Hi, hope you guys can help me. I haven't played a keyboard or piano in 10 years and as I head into a mid-life crisis (so my wife tells me!)I am interested in buying a keyboard.

To put things into perspective - the last keyboard I owned was a Roland E-5. So it is something like the Roland E-5 (61 key)I am looking for but with audio recording and sd memory slots/usb if possible. As I cheat a bit I definitely want decent sounding accompaniments and the ability to play say a piano sound with strings in the background.

From reading through the threads the following seem like options -
Roland Prelude
yamaha psr s900
korg pa500
casio WK-500

I'd be trying to keep cost down to under €1,000 though so that might rule out a couple of the above.

This would be for home use and accompanying friends on guitars.

Thanks for any suggestions you can provide!

(oh, and built in speakers are a must!)


[This message has been edited by dublin6 (edited 06-21-2009).]

The Yamaha would be the one to beat in that company, but don't rule out Roland E-50 if you're used to the Roland user interface - they're getting a bit past their prime and there are some excellent deals to be had from EU dealers.

No audio on the E50, I'm afraid. Not that you REALLY need it... if you have a computer than can post here, you have at LEAST a two-track audio recorder

thanks guys. Looking at the prices of psr I will have to rethink. will have a look at the E-50 and also the PSR S550 - any ideas on this?

Hi,

Don't forget the Roland GW8. I own one and this thing sounds great is cheap and have a usb memory player wich plays audio files WAV/AIFF/MP3
Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZXvNTyatYY



[This message has been edited by FransN (edited 06-22-2009).]

Hi FransN - as far as I know the GW8 doesnt have speakers which is a no-no for me. Is the prelude basically the GW8 but with speakers?



[This message has been edited by dublin6 (edited 06-22-2009).]

Yes the Prelude is almost the same but more expensive and missed some features the GW8 has. Maby you can buy some logitech speakers or something else.

I think I have it down to either the Korg PA500 or Roland Prelude (as I really need speakers built in). In fact the PA500, Prelude and PSR S700 all seem to be about the same price.

Then personally I will go for the korg. The korg PA500 has much more features like style editing for the money and better styles.

Thanks FransN. The style editing and styles themselves (which seem to get better reviews for realism than Yamahas) were encouraging me to go the Korg route.

Now I just have to persuade the wife!