All that hype came from the source! No stores that I know carry that brand, and none of my pro friends have any interest in it .... as far as I've heard.
Dominik tried to presell it on the zone, but it never grabbed my attention. Anyone else bit on this one?

Not me... The asking price was out of this world, and base on what they were showing us, I can't see how it was any better than using my laptop and vsti's with a controller, except that it would have maybe cost about 5 times as much.

AJ

I'm with you on this one Bluezplayer. I like the 3000 enough that I'd go for one, but, after having my i30 for a while, that Yamaha keybed turns me off. I'd pony up for an uprated keybed, too.

The Lionstracs thing? Nope, never did see one in the flesh. I sort of had the feeling that it really wasn't much more than an experiment. Also, I'm not wild about companies who expect you to be their guinea-pig, and ask you to lay out major bucks for the privilege.

the standard model of mediastation is at 3200 euros,due to all the hype about the new boards coming out,if liontracks don,t take the initiative to promote this board,then this could be their last chance whether they will sink or swim IMO,mike

The reason I need 76 keys for my arranger keyboard is because I'm starting to do a duo with a female singer. When you accompany a singer, you need the full range of the keyboard for left hand bass without having to use the Octave Shift. I just can't seem to feel inspired with 61 keys doing accompanyment. Why the heck did they invent an 88 key piano in the first place? For full orchestrations with the Piano, that's why.

With that said, I just love my fully weighted 88 key Yamaha Motif ES keybed. It allows me to be more expressive. Ok, the Motif is 65 lbs and not a treat to move around, so I'd be willing to compromise on 76 keys with semi-weighted keys.

The other issue with this size keybed on an arranger is there is more room for keyboard splits. I'd like to split the keyboard 3 ways; bass, chords, solo voices. This would save me from so many patch changes during a song.

Dear UncleDave & Narondi2002;


The mediastation on paper looks like a terific machine. It seems to have it all, with a powerful computer engine to start with & fully upgradable to your hearts content. Secondly, it has the built in arranger section. As you have mentioned before, there seems to be poor distribution. How are they suppose to sell the KB if no one can hear it. Thirdly, if we are to make judgement of the keyboard from the demos on the web, I'm afraid that they do not flatter the KB. If the mediastation is suppose to be capable of 64 bit audio processing etc.. why do the voices, styles etc... sound so mediocre??? The videos do a good job of explaining the capabilites, but when it comes down to audio demonstrations they are just satisfactory. A large portion of the demo uses E. Piano & regular 8 or 16 beat. Also, the few other sounds that are used are really not very impressive. How could such powerful technology lead to sub-optimal results???


Regards;
SCP

Hmmm.. I see they have a bunch of sounds and effects built in and guess what...? the majority of it is freeware stuff that is readily available on the net.

My guess is that they have some kind of bundling deal going with Lin Plug ( commercial - Delta III, Cronox ), but I wonder how they compensate the freeware developers.. ? They have some kind of arrangement too I would guess..

BTW, if you're not that impressed with the sound demos, looking at what it has bundled in for soft synths, I'm not terribly surprised.

It has a few very decent freeware offerings in there - Green Oak crystal, lallapolooza lite, but these are both basically analog synth emulators. The remaining offerings probably aren't even among the best freeware out there.

Truth be told, there are very few good freeware sample based / gm modules out there. Free soundfonts like Personal Copy or Magic SF will easily surpass any of the LE Sampletank stuff sonically.

BTW, I think all of the built in effects are freeware as well. The kjaerhaus effects are quite good though, and they rival many commercial offerings I've demoed.

The concept is ok though, and it seems like it might be a pretty decent value at the mediastation LE asking price of $2295.00, but not at close to 5 grand or more for the other versions.

I've spent less than that for a laptop, a controller, speakers, a USB quattro soundcard / midi interface, expanded ram, DAW- Midi software, software arrangers, many ( and I mean many )vst instrument plug ins, effects and sound modules, and I pretty much have all that I could ever want. At 5 grand, Neko gives you a great interface to work with, but see how the bucks add up when you add all the rest of the stuff.

I'm just not convinced that it's going to be so much better than what I have now that it would be worth spending about double or more for what my softsynth system cost.

AJ

What you guy don't realize is that the instrument is designed AROUND the keybed. The whole case would have to be redesigned. It would be deeper and heavier on top of being more expensive. Basically it would be the size and weight of a Motif ES6. Still interested?

------------------
Yamaha Customer Support
YCASupport@yamaha.com
714.522.9000

Thank you for your input, Steve.

You know Casio is selling the PX100, an 88-key hammer action keyboard that weighs less than 30lbs. and costs $400. That light and with 88 hammer action keys. It doesn't feel like a real piano, but it's pretty good.

I don't think I would want the weight and throw of piano keys on an arranger keyboard.

But there is room for improvement with Yamaha. The PSR3000 was an improvement over the previous models. I enjoy playing the PSR3000 more simply because of the better key feel. Ideally, I would like the keys to be a little heavier feeling.

The advantage of an arranger keyboard over a midi controller is that the buttons are ergonomically placed in just the right place for the functions that are needed - especially the style variation buttons and the registration and voice buttons.

I think that if someone were trying to change styles on a controller that had programmable buttons, a lot of mistakes would be made pressing the wrong buttons by accident. I think there would be a lot of frustration about not having the buttons where you want them, lighting up how you want them to light up. You would have the advantage of the better keyboard bed and playing around with voices made from huge samples, but you would not have the buttons and the display made solely for an arranger.

Beakybird

Dear Beakybird/Bluezplayer;

I agree with you concerning the convenience ergonomic button placement( stop/start/variationstempo change etc.. ) of the arranger set-up vs. softsynth arranger. Maybe BluezPlayer could shed some light on this topic for us since he has a softsynth arranger set-up. Bluezplayer share your experiences with your set-up ( maybe you could tell us what the ultimate softsyth arranger set-up would be that would surpass the Top-Model arrangers that are now on the market--/Pa1x/g-70/Tyros/Sd1/Gem) .

BeakyBird the problems you discussed above I believe would be amplified in a Live senario, where the lighting is low, external distractions etc... are in place.

Further , I suppose the benefit of a KB like the mediastation is that the computer & arranger are all in one ( no need to connect a midi keyboard, computer ). It could be up-graded with better software, but for the price of admission one should have expect more. The Neko LE is a possibility at ~$2400. Adding some good quality voices, OMB probabally cost another $1-1.5k.

Bluezplayer what is the highest quality Voices software/samples ( read as most realistic, live sounding voices) in your opinion for instruments ( solo instruments from an orchestra--violin/strings/trumpet/saxes/trombone/flutes/french horns etc..., guitars ( acoustic nylon/steel, electric-fender/gibson/les paul etc..) pianos, oragns, accordians , accoustic drums, etc.. . Is there one package that has it all or would you suggest a couple of different vendors for their best voices??? What are they??
I'm looking for the most realistic/accurate/life like sounds, in order to sound like a live Band.

Thanks for your help
Regards;
SCP