Keyboard / Midi board advice

[whodat]

Hi,

I'm planning to start learning piano and until I can get a teacher, I've decided to use a software and keyboard combo.  I am very unfamiliar with keyboards and midi boards.  Any suggestions on which full size keyboard or midi board I should buy would be greatly appreciated.  So far, I have read reviews on
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=key/search/detail/base_pid/709203/
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=key/search/detail/base_pid/707423/

any ideas? 


Thanks in advance

[mound]

Those are two very different beasts!

I'd go with the Yamaha. That is an actual stage piano - the mAudio board is just a MIDI controller - which means (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) - it doesn't make any sounds on its own - you have to plug it into a MIDI device to "be controlled" by your 88 key controller.

The Yamaha is a true stage piano that contains real sampled sounds. It can also act as a midi controller, but it does not have to do so.

The mAudio might be more versatile as a MIDI controller if you're talking about hooking up lots of MIDI driven synths and such, but what you want first and foremost is a piano.

From an action standpoint, the Yamaha feels much better too.

-Paul

[JPRitchie]

The info. above about the controller is correct.
I've used a YAMAHA P120 with a TASCAM US-122 interface to my WINDOWS/XP SP2 computer for the last couple of years. It's not as portable as the P60, and it has other features, such as bigger sound samples. I got a good deal on it at Guitar Center, along with the case and a chair. But, the sustain pedal came separately.
If you're interested in making recordings directly from the keyboard, it will need an audio out and the interface will need audio in.
The US-122 comes with some bundled software that, although somewhat crippled, can transmit MIDI, record and mix audio. Like a lot of audio software, it's incompatible with advanced power management on the PC (it hangs when hibernating). There's a link to a MIDI performance of the ending of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2 from my setup here.
-Jim

[Daevren]

I am not sure if you want to record your keyboard with your computer but if you don't forget about the first.

I am not sure what the M-Audio does. Judging from the above it seems that this instrument it totally inappropiate for you. If you want to learn piano then you will want a digital stage piano like the P60. Yamaha has the reputation of building the best digital pianos. And the P60 is their cheapest model.

But the P60 is a portable digital practice piano for students on a buget or in a small student room, etc.

I am not saying you must buy a P60. You might as well buy a similar instrument from another manufacturer. The point is, you want to learn piano, you don't want a midi controller keyboard but a digital piano.


Good luck learning the piano.




I recently bought a P120, I think it has better sound and a substain pedal and a different design compared to the P60. But I think the keyboards are the same. The P120 feels very much like a real piano. Of course it misses the nuanced and feedback of an acoustic but fundamentally its a very good piano substitute.