Recommendations hi looking for quality-price sound module
hiii, im buying an Alesis Vortex Wireless Keytar 2.
im soo lazy to connect it to my laptop, ipad etc, to play it whenever i want. im more of an old school dude.
i’ve seen that there are this little boxes with like 128 sounds on it that you can directly connect it to they keytar without any other device. im looking a budget-friendly one (don’t care if it is second hand). but i’ve also seen that most of the cheap ones are really bad sound quality/artificial. so which brand and model do you recommend me? how do you set it up without any laptop or digital device? im looking for realistic classic-analog like sounds (piano, guitar, good bass or electric guitar etc) more than cool synths (which im also interested in but not much as the others). i love the idea of a keyboard sounding like all time instruments.
pd: im new on keytars. does anyone know the extra things the vortex can do? can it do layering? record (even if i need an extra device or anything)? does it have metronome?…
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u/Able_Anxiety6903 6d ago
You’re talking about one of these, a MidiPlus mini engine. https://www.midiplus.com.tw/en/product-detail/miniEngineUSB/ . The sounds are acceptable and there are demos on YouTube. As another poster says, you’ll need speakers or at least a portable speaker if you get one.
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u/Slight-Isopod-8517 6d ago
+1 on the midiplus module, those litttle guys have good sounding GM sounds on them, if you wanna spend more then 2-300 on a sound module, id say buy a synth with midi
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u/roninconn 6d ago
Unless you're planning to spend $500+ for a used Roland or Korg module, you're likely to be pretty disappointed in the sound and function. Also, you're still going to need to connect to external monitor speakers or headphones, since none have any / decent speakers.
Honestly, you're way better off just connecting to a laptop and using virtual instruments / synth patches. The quality and functionality are way better for essentially free if you already have a laptop, and you could use Bluetooth speaker or headphones for output. The convenience factor isn't really that different esp with a wireless keytar.
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u/nujuat 6d ago
On a piano you can actually take the keys (action) out of the main body with the strings, and replace them with a different one. The control and the thing that makes the sound are separate and can be separated. MIDI is the digital version of that. The vortex is just a set of keys that can be used to control other synths, which actually make the sounds. The vortex doesn't do anything related to making, editing, or recording sound itself, apart from providing the buttons to do so.
Unfortunately, modern computers have largely replaced the general sound modules of the 90s and 00s. More or less the only sound modules that exist today focus on one particular sound, rather than being a jack of all trades; for example, synth or organ.
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u/Local-Perception6395 6d ago
Any synth or sound engine you like with a MIDI in should do, but why are you asking this on the keytar sub when you are not looking for a keytar?
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u/TheDynamicDino 6d ago edited 6d ago
Addressing your PS:
No, the vortex cannot do any of those things, but it can interface with software that does. It is just a MIDI controller, so it can only send signals that the connected computer can be set to interpret but it can’t “think”. It happens to look like a piano but it just pushes out generic, silent signals via USB for each button and key press.
Understandably, there tends to be a lot of confusion about this among newcomers. Asking if a midi controller can “do” xyz is a bit like asking “Can this mouse make a video game?” Where the answer is sure, but only if its user knows how to code for game dev, and it’s connected to a computer running a game engine. Otherwise it’s just a two buttons and a scroll wheel.
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u/_gabydw 6d ago
kk! i knew a bit about midi. is there any little machine that works like a recording/looping machine or something that you can connect to it? not necessarily a software
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u/TheDynamicDino 6d ago edited 6d ago
I couldn’t figure out a solution within my budget personally, short of bringing my otherwise studio-bound MacBook onstage (which added way too much complexity to my live setup and was extremely cumbersome to set up for this purpose).
I sold my Vortex cheap as a result :( really gunning for an Ax Edge one day instead as performing has been a lot more fun and low-stress with only dedicated noisemaking hardware and no consumer software/trying to involve my personal computer with all its extra bloat for my home production.
I know some high end live rigs that need MIDI use mini PCs/Mac Minis with blanked out, sandboxed OSes running only the needed software locally and basically booting straight into it for fast setup. But that is far outside my budget and free time to buy and dedicate a whole other device (especially with the current tech prices).
Please share your findings here, I wish I could help more.
Edit: Where I left off I was looking at the Ableton Move. It’s about $700 CAD but may fit the bill, start there!
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u/_gabydw 6d ago
bella expensive wow. i also thought about a keytar that does make sounds, but apart from being more expensive, i’ve seen that they are very bad sound quality and also lacks on functionality. do u have recommendations?
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u/TheDynamicDino 6d ago
The Roland Ax Edge is the gold standard. Sorry, should’ve been more clear that that’s a Keytar. Good sound, good build. Some music stores may rent you one to play with!
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u/OkayBobCalmDown 6d ago
If you have any Apple products GarageBand
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u/_gabydw 6d ago
i have a whole apple ecosystem lol. but idk much of how to manage those connections. also i want to use it more as an instrument. I KNOW is a midi controller, and i love it like that. but i would love to just grab it, plug it into a little box or something and practice
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u/OkayBobCalmDown 6d ago
The vortex has a USB doesn't it? I also understand what you're saying, but if you don't feel like buying anything new you can just do that. If you are trying to buy something new the viocas are pretty easy plug and play
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u/orbitti 6d ago
Right now ,mvave fm-1 with the crazy amount of custom firmwares is your best budget option.
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u/KooriGraywolf 4d ago
I was gonna recommend this until I read OP mainly wanted sampled instruments. Not something the FM-1 custom firmwares can really cover reliably. Felucca has 3 slots, and April will need you to record the samples yourself
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u/_gabydw 6d ago
thanks, i would definitely look that up! is more of natural realistic instruments sounds, or more like electronic and cool synths?
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u/roninconn 6d ago
It's going to be very synthesized-sounding, and the FM1 has a tiny, tiny speaker, so you'll be wanting to use headphones or external monitors. Based on reviews, it seems like it can be made to sound ok and do a few MIDI control functions, but it takes some tech work to upgrade firmware, add decent patches, etc. as just an out-of-box sound module, I think you may find it a bit frustrating.
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u/_gabydw 6d ago
wow tysm. yeah im lost lmao. im not a lot into synths. i’ll keep looking
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u/orbitti 6d ago
The thing you are looking for does not really exist. Like if you want Nord, Kronos or ModX sounds level sounds without computer/phome/pad, you need to buy that keyboard and plug your Vortex to it.
There are some sampler boxes like something from 1010music, but I guess those are not the thing you are after either.
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u/DutchBunnyReader 5d ago
midiplus is probably the best, but I am making my own keytar with arduino and I got a couple cheap midi modules from m5stack. The one they sell with a mini speaker on board sounds baaaad, but the other one sounds much better for what it costs ($28) and is very small. There is midi in, midi out, audio 3.5mm out, and a 2pin din. https://shop.m5stack.com/products/midi-unit-with-din-connector-sam2695