I thought it would be interesting to post our feelings of the Arranger keyboards we each owned...
This is my list with favorites first..

Roland G1000[what a surprise]..Durable,dependable,best get around board for live performance,lots of sliders and buttons.Great sounds,excellent read from zip for styles and SMF's..Best SMF playback..Very playable,best feeling keyboard of the bunch...

Roland VA-7..When I first bought the original VA new, I thought it sounded great, but some of the extra touches drove me a little crazy, I preferred the G1000 operation better..Later I bought a used VA-7 from a SZ member...this had a version 2 update..allowing many great updated features..It also had a great sound system and input jacks for a laptop..I was even able to get a decent mic/effects setting and save in a performnce..It actually recorded nicely..I sold it to make room for a G70...If I deside against the G70, I may replace with another Version 2 VA[maybe VA76 for better keys]..

Ketron X1..This keyboard was on the path to be the best...Great sounding voices and styles..good key feel..good speaker system..some quirks in the SMF playback,but had solutions to the problems..The hard drive folder limits made me crazy..especially searching while playing live..The G1000 was superior for performing live..

Ketron SD1,,this is a great board,but I could not get use to the all the same looking buttons...and it a semi dark room, it was a NO NO...Ketron is still capable of being the best...I don't know what the hold up is...If Roland re groups it may be too late for Ketron..


Roland EM2000..many of the G1000 features but had severe shortcuts compared to the G1000..It seemed to be built solid, but did not hold up compared to the G1000..

Roland E-600..A darkhorse keyboard...Great piano sound, good mic/harmonizer..Played sequences from floppy drive okay,but had quirks when using a laptop[99% okay]..

Roland G800,,I loved this board, it had a lot of great things , but the G1000 had all the good things plus the great things not available on the G800..

Roland G600,,a good 61 key board with the same great sounds of the G800, with a few goodies not found on the G800..but it didn't stand a chance next to a G1000..

Roland EXR-5, great board ,but novice oriented..Sounds are good but not Roland's best...

Yamaha PSR2100..lots of goodies for the dollar, but a poor feeling keyboard..many poor sounds..harmonizer was okay..SMF playback was embarassing too many times..

Casio MZ2000,,First impression was okay, but did not like overall..

Yamaha PSR2000,,Just did not like this board,,weak sounds,,2100 was much better..

Yamaha PSR 740,620,
Korg IS5 and IS35...FORGETTABOUT them..


The views are my own opinionated revelations of hands on applications...and are not meant to offend you poor Yamaha and Korg lovers......just kidding..

Hey I forgot the Farfisa G-7,nothing great but a pretty neat all in one keyboard[simular to the PSR2100]...and that is where I am going to place the Farfisa..right under the 2100...

[This message has been edited by Fran Carango (edited 01-04-2005).]

you will love your g-70 !
It reads SMF perfectly from internal or external memory - absolute reliable !

I suppose my all-time favorite at this point would be Tyros. It's easy to operate, reliable, light in weight, has good sounds and versatile styles.
The important buttons are lighted, and along with the huge display allows you to play in the dark.
It accesses styles and songs from user memory, hard drive or floppy instantly.
My second favorite would be the love/hate relationship I had with the Solton (Ketron) X1.
If only the buttons had been in the right place. . . It had a great "live" sound.
The weaknesses, besides the misplaced fill, variation, start and stop buttons, was the operating system was difficult to learn.
There was zero dealer support in my area, and I worried about reliability, even though I had no problems with it.
Two keyboards that were WAY ahead of their time was the Yamaha PSR8000 and the Technics KN2000. Either could still be used today, despite begin a little antiquated as to storage, speed and size of the styles (two variations).
The 8000 was the first kb I had that let me eliminate the vocal harmonizer, outboard mixer, etc. I could still use it today and not be that handicapped.
The Korg PA80 was another kb I both loved and hated. The size and weight was right. The sounds were wonderful. I liked in particular the harmonica and acoustic guitar. I liked the way the organ rotor was assigned to the Joystick. The styles were great except that there were virtually no CW styles, but the fills, intros and endings left a lot (everything maybe) to be desired.
The midi playback was particularly strong, although I don't use much anyway.
Also, the on-board vocal harmonizer was useless to me. There was only one pedal input besides the dedicated volume (or was it sustain?).
I didn't like the OS on it either, but then it is easy to be spoiled by Yamaha's OS.
Of all the others I've had, the Technics KN5000 was pretty good, and the Yamaha 2000 and 2100 were also good, although not in comparison to the Tyros.
I'm looking forward to seeing the next offering from Ketron (if that ever happens). They seem to understand that some of us don't want to lug around 50+ pounds of kb.
My least favorite was the Roland G800. I didn't like the heavy weighted keys. Made my fingers hurt. Physically, it kept breaking. The Joy stick spring broke after two weeks, the buttons began sticking after a couple of months. It weighed something short of a half-ton. The registrations wouldn't remember key transpose (at the time at least). The OS required going through many menus, and the display was smaller than the one on my wrist watch.
It DID sound great though, and had some neat features like assigning two sounds to the right hand and setting the volume pedal to increase one and decrease the other as you pushed it down. It also had some interesting key-split options. I enjoyed using the Joystick when it worked. I think I prefer the joystick to wheels. The G800 was also had one of the first sequencers (as far as I know) to record directly in GM (or GS) format. The Technics had to be converted as did the earlier Yamahas.
Wow, that was longer than I expected.
DonM

Quite the list you have there haha, heres my "list"

Roland XP-60- I Love it! Built like a tank on steriods, good selection of sounds, exspandable, 128 user slots. User friendly (takes a little bit) A little short or weak in some sounds overall they are fairly good, very programable, but... you have user slots and exspan boards so no matter what you can get what you want!

Couldnt ask for much more, and dont plan on selling this thing for a while!

Phil

[This message has been edited by Pennywizz6 (edited 01-04-2005).]

I own the Tyros and find the OS great, but I have tested the Ketron SD1 plus and that is a definite winner where sound and styles are concerned. It's wave based drums are the most live sounding by far. There are some issues, but I must give it to the Italians, they make great insruments and speakers.
Ketron no 1!

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Roy-Andrè

The most important arranger keyboard considerations for me are: Sounds, styles, user friendly navigation, & professional-type chord recognition.

The Tyros is the big WINNER for me here, but then again my LAST name starts with a Y also, and the Tyros was produced in the Country my ancestors came from: China!

Previous to the Tyros, the Technics KN5000 was my arranger of choice. Great sounds (for its time) and terrific arranger features.

My first arranger was the Roland RA-800 (module version) of the G-800. I can only tell you that I DON'T recommend ever purchasing a tabletop MODULE version of ANY arranger keyboard because of inconvenient button access & screen view limitations. I've since learned that a full function arranger KEYBOARD is the BEST way to go.

Scott

No contest for my purpose. THE i30

1. The best Sequencer I found on any keyboard. Fast, easy, reliable.

2. Touch Screen. I can't imagine not having it. Simple easy to get around. Playing live, sequencing naming files anything.

3. The best styles for all the standards I do with the sax for sequencing. For me they swing, i do funk whatever I want. It's hard to find the perfect style for the country stuff I do.

I like in song mode the easy pop-up list for all the midi files on the touch screen. Just touch the song you want to do and wa-la. I have maybe 15 great midi's that I use for back-up vocals.

I love this old Dinosaur! In keyboard years, it is as old as Uncle Dave. Got em again.

My first arranger was a cheap Casio I used it with a computer as a sound module because it cost a hundred bucks, was the first GM I could find and had it's own speakers.
Then I went to the Yammie 540 with the disk drive, walked into a music store, brought a disk with me put it in it sounded great, I took it home,
Then the psr 2000 the yammies just kept getting better.
I had the psr 3000 for a short time but I was injured and didn't get to use it.
I've also had a couple of workstations like the ensoniq SD-1 and a Roland and some sound modules.
But of course the best for last, Now the Tyros my all time favorite keyboard, I'll be set for quite a while I think.

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qqqwq@hotmail.com

What an excellent topic!
Starting with fave first...

Tyros,
I am so glad I (eventually) took the plunge and bought the Ty. It really is my dream keyboard at the moment. I would prefer it to have a digital out and more modern storage facilities (like they put on the 3k) but apart from that I have not one complaint!

9000PRO,
I kept this board longer than any other board I ever owned. I loved the keyfeel and the four sub outs. Playing it was wonderful and I half wish I had kept it alongside the Ty (but that would have been greedy!)

KN6500,
Enjoyed this board but it was to be my last technics board after years of technics ownership. (unless you count the KN7000 fiasco.... see below!)

KN6000,
I thought this was massive jump from the KN5000 at the time. I remember the sound system blowing me away in the shop and I just had to have it!!! Kept this board until the 6500 (above) came out and upgraded just for the sake of it really. Not a lot of difference between the two boards.

Technics KN5000,
One of my first 'real' boards. I felt like a million dollars when I bought this board. I had never spent as much on an instrument before and I adored it. Played one recently and was surprised how much I felt it had 'aged'.

Roland EM 2000,
stunning sound but I could not settle to it. I loved some of the styles, especially the accoustic piano stuff, but the menu system and OS in general was imho abysmal. I could not get used to it at all. Only kept the board about six months. Bought this after the KN5000 but went back to technics with the 6k after it went.

Korg i40m,
Like Scott says modules are just not practical. Trying to get at the buttons when playing was nightmare. I loved the VH feature on it though. Very simple to use. I hated the OS and the way of loading styles with a vengance. Even the roland was childsplay compared to Korgs way of doing things! It is the one thing that puts me off auditioning the PAx.

Technics KN3000
Down at the bottom because it is so old now. I quite liked it at the time though.

Technics KN1500
ditto

I am not counting the casio's and 'toy' yammies I kept buying when arranger technology was in it's infancy (and for that matter so was I )

Best wishes
Tony

oooops!
I forgot the KN7000
I bought it on a whim after selling the 9000pro. I only kept it a week before flogging it on ebay. I really could not take to the board after the 9000pro. Guess Yammie had mesmerised me SO I sold it to a charming lady in Southport and bought the Tyros!

Tony

For me, as of today, the “arranger” I use and the one that offers me the most versatility for live performances and the studio is the Gem Genesys pro.

To me the most important things on an “arranger” is the sounds and the ability to do extensive sound editing, the style making tools, storage facilities, a comprehensive sequencer, and most important an intuitive and easy to use O.S. Also it must be less than 50LBS.

Can not wait for the XP module.

I owned a Roland EM2000 for a while too - about a year I think. I used it with a Kurzweil PC88mx as my main keyboard on a two-tier keyboard stand - the entire rig sounded good but it was too cumbersome. The Yamaha 9000 Pro was the answer, mostly because it offered the polyphony I needed as well, once I added the PLG150-PF expansion card to it, and the 76-note keyboard for piano as the lead instrument. I now own two and both stay in active daily use. That's not an endorsement though - I have well-documented differences with Yamaha over their lack of support for this instrument on multiple levels. With care my 9000 Pros should serve my needs for years to come, or until their replacement comes along. I'm not tied to the hip with using arrangers either, but for now I enjoy them.

I have to say that if I could have any arranger in the world right now, it would be one of the Yamaha CVP-309 models I think. It's very much like a super-Tyros, with 88 notes weighted action and 128+128 notes of polyphony. I would LOVE to see this instrument in a portable package, but that seems unlikely. Well worth a look-see though.

Hmmmmm, yeah I'm gonna go with the Casio Rapman and the Casio SK-1. Those were some pretty heavy boards there Geez remember the SK-1 and how (expensive that little booger was for the time?)

Squeak

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Disclaimer: These are the opinions of Squeak_D, and offered voluntarily by said member of the SynthZone. If any member disagrees with any opinions posted by Squeak_D and chooses to post a reply, he or she waives their right to moan, complain, cuss out, or be disrespectful in any way shape or form. Basically if you ain't got something nice to say.., well you know the rest.

I still have my PA80 an probably will for life ( it's life or mine ). I still like it's sounds and it's styles vs the other arrangers I've had or played. Tons of sound editing power vs most of the other offerings I've seen, which is a big plus for me. Great midfile playback machine as well. It's major weakness has already been mentioned, the fills on some styles are a terrible match to the main variations. Over time, I've managed to correct some of this on the styles I like to use, while adding and tweaking about 100 other brand styles ( mainly Yamaha and Roland styles ). The good news is that the factory styles can be modified and / or changed.

PSR2000: Liked the sounds and the OS quite a bit. Hated the key feel and didn't care for the blandness of some of the styles. Weaker in onboard sound editing than the PA80, but packed with enough good sounds to work with. I had a very bad experience with my first 2000. It's OS was as buggy as could be, and it resided longer in the repair shop than it did with me. My second one was flawless.

Casio MZ2000: Excellent sound editing capabilities. The sounds for my tastes ranged from excellent ( sax, organs, a few electric guitars, synths pads and leads ) to rather poor ( acoustic and electric pianos, acoustic guitras, woodwinds, bass sounds ). The styles sounded very thin compared to every other arranger I've tried. The sliders were cool and very useful. It's approach to midi ( it's own propietary format ) was poor, but the style creator was kinda cool.

PSR740: Key feel was again an issue. This board felt very cheap, not just the keys. The pitch wheel felt like a toy. The vocal harmonizer was poor. Still, it had some very good sounds and the styles were useable. I thought this was going to be a huge step up from the 530, and with 4 variations per style it was, yet in some aras, it really wasn't that much better.

PSR530: Bang for the buck. It'll always have a special place in my musical heart, but compared to today's arranger gear it's rather light on features and styles. Still, for the rather small amount of sample rom it had, it sounded pretty good. It was my first real new purchase ( PSR85 doesn't count ) since I purchased the Korg M1 ( now that was a real love / hate relationship) , and I liked many of the sounds on the 530 better than the M1. I'm kinda sorry I sold it. It was a cool board to take out into the backyard and just jam on.

A Technics late 80's model ( maybe a 920 ? I can't remember the model # ). Very crude by today's standards and even vs the 530. No pitch wheel. Still, for it's time some of the sounds weren't all that bad. The styles don't compare to today's stuff, but in it's day it ws kind of cool. Very light in the bells and whistles dept. I traded it for a small soundsystem. The guy I traded it to still has it.

PSR85- ( early 90's ? ) Supposed to be a stepup from the PSS and Casio toys of the 80's. Not even as good as the KN whatever it was... Poor styles, poor sounds, but my daughter liked it and she still has it.

PSS480. A K-Mart toy from the late 80s. I still have it, and my granddaughters enjoy it immensely. Terrible PWM sounds, very bad styles, mini keys, yet I kept it as a nostalgic piece ( kinda like the Casio sk-1 is to a lot of people, though my sk is long gone ). It had some crude synth editing capabilities, and well... that was all I needed to hook me.

I also had a few Casio toys in the 80s. I don't remember much about any of them.

I guess if I was ever considering a new arranger ( I'm not .. but who knows what the future holds ), based on what I've seen out there to this point, I'd probably pick the Tyros. Love the sounds and OS / layout. Key feel is fair ( at least a bit better than the PSR line )

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 01-04-2005).]

I've only owned Ketron boards, first the XD9 and now the SD1. Seems that you either love or hate the SD1... I happen to love mine. For me, sounds and styles are the most important items, with navigation coming next, for live playing.

I've never heard a KB with better sounds and styles, especially drums. With 118 buttons, you'll hate this board if you want to take it out and play it right away, but once you learn where everything is (yes, it takes awhile) you wouldn't have it any other way... never go into a submenu, anything you want with the push of one button.

As for as Ketron, when they come out with the SD2, of whatever they call it, they'll once agaon have a flagship AK that will incorporate most of what the Midjay offers, plus more. No inside info, just a 'seems inevitable' hunch. Hope I'm right.

Glenn

I hope you are right about Ketron. I talked for about an hour today with the Ketron rep in Houston. He doesn't know, but is looking forward to the NAMM show coming up this month.
DonM

Lets see if I can remember my old line up. May be out of order.

Yamaha DX-7: Sound quality still beyond attempted modern reproductions of this classic synth. The DX just had a warm classic sound to her. OS was a complete bit** to operate. Keys were great, midi was decent.

Korg Trinity: Sounds were so so. Synth wise, top notch voice editing. Acoustic sounds were good for the time. Build quality was solid, and the touch screen was ahead of the time. It was a little slow to respond though. Limited with 32 note poly. Looked lime something from Star Trek,

Yamaha DJX (original): In my opinion Yamaha's greatest attempt at a budget dance keyboard. The patterns on that model were off the block. They were dead on! Real time control knobs, ribbon controller (assignable), basic sampler--although limited created great lo-fi samples, and you could edit them and set loop points. I was not happy to see they really limited this board in the recording department. Only 6 tracks, and no style recorder (which was a shame because the electronic drum kits were really good)

PSR-540: Decent sound quality, terrible construction. Looked like a video game. I liked the large screen. Recording limited due to direct disk recording. Style recording limited due to lack of copy feature. Each variation had to be recorded over again. (I can only imagine how annoying this was with the PSR-740) Midi was good.

Roland XP-60: Excellent board. No complaints about this unit.. Good sound, great features, built like a tank. Semi weighted keys, real time control, voice expansion. Still worth every penny today.

Yamaha EX-7: (Motif 6 was based on this one). This was a good synth from Yammie. Good sounds. Synth sounds were awsome. Acoustic was alright. The piano was a little weak in the higher registers. VERY SLOW processor. Zip drive loading was a nightmare. Sampler was good, Contruction was solid, and the key feel was good as well. Sequencing was pretty good (had a great pattern sequencer). There were actually 3 sequencers. One 16 track linear, one 8 track pattern, and one 4 track arpegiater (I can never spell that word). Sequencing was limted due to several things. Even though the poly was 64 notes, it dropped drastically when recording because of the size of the samples. There were times I maxed the poly with just 4 tracks. The memory was also limited to 30,000 events.

Casio MZ-2000: Sill kicking myself in the a** for dumping this board. Had to let her go due to space--small apartment + wife + MZ-2000 and other gear= bye bye MZ This board was a HUGE step for Casio. Sound guality varied. I think a lot of us were comparing it to the PSR-740 at the time. The MZ had extensive voice editing with 4 element voice structuring. You could even set velocity curves. Effects (in my opinion were way beyond the 740 because of the editing options). It also had aftertouch. The drawbars were great because there were 9 sliders to operate them with. Although no vocalizer it had a mic/line input with separate effects to that input. Styles were as usual subjective. However the style editing was beyond the PSR-740. It allowed up to 16 bar loops, and pattern copy. Plus you could mix patterns, and it also converted patterns Construction was good. That board was huge. It also had a great speaker system (15w) The MZ didn't get the attention it should have. Casio had for years retained the title of (The Toy Keyboard). The MZ sold for over $1,000 when it was released. I thnk it went for $1,200 and up. Casio owners and the public was not ready for this model. Casio should have marketed the board better.

Casio WK-3500: Bluezplayer put it best when saying "it's a junior MZ-2000". That essentially is what it is. Same sound set (polished up a bit though with re-allocation of DSP settings). It has 76 keys, decent action, smart media and floppy disk storage. Drawbars, great speakers, both pitchbend and modulation, midi is alright, styles are again subjective, One feature sets it aside from others is the ability to load new samples into the board. I currently have a Steinway sample in memory and damn it sounds good. Limited in recording--6 tracks with basic editing, no style recorder (although new styles can be loaded, presets cannot be edited). Overall great bang for the buck.

This is some of mine. I think I missed a couple of them.

Squeak

Squeek: I think this thread was about which arranger keyboards you've owned. If I started listing all the synths and non-arranger keyboards I've owned (and still do), it would take a very long time indeed.

Whew .... you got THAT right!
I can't even list all the KBs I've had since I joined the "zone" !
So many kb's ... so little time ..... so many inferior products ... sigh.....
If I came the closest to really loving ONE unit it was the X1, but the down sides were too much to overcome. I could play that thing for hours ....just for fun.
AJ - if you ever want to have an in depth discussion of why Ketron is the smallest share of the market(MY guess) - just give me a call!

Ahhh crap! sorry about that fellows That's what happens when you try to read a post, type a reply and deal with a 2 year old throwing Cheerios at your head at the same time.

Squeak

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Disclaimer: These are the opinions of Squeak_D, and offered voluntarily by said member of the SynthZone. If any member disagrees with any opinions posted by Squeak_D and chooses to post a reply, he or she waives their right to moan, complain, cuss out, or be disrespectful in any way shape or form. Basically if you ain't got something nice to say.., well you know the rest.

I was thinking UD could fill a page with the boards he's had in the past year !!! ...
My list is small and not nearly as exotic ...
kn6000
kn1000
Before that it was (from first to last):
Accordion
Cordovox
Fender Rhodes
Each did the job required at the time ...and come to think of it, I still have them all .....
t.

Wow! you still have your Fender Rhodes? That's a great piece there.

Squeak

I'm going to do mine first to last.

1st - Yamaha PS6100. After hauling around a spinet organ and external Leslie for 15 plus years it was great. I only used it for playing in a bigband and it had just two or three good voices on it but that was all I needed. I built a small electronic tremolo unit for the organ sound and used it for years. I still have it somewhere in my basement.

2nd - Yamaha PSR740. This was light years ahead of anything I knew about when I got it. Compared to the PS6100 I was in heaven.

3rd - Ketron X1 bought from Don Mason. I had a ball with it and used it trouble free for 3 years until I sold it. Great sounds and styles although some of the styles were too busy sounding. I loved the saxes, clarinets, brass, and accordions.

4th and present - Yamaha Tyros. I am very happy, great jazz and bigband styles. Styles are a little repetitive and simple but very usable. I also gained multipads and to me a better harmonizer than the Ketron. I feel it has great organs and guitars, and IMHO a better piano than the X1. I feel that the woodwinds and brass are not up to par with the X1 but still very usable. Operating system needs a few tweeks but simple enough. I don't use MIDI files so I can't comment on their playback. Out of the box setup from Yamaha sucks but with the right tweeks received from forum members like Gary and Don and Donny a great sounding keyboard.

Tom

I misread the subject also. I thought it said favorites, so I didn't list nearly all the arrangers I've had. Let's see:
PSR70, PSR6100, PSR6300 (I think), PSR500, PSR510, PSR620, PSR740, PSR8000, PSR9000, PSR2000, PSR2100, Tyros.
Also: Technics KN800, KN1000, KN2000, KN5000
Korg PA80, Roland G800, Solton X1.
Might have missed something but that's most of them.
DonM

KN 700 was my first. I thought I would have a stroke learning and then operating it.

PSR 5600 - loved it

Roland E20 - Very rudimentary and styles way too repetitive...but I used it in combination witht he 5600 because I liked several of the voices

PSR 740. Loved the styles and most of the voices...but punching in codes drove me nuts.

PSR 9000. I loved it. My back didn't

PSR 2000. Only one complaint. Lack of onboard storage.

PSR 3000. Due to arrive tomorrow.

Eddie

All Yamahas...

PSR-510: Cute little keyboard that lit up like a Christmas tree when you turned it on.

PSR-4000: The 8000's little cousin. Especially loved the wheels beneath the screen. Yamaha replaced them with buttons in later models. Not sure why.

PSR-9000.

9000 PRO: By FAR the best key action I've felt on any keyboard I've ever played. Still my favorite of all offerings on the market today.

Don

I loved all keyboards (18) that I had (each one in its time and according my cash)

My first keyboard was a Yamaha PSR-6300, almost twenty years ago.

Today I´ve only a Tyros and it´s my preferred keyboard. It has great sounds, great styles, easy operation and IMO the best key response and the more realistic Grand Piano sound.

Between these two I had spectacular keyboards, like 9000Pro, SD-1, VA-7, X1, KN-5000, KN-3000, Ra-800, E-86, and several PSR.

Cheers.
Armando

[This message has been edited by SD_FAN (edited 01-05-2005).]

Reed organ: horrible.
Farfisa organ: Ok, but nothing to write SZ about.
Hammond L-100 with Leslie 122. WoW. Unbelievable sound, but no rythm box.
.....25 years later.....
Roland EM20. Lots of good quality voices, styles are a bit busy.
Yamaha PSR540. Lots of functionality, good voices.
Yamaha PSR550. Best value for my dollar IMO. The most amount of functionality in it's price range.
Starkeeper



[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 01-05-2005).]

1.Yamaha Electone (does this qualify as an early arranger? Still have).

2. Clavinovaa CPV 65.(Still have).

3. Solton MS 60 (still use nightly).

4. PSR 3000 (Gave it to my granddaughter-never used it)

6. Ketron SD-1 plus ( will acquire after winter NAMM).

Still have some dinosaurs...B3,M3, Suitcase Rhodes, DX-7...just can't seem to part with them.


Russ

Russ, where is number five?

hmm.arrangers only?ok.

casio vl-1,some old mt series(80?)
pss 170, psr 32,36(on board synth sliders want be a DX but,,)good sounds ,OK great for that time

roland e 20,15 and 16(great pianos-put yams to shame)
E70 and 86(was the king for that time,hotter than I3),RA 90,g1000 (short time)and E96

yam qs300(not really an arranger),psr 510,550
korg I3,ix 300,Is 40,PA **
that's pretty much all for arranger since we can't talk about synths.

[This message has been edited by jamman (edited 01-06-2005).]

Hello everyone!

Its been awhile since I posted so here it goes.

I'm new to arranger keyboards and have had the KN7000 for 14 months. Before that, its been organs from Wurlitzer, Conn, Gulbransen, Hammond (Aurora Classic), two Technics organs, and then the KN7000. Late summer, I picked up the PA50 and prefer some sounds/styles over the 7000 and vice versa.
One local keyborad store here, in Orlando has the PA1X. What a sound! Just trying to figure out if I'll ever use everything it has to offer.
At this point, I'm putting together sets (songs) and may hit the assisted living facilities in my area, or Sunday brunches for pin money.
I need to ween myself from sheet music to get to the next level in playing but also find that the buttons on today's keyboards are sometimes more complicated than thoes black and white things!

Mark

Fran, I can play a LITTLE...I just can't count very well!


Regards,


Russ

Hi Fran,
me , I pretty much loved them all. With each generation they had new & exciting features.
Going back down memory lane ( arranger keyboards only newest to oldest , (had a few arranger modules in between, the ra series , korg i5m & quite a few synthesizers & samplers, but I won't bother with those) .
Kn7000
9000pro
va7
kn5000
g800
korgi2
Kn3000
E86
kn2000
kn800

best wishes
Rikki

Ok here's my list... Arrangers first then non-arrangers, then current...

Arrangers....

Technics early keyboard arranger ? (circa 1984)
Roland ProE
Roland RA90
Gem WS2
Korg i300
Yamaha PSR730
Yamaha DJX
Yamaha PSR740
Yamaha PSR2000 now sold and awaiting delivery of a PSR3000 on Monday (please tell me I've done the right thing !)

Non- arrangers...

Lower Holiday Organ
Hammond M100P Organ + Leslie 145
Hohner Electronic Piano
Wasp Synth
Fender Rhodes Piano Stage 73
Solina String Machine
Korg 700S Mono Synth
Hohner Clavinet D6
Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano
Siel Mono Synth
Cavendish String synth/Vocoder
Roland Juno 6
Korg Poly 6
Korg Poly 61
Yamaha PF10 Piano X2 (1 in 1983 & 1 in 1990
Roland Juno 106
Korg DW8000
Yamaha DX100
Yamaha DX7
Ensoniq ESQ1
Ensoniq Mirage Sampler
Ensoniq EPS16+ Sampler
Yamaha EMT 10
Kawai K1m
Akai MX73
Roland U110
Rhodes 760
Dr Boss GM Synth Module
Peavey Spectrum Organ Module
Yamaha SY35 Synth
Roland RS5

Current..

Studiologic SL-880 88 note master k'board
Yamaha SO3 synth
Evolution MK-461c + Native B4 software organ
and soon to be delivered Yamaha PSR3000.

The End

you mean ix300.

This is a fun topic! My list is not as impressive as some of you posted, but here we go:

Technics KN-6000 (exp. to KN-6500): current keyboard. Acoustic piano’s and guitars not as good as on my previous Roland, but overall a better sounding instrument. Brass, saxes and flutes are very good. Good and very inspiring styles and lot’s of programming possibilities (I only use some of them). Midi file playing less user-friendly than Roland and needs lots of changing of settings to make midis sound acceptable. Impressive internal amplification and speakers!

Roland E-600 (hi Fran!): a lesser-known Roland arranger, but a very good one! Offered great value for money. Impressive stereo acoustic piano sample(s), guitars, vocals. Most of them perhaps better than of some keyboards currently on the market. Good midi file playing. Standard factory performance-memory settings poor, never used them.

Technics KN-1000: I think it represented a new generation of arranger keyboards. I had great fun with this one. In it’s time it was hard to beat and I can’t remember the competition offering anything better at the time.

Roland RA-90: not an arranger keyboard, but a module version of the Roland E-70. I used it connected to a Yamaha HS-6 electr. organ. Not easy to operate while playing, but at the time it was very good sounding with great styles.

Yamaha HS-6: ok, not an arranger but an electronic organ. I bought it together with my dad when I still lived with my parents. Had a lot of fun playing it. Played several organs that my father owned before that, but listing them would be really off-topic.


------------------
Tom NL

Yes.. I realised I'd missed the 'x' out but I though it was to insignificant to go back and edit the page for the sake of an 'X' assuming that most people would know it was an i'X'300.

Thanks for bringing it to attention though.

Ok, here we go:

My first keyboard was Korg ix300, then

Korg is40
Solton MS60
Roland EM2000 (still have)
Ketron X1
Korg PA60 (still have)
Ketron XD9 (still have)

It seems that I have I music store...
Voila:
Korg:I3,I4s,I30
Technics:KN 800,1000,1500,3000,5000
Casio: MZ 2000 ( I cannot remember the old models)
Roland:E20,30,70,66,86,96--Em1B(Brasil)Em5B(Brasil),Alpha1 (Brasil),Em2000,G800,G1000, VA7
Yamaha:
Electones:Bk4,B75n,D80,FX20,FX30,HX1.
Arranjers:Psr6100,6300,70,90,410,6700,5700,510,730,8000,740,B50(Brasil)9000,9000Pro,290,K1,295,3000.
The small models I owned in my Music School.
My Top five list:
-Roland E 70
-Roland G 1000
-Psr B50 (Yamaha Brasil)
-Psr 9000 Pro
-Psr 3000
My best bang for buck : Psr3000
Chico

[This message has been edited by ChicoBrasil (edited 01-07-2005).]

Roland A-37 with some software......

I have had a Yam. PSR640 and then moved to a Yam 9000PRO. Call me old fashioned, but I still love the 9000PRO (more than the day I bought it - some 2.5 yrs ago).
And yes, despite Yamies attention to customer care (?!?) and the fact that I have been tempted by the seduction of later models. (LOL)

Jon