filter cutoff frequence.
I don't think it's important for your matter, it is more important for "real" synthesizer sounds.

Good luck for you and your church.

 

[tulle]

Ok,
you want Pipeorgan sounds. The most *organ expanders* a

Ok,
you want Pipeorgan sounds. The most "organ expanders" are emulations of old Hammonds. There are 2 exceptions: Rodgers (the "church"-division of Roland) and the Italian Viscount, here in Germany known as "Ahlborn". But i don't know whrer to buy in the US...
Another Idea: An old SoundCanvas and a Laptop with "SCPOP" Software. Or the best Pipe-Organ Emulation: Hauptwerk. It's a Softsynth for a PC.
hth,
Michael

 

[serenadi]

yeah, *Hauptwerk* is really nice.

but I don't see it's us

yeah, "Hauptwerk" is really nice.

but I don't see it's useful to play in a church.
With notebook, software and midikeyboard and amp, you go beyond 1000$. And don't have some other sounds, like strings, choir and brass.

 

[micromoog]

[quote:aa0d88b588=*tulle*]Ok,
you want Pipeorgan sounds. Th

Ok,
you want Pipeorgan sounds. The most "organ expanders" are emulations of old Hammonds. There are 2 exceptions: Rodgers (the "church"-division of Roland) and the Italian Viscount, here in Germany known as "Ahlborn". But i don't know whrer to buy in the US...
Another Idea: An old SoundCanvas and a Laptop with "SCPOP" Software. Or the best Pipe-Organ Emulation: Hauptwerk. It's a Softsynth for a PC.
hth,
Michael

I think, Erwin wants to play live with Keyboard & Amp. All expander and laptop-gear must be "patched", that takes time and needs "know-how"...

 

[Moogulator]

[quote:ad483c33bf=*saigon0521*]It took me a while to actuall

It took me a while to actually figure out what a synth really is and I don't wanna get too complicated. I looked up samplers and it gave me a device with buttons and knobs on it... I wouldn't even know where to begin. <g>

it's worth learning about it.. since they are sold for 100Euro to 200Euro even with a lot of ram you might get the best results with these (beside sampling software)..

why? well the best organs and pianos you can get are sampled.. and: they are not that hard to use..

even if you only have only a few MBs on that sampler..
it's better than those 3-10 good organ or piano samples in romplers (synthesizers with ROM based samples..) so in fact you would not need to buy something else that soon..

please consider to think about it..
it's not so hard..

there are even lots of sample CDs around .. and : they are bettern than synths, because they often try to have one or 2 samples of each instrument, if they are rom based.. more modern synthesizers (workstations!!) also offer ram for own samples like http://www.sequencer.de/syns/roland Roland fantom x series, korg triton series and yamaha motif series.. see database on Sequencer.de to check out more..

those are all a bit more expensive, so.. I stil could imagine you will be satisfied with a nice sampler ..?

 

[tulle]

http://www.viscount.it/classicorgan.../classicorgans/products.asp?idcat1=-802140283

Bye,
Michael