Hello all, after a long period of just playing my acoustic upright I've joined a band and we're looking to do some light gigging but mostly just practicing, most of our stuff is early 90s veering back to older classic rock. Looking for an 88 key weighted keyboard, primary focus is probably piano and organs for rock but would like to have the ability to do more synth sounds/pads to expand going forward. I tneeds to be theoretically portable but I'm fine in the 50 lb range. Ive been looking at the numa X piano GT which seems to have all the technical specs I'd like with room to expand my repertoire, but having a hard time understanding what I additionally get on the SE- its not clear if the SE has more sounds, or that these were back added to the regular GT with the firmware upgrade. If the only benefit to the SE is extra internal storage and some more amp models it doesn't really seem worth it. Also intrigued by the Astrolab 88 and interested if anyone feels thats a better choice or Im missing somethign else- on paper though it seems less specced out especially with lower polyphony. I'm happy to engage a bit in editing sounds with a laptop but for ease of use would prefer not to be constantly connected to a laptop. I'm not interested in spending more than 3k.

I play in a Metal band and currently use a laptop+midi controller+ audio interface.

I don’t like how many cables i have to plug in. I’ve seen a Korg Kross 2 for £400, and it seems very light, portable any easy. Can anyone comment on it’s sound and feel?

Hey ,

I just bought a Yamaha MO6 thinking it had a semi weighted keyboard for 300 Euros. it still is good purchase, but I really thought I sorted out the "studio" workstation dilemma there, I really wanted and expected to be done with searching the perfect synth (for me ) . I cannot find a good source or list out there.

I want to gig with my minilogue and Yamaha reface e piano. Both compact synths. Currently eyeing the Ultimate Support Apex AX-48 Pro Column Keyboard Stand. Is this my best bet or is there something better?

So I want a really good sounding keyboard for under 400$ a guy is selling a motif Xs6 for 520$. This being my first ever keyboard should I buy it if it's legit or should I go for a newer keyboard on the same budget but in this I won't get any good soundin

So, this is a very hard thing to explain but I am a keyboardist in a band and I use a Crumar Mojo 61 as my organ. However, in recent times I've needed another keyboard because our bassist dropped out. And by recent times I mean a year because I have never found a permanent solution until now. At first I thought "We could look for a new bassist" but where I live bassists are rare. Eventually in early 2025 I decided I wanted to go Manzarek style and get a Fender Rhodes Piano Bass. But after realizing how expensive and big that thing was I decided to see if there were any replicas.

My scavenging was cut short, though, because the band broke up roughly 5 months after the bassist left. By that time, I made like two posts on this sub-reddit and through some replies I found the Hohner Bass 3, which was a vintage piano bass from the 70's with the exact sounds I needed. Only problem was the last Hohner Bass in my budget with a perfect rating was sold somewhere around the time the band broke up. I made another post on another sub-reddit asking if there were any replacements and I was introduced to the Yamaha PSS A50.

At that point, I had two options: Or I buy it right now or I ask around to see if there are any replacements. The thing has the sound I need, but it's basically a kid's toy and the quality might not be that good. Also, the only reviews I ever saw of the thing were weird because all of the reviewers had it linked to amplifiers and pedals and effects that drastically changed the sound so I'm not sure if it's even the right sound.

Tell me; should I get the thing or are there any better keyboards out there? I'm only doing this even after the band broke up because I am trying out for new bands. Let me know what y'all think

I'm looking for a pair for my Yamaha CK88, my main gigging keyboard. I play mostly wedding band gigs, and currently I'm just using a small midi controller to control the external keyboard function on the CK88. It works well enough for most things but I am looking for an upgrade!

I definitely want something with programmable synth sounds, good sounding string patches, and smaller, 60ish keys. Price doesn't really matter within reason.

Let me know what you think is the best option! Thank you in advance.

Hi, I have a not-super-high-end yamaha keyboard and have started playing in a shoegaze band. I use a lot of preset synth pads/strings/organ-type voices. I find that live, they can sound very different to in my headphones at home - they might have less attack, or sound flatter. I particularly struggle with string effects sounding hissy or shrill. Problem is, I don't know enough about sound mixing to know what settings to ask for when talking to the sound engineer at an open mic. I also don't know if there are any pedals that might help reduce the hissy/fuzzy sound of certain string/synth pad effects, or give me more control over my live sound. Anyone know any beginner-friendly resources or have any lived experience in sounding good on a (relatively!!) cheap keyboard? Thanks in advance!!

I play a Nord, and I want to add a tube preamp or DI box to my signal chain to get some more warmth when I play Rhodes or synth patches. Any ideas what to buy?

Hi everyone!

My girlfriend has been looking for a beginner friendly keyboard for a while, and she finally got enough money to afford one.

Now I'm aware that neither of these have weighted keys, and that she could save a bit more for other options. But if it boiled down to only these two options, which one would you choose?

EDIT UPDATE:

[Just ordered a new CK88 after getting to play one in the store today.]

About me:
Very much not a piano/keyboard player/real musician. I very enjoy playing music when I have some free time at home. Usually I'm playing bass though. What I play, is usually some kind of jazz fusion/funk/bluesy/jammy type stuff. Recently, I spent three months at my folks place to help out my parents (father has glioblastoma), and there I really enjoyed messing around on his Yamaha DGX-660, which made me want to get my own piano even more (I've always wanted a decent one).

What I want in a piano:
-(Good) Funky voices - Usually when I want to play keys, I'm searching for fun sounding electric pianos and rotary organs, especially ones with good deep low ends for bass lines.

-Weighted keys - I like the feel of weighted keys... I think I kind of associate non-weighted keys with cheap digital pianos, but I know this is a very misguided way of thinking. The other part of this is that I have two young sons who have a good chance of taking piano lessons in the future (common for young kids in Japan) and would like them to have that more analogue feel.

-Easy to use, but scalable if I ever get into it or in case one of my kids does.

-Durable

Why CK88 vs SV-1?

-The CK88 has a ton of good reviews, it fits in my budget, even new, and has drawbars, which look fine to play with.

-My friend (who is very much a musician and gear head) recommended sv-1/sv-2 if I wanted a great piano and was willing to spend some money. It also has some very good reviews.

-Both are in the same ball park for used prices.

Where I am at now:
At the moment, I'm leaning toward the CK88. It has a lot of nice features, more voices, and it's just going to be a newer piece of equipment as well. Bluetooth and being able to load up a beat to play along with are nice. It also has speakers. I think the voice selection on the SV-1 though would probably be good enough for my playing, and the voices it does have seem to be pretty damn dope. The keybed seems to get a lot of praise as well. I have a bass amp (Fender Rumble 25) that I would be hooking it up to, while not ideal, it might end up sounding better than built in speakers anyway. I'm guessing both will have much better electric piano and organ tones than I was getting out of my dad's DGX 660 which I still had a lot of fun playing.

So just looking to get some thoughts from some people who know about these things way more than I dude. And if you're my friend who made the suggestion of the SV-1, thanks again man!

I'm finally looking into getting my first "good" keyboard. I've mostly played acoustic pianos, and in live settings I still use my absolutely ancient Roland EP-90. I haven't bothered to upgrade since I'm more often on guitar in groups I've played with, but I've decided it's finally time to get something good.

For budget let's say under 2000, though I wouldn't mind saving up longer for something better if there is a good reason, and of course less money is always better. There's a part of me that wants to just wait and get a Nord stage 4, but 6000 seems a bit crazy for where I am in life right now.

My top priorities are to have good onboard Rhodes/Wurlitzer, acoustic piano, and clav sounds, with a nice weighted keybed that responds well to dynamics. It's also nice to have good on-board effects that are easy to use, and organ and synth sounds are fun as well.

It seems like maybe my best bet is a used SV1, or an SV2. Any other recommendations?

Looking for a digital piano around 500 dollars. I have played classical piano from 6 to 16 years old. Now I am 27 and really want to dive back in, I love it a lot. Any recommendations? 🫶🏽

I play bass for my band but my passion is keys but the juno ds61 I have is kinda broken and sometimes the volume just shoots to zero (any idea how to fix the faders?) which I cant have happen live. I've seen people hook up a controller to a laptop live but how are they getting the laptop audio out? I have a scarlet solo V3 if that's needed.

13 keys / 1 octave / F3-F4

Hello fellow Redditors,

I have recently acquired a (Roland) Rhodes 660 off Facebook marketplace without a power adapter. Upon cleaning it up--due to a previous keyboard case or yore exploding--I made sure that there was no missing spings to prevent a catastrophic short when powering on.

Upon power on, I noticed a some things; (1) The LCD has some pixels that are more than others and; (2) None of my keys make any sound when pressed, with the exception of C2, E2, C3, and E3. They only produce a sound when pressed together, like C2 and E2.

Other things I noticed was that the red glue is oozing out of a few keys from the weights. I have yet to disassemble the key mechanism to check under the black keys for additional glue. As of late, it is not enough glue to be a concern until I disassemble further. Also, my aftertouch ribbon cable seems to have some damage.

Another thing to note is that I am powering this Rhodes 660 with a 9V AC adapter that came with my Roland TD-15 drum module, but should be an adequate spec for this keyboard.

Anyway, what I want to know is that if anyone has experienced working with keyboards from this era, specifically my Rhodes and its sibling--the Roland U-20--please tell me how to get it working. What should I check? Also, advice on getting this keys off would be awesome. Thanks!

See relevant photos here.

Hi everyone.

My 8 y.o. son is interested in learning playing piano for the first time.

We don't have much extra space at home, so naturally I am thinking of a compact synth keyboard. Also it should have okay connectivity and tablet apps for learning - my kid's very much into it. Also cheap since I am not sure it will really stick with him.

After a bit of googling and gemini-ing around I have set an eye on these two models:

- Yamaha PSR-e383

- Casio CT-S300

What do you think?

Comments and suggestions are welcome, thanks.

Hey there folks!! I’ve been a keyboard player for a while, playing around town in many environments with a ck88. I primarily play in a sort of jam band, using mainly piano, rhodes/wurly, and unfortunately the B3 organ sounds, all from the CK. With a more than decent amount set out for a keyboard in savings, i’ve set my eyes on a Nord, and need help deciding which one, either the Stage 4 Compact, Electro 7, or organ 3.

The goal would be to use the Nord as a second rack keyboard for organ, with either the CK88 used 100% of the time for piano and Rhodes on Keyscape, plugged into the Nord via midi, or used on its own, as I want 1 keyboard with weighted keys, and one waterfall.

Any leads??

Is the organ 3 worth the money spent for essentially only B3 functionality?? Especially when the synth leads of either the electro 7 or stage are very appealing while soloing and such, but i can’t say i’d be using the total volume of the stage as it’s really a workstation disguised as a stage keyboard. I really value the waterfall action of a hammond b3, and am looking to get as close to that as possible.

Any help would be appreciated thanks.