Thanx in advance...

Ketron sd60? Or Wersi Pegasus Wing?

Stay away for 5 minutes and you miss something.
What happened to the Roland?
As you well know what to get is dependent on what you need ,so sit down, have a nice glass of wine or Jack Honey and think about that. Make a list, sometmes writing things down and seeing them helps you make clearer decisions.
Good Luck with whatever.

How about an accordion? I’m not trying to be funny or sarcastic. But I think you just might be burned on arranger keyboards. Maybe a change of pace is what you need. Playing different instruments can be a fun challenge. Good luck.

Donny, if I may suggest something: get a Yamaha Montage or MODX. Why? Because the built in arpeggios offer a lot more possibilities than styles on an arranger keyboard. Better yet, add an arranger to the setup. You'll have the best of both worlds; the arranger for its styles, and the synth for incredible right hand sounds, in-depth sound sculpting, and of course, its Arpeggios.

I have a Motif XF, and I really enjoy its 7,881 arpeggios. The Montage and MODX have even more!

There's nothing like a synth as far as its features and sounds go. Or, get the Genos.

I wish you the best no matter what you choose.

My two cents.

P.S. May I ask why you decided against the E-A7? Just curious.

Donny, I have other hobbies besides keyboard music, and I'm often dissatisfied with my purchases.

Step back and think for a bit... When was the last time you bought something, and it was unexpectedly good? Something that surprised you as being better than expected, and when you used it put a smile on your face, and made you say "Wow!"

That's what you should strive to re-create. NONE of these boards are going to be perfect. But if you accept their limitations based on what you already know, maybe you can find a way to enjoy what's good about them again.

I have a mid-range board from each of the major brands. Since Roland is my current favorite, I actually have boards from two generations (because some features I like were dropped.) Taking into account the resale value and storage space they take up, I think I'm in a good place. My $.02.

Donny, I thought you had a pretty good idea to see what NAMM and Musikmesse have to offer. If you need a controller...I have the 61 m-audio oxygen that Don sent me. Be happy to send it to you...just cover the shipping. I think Don sent it to me for about $30.00. Might let you play with the vsti’s you have.
Let me know,
Mitch

Get a Hammond B3, stick a Korg Kronos on top and a Ketron SD40 to your side, them make sure you have a decent set of speakers and a leslie.

Bill

Mike good suggestions... I am looking into it..
How does the motif montage, modx vs the Fantom? I like the arpeggios too.. More creative then styles.

Thanx Mitch... Tried the controller route.... Didn't workout..

Well, since you turned down PA4X, SX900 and E-A7 it doesn't really make much sence to me, unless you're just enjoying this very phase of, well, shopping.

Since I fail to appreciate and get the best of all things I have in life myself, I'm not really the one who should give advice upon it.

I just feel bad for the instruments that were rejected. I think any of them can help to be productive, if enough time and effort applied. We know that a lot of people can only dream about keyboards like those and probably will never have a chance of getting ones.

This thrill of choosing and ordering new products can be entertaining, but I'm afraid that in the end it's no-win situation.

Hope you will make a good choice/decision.

+1 Kabinopus - each of these boards offers a myriad of great tools for being creative and enjoying music. Donny, maybe give a listen to your past recordings on various instruments, and perhaps that will tweak some preferences one way or the other. Best wishes for a "sound" decision (pun intended).

How about one of these

Play your MP3 tracks, Use the aux with a mixer/mic to sing..

Play your favorite radio station of the hour, and when you get bored.. simply change the station …. instead of the keyboard.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Memorex-CD-Ca...910080301008005

Donny, How about a digital piano? If I’m just playing instrumental versus and arranger and vocals, piano floats my boat best. Piano is challenging as I’m sure you already know the time I spend on piano ( not enough) does give me a lot of enjoyment because some of the time I’m trying learn some new tunes or brush up on stuff I played years ago but have not played in years. You’re already a great vocalist, maybe some piano studies to keep your mind occupied could be a real plus.

I've found the retro product you're looking for Donny.
It's a funny thing, I have one. 😁

You asked, so I'll give you MY answer. Seems to me that what you really want and need, is to be the center of attention, and that this past month or so of totally bizarre and irrational behavior is just a means of achieving that. Yes, I know you have your little group of well-meaning but ultimately harmful enablers who are going to continue to support your role in "The Donny Pesce Show".

Like all good ENTERTAINERS, there is a strong exhibitionist tendency that is a positive for a performing entertainer. But when the public/professional entertaining stops, for whatever reason, that tendency is still there and has to seek other forms of expression. I think (and I'm no professional) that is what is happening here. I think the reason you are so furious with Uncle Dave is that he makes you confront the truth and down in your heart, you know every word is true. You throw out a LOT of 'attaboys' and 'your (sic) very welcome's' to maintain your following, but telling Mark to hit the road was a TEST too far, even for YOUR followers.

So, to your question 'What should I get next?'; how about a dose of humility, a semblance of normalcy. No need to respond to EVERY SINGLE post, whether or not you have anything important to say. YOU don't have to be the declarator of when a thread has 'gone south', especially if no one else is bothered and in fact, may even be enjoying the diversion.

Personally, I think you're probably a good guy, but there has got to be more to a person than the ability to sing in-tune. Hey, good people like Fran (and many others here) obviously see something good in you so my advice (which of course you didn't ask for) is, play up that 'good' side and play down the 'manic' side. I think we all know that what you're searching for has very little to do with keyboards. Yeah, for some of us, RETIREMENT IS A BITCH.......but not if you use it wisely.

chas

Gunnar What a Kool piece of gear. Thank you

Steve I tried the piano route few years ago just not enough to keep my appetite full I need more..

Harold thank you for your input I really appreciate it all food for thought..

Call I have been playing accordion since 6 years old and I just sold my accordion a few years ago always in my heart especially when I hear Latin music

Hi Jonny,
I had one too. Have to go back quite a few years haha.

Kabinopus.....all valid thoughts...
we are all different and do it it ways that the other doesn't.
It is what makes the world go around.
have a great day.

I got the first one long time ago after seen Rolf Harris TV show where he used this thing.
Somehow it disapeared, and a couple of years ago I bought a new one, only for notalgic reasons.
Grandkids love it. 😁

Probably where I spotted it too. Haha

I vote for the SD60 as well because of the launchpad feature which nobody else has.

interesting choice Thanx

No advice, Donny:

Do what makes you happy... or productive... or sounds best to you. If money did not matter... I would have all my songs demoed by people with fantastic vocal capabilities, backed by whatever the song needs... a full symphony orchestra, a three piece jazz trio or a rock band with great guitarists. You get my drift. It's called the Frank Sinatra effect. LOL!

Most of all, enjoy every day as if it were the last. Life is short and happiness is often a scarce commodity.

Dave all good thoughts appreciated for sure.

DNJ...I did not post yet!....Here Goes maybe this could work for You....Get a Hot Chick to Play the Instrument and Just Sing with Her...I don't think You would get bored at all! Harold

At this age Harold you'll spend more blue pills then the gig pays..

From what I've heard so far of the Fantom, its arpeggios are very limited compared with the yamahas'. On the Motif, you could play up to 3 arps with your left hand, and choose whatever voice you'd like for your right hand. This makes it necessarily less busy than what you get with an arranger. Quite often, I only use a guitar arp for my left hand, and another voice for my right. There's something very nice about a simple arrangement like that.

Getting back to Fantom vs Montage/MODX: The Yamahas have superb guitar sounds, the Rolands, not so much, if that's important to you. For me, Yamaha has the best acoustic sounds of any brand. That's why I want to supplement my Motif with an arranger. I might even swap my Motif with the newer MODX, so I get Yamaha's latest sounds, plus an arranger.

Your choice.

Donny what about the new Medeli AKX10 looks very promising.

http://www.medeli.com.hk/x10

What bothers me on the work stations is creating the drum tracks variations for intro,ending and through the song, fills, etc..

Any demos?

Not yet but the features are awesome. It even has usb audio. Not even the Genos has that.

Fran very interesting who knew?

There are 5 variations on the Motif XF, and even more on the Montage/Modx, similar to the 4 variations on an arranger.

Mike stitching all parts together live is my concern...

If you want to reconsider Korg PA4X, I have a DEAL for you!

Remember it's not mine, it's DickieT's. I'm feeling guilty about using it so long.
If it weren't for the keys, I'd love to keep on using it.

Don, So your looking to down size to just the EA7?
Mitch

Don.... Sorry not a 4th time with Pa4x...
But Roland EA7 & You...
Perfect Together

Donny, for what it’s worth...I don’t think a modern workstation is what your looking for. I had the Motif XS...which isn’t as nice as the XF...and Mike is right, the arps allow for some cool music to be created, but intros and endings, breaks and fills can be a little challenging. I know you’ve had about every arranger made...so maybe think back to the last one you really enjoyed playing. One that challenged you yet gave satisfaction when you played out or recorded something. Like I said...for what it’s worth, but maybe that’s a place to start.
Mitch

I'm not trying very hard to sell the Korg. But if someone wants it, I think Dickie would appreciate my selling it for him. He has Yamaha PSR S950 and also a SX900, which he is deciding if he wants to keep.
He wants the arranger to handle CDG files, and the Korg does it seamlessly. However the SX900 seems to have a glitch there. I loaded 128 files into it, and it found about half of them. The ones it found worked fine. I also tried them in MY SX900, before I boxed it back up, and they only saw the sames ones, not all. I tried various USB drives, tried putting ONE of the ones that wouldn't work on the root directory, tried everything possible, and couldn't get it to work.
I called Sweetwater, where he bought it, and the tech guy of course didn't know, so he is calling a Yamaha "expert", and is supposed to get back to me asap. Dickie will keep SX900 if the files will play as advertised; otherwise it goes back.

Mitch before I think backwards I have to think forward arranger wise no rush we'll see what the future brings thank you for your thoughts they gave me something to think about..

Hi Don,
stupid question, I gather it is updated?

Yes that is the first thing I did when we set it up. But thanks for the help. I'm sure Yamaha will address it.

Hi Don,
Sorry I don’t have any to test it on, but gather it’s probably a general bug, not specific to one sx unit.
Is there possibly a limit to how many can be put in a folder and if you add too many, it may have strange consequences.

I'm sure it is. I tested them on two separate SX900s. And everything worked fine on the PA4x.
Also, when you put a CDG in a Registration on the SX, it will pull up the MP3 part, but not the lyrics. These are almost certainly bugs, and can be easily fixed by Yamaha, if and when they get around to it.
Another boo-boo; on the Yamaha, in order to change the pitch on an audio file, you must go into the audio menu, select and press a tiny little box that says pitch shift. On the Korg the Transpose function will change it immediately. The Transpose doesn't work on audio files in the Yamaha.

Sounds like Yamaha still has a few bugs to iron out, the sooner the better.

Yes, but every new arranger has some when first introduced. We are the Beta Testers!

What about the midi score display? My Pa4X is great in flexibility and display compared to my S970.

Bernie

Donny, food for thought!

https://sonicstate.com/news/2019/11/06/kurzweil-pc4-ships/

http://kurzweil.com/product/pc4/

Thanx everybody for the thoughts on what to get.
Not much to choose from anymore arranger kb wise which is sad.
the only units I have yet to touch is the SD90/60, Genos.
or whatever the Medeli is?

http://www.medeli.com.hk/x10

Donny, did you consider Kurzweil's arrangers?

http://kurzweil.com/product/kp200/

That would be Medeli with a different label. As someone explained, it is sort of when a company wants to have cups or pens with their logos, but do not want to produce ones, so they order other company to produce it for them. This is what Roland, Kurzweil and Casio (MA-150) did with Medeli. Obviously, people who buy these Medeli products thinking that it is something else eventually feel that they were lied to.

That's not true in all cases. Some companies like Deebach use Medeli housings, dashboards and keybeds, but put in not only their own samples and styles, but even their own hardware sound chips.

Has anyone been very successful with using vArranger program, sound module,
and a controller with their computer?

I know Deane use vArranger, and seem to be very pleased with the combination of PC software and midi-keyboard.

Just in case you have'nt already been there to read, here's the link to forum:
www.varranger.com/english-forum/

Gunnar thank you for the info...
I might also have to pick your brain on your genos too.

Well, not much brain left to pick at on top of my body, but I'll do my best if there is something that may be for any help.
Guess you've been investigating a lot, manuals and other documents etc. is to find here.

Congratulations Donny...I think you made the right choice.
Mitch

Mitch Thank you ....I guess I saved the best for last.

Enjoy Donny! Make lots music and hope you’ll share some of your arrangements for us to enjoy too.

Paul...Gracias amigo....I look forward to playing it for sure.
I have been getting a lot of tips from Genos owners too to get started...Take care

Good choice , have Fun

I

Thank you Impuls...
any Tips & Tricks you can offer to get started setting up GENOS?

I have one!!!! Throw the box away so you can't return it. HEE HEE

Congrats Donny. 👍

Best wishes, and I hope you'll find the challenges you need to settle down with this 'wondermachine'.
Just a week to go now, and there is a big update that will make it even more interesting to explore and use.
Hopefully there also will be good documenation to read within the files, but Yamaha has been quite fast to update manuals as well.
The current one is version 'f'.

Sign in to Yamaha and register the new baby when you get it, grab the free godies, then relax, enjoy and have lots of fun.

+1

Gunnar thanx well noted and downloaded..waiting for 2.0 as well.

+2!

Excellent choice Donny, a beast of a keyboard, I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks Danny

Donny, I REALLY wish you the best with it ...
But, please, please, please, don't tell us until 3 weeks pass after you return it ...

Thank you Tony
I'm sure that's not going to happen this time.
Take care.

Keep Me in Mind when You are ready to sell.....Harold

Congratulations. But somehow I don't remember all this hoopla when Gunnar or Steve or Bachus or others got theirs. No matter, enjoy. It's a great piece of technology. Glad we've already gone through the 200+ Youtube videos. Now you can take that posting time to thoroughly learn the instrument. I'm still trying to learn all the features on my smartphone.

chas

Sorry Harold not gonna happen...
You considering a Genos now also.
Good luck..

You'll know anyway Tony. After the initial gushing, there'll be an eerie silence.

Yes, I'm considering one when My piggy bank allows it to happen. Harold

You deserve it Harold the Holidays are coming... Treat yourself..

Donny, I have to say...I’m a little envious. If it were an option...I’d go for the Genos myself.
Mitch

+1


Genos is a great choice as well. Nice to have both arranger and piano.

It may seem a bit odd, but I do think learning piano has helped me with my Genos.

Go to the psrtutorial forum , there is a lot of useful info to find specific for the Genos , and read the manuals :-)
After the T5 the Genos i need a lot of time to get it to my needs , now i dont want to mis it ( after 2 years exactly)

Impuls,

made some recordings "on thefly"
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmC6hdAR1v5lYN8twfn0YbA?view_as=subscriber

Thanx Impuls I'm on it..

I knew of a fellow, a few years back, that had a career as a professional pianist, and at the time, was retired.

He took a job at a local music store, where he discovered arrangers...at that time the Yamaha PSR S950.

He decided he would put his piano skills together with the potential of arrangers. He needed the 88 keys of a hammered action piano for scale and expressiveness and used the S950, via midi, for styles when needed.

At the time, I was new to keyboards, and I asked him why both?

He showed me how he could get the very low sound/action of a piano and still use arranger styles...probably one of the best sounds I have heard since then.

When I pointed out the hassle of two keyboards, he replied that he was only taking two - three hour jobs that paid significantly more than the one hour jobs he had taken in the past.

Wouldn’t a module be better for that scenario?

Perhaps because for most of my 70 years, I have played acoustic guitar/mandolin/bass, and have enjoyed acoustic piano over any key action, including Genos.

That said, I do love what happens style/voice wise with my Genos...it’s great.

But no arranger gives me the expressive enjoyment that I get with either my PX560 or the wonderful action of my RD2000.

It may seem a bit odd, but I do think learning piano has helped me with my Genos.

No, it is not odd. Many of the fine organ and keyboard players I have met studies piano -- studied enough to improve their skils. Be sure that the piano study is one that will improve what you want/need.

Rick Ionnone (spelling?) demoed the Wersi organs at the concerts in Florida. He shared the clasical piano studies he did every day.

Enjoy your music and your keyboard, John C.

For home use, I think that’s where Clavinova’’ s come into their own.
Piano with styles. Functions wouldn’t be as advanced as on an arranger, but for anyone that can play in full piano mode , Magic.

My Technics guy used to play in full piano mode, he was brilliant. He was more than happy to show off his skills, more than happy to listen.

Never quite gotten the hang of it. If there’s sheet music out there for full pianist mode or online lessons, love to know about it.

DNJ You surely know how to keep it interesting, Donny. Looking forward to learn about your first impressions.

Rikkisbears, Clavinova is a classy thing. But what stops me from considering it is the fact that sooner or later any instrument needs a service, and I don’t want to picture how complicated it would be to move it.

Guitpic1 Since I got a rather decent piano in a form of Juno DS76, I play “just piano” a lot and it’s indeed exciting. I find that it also makes playing an arranger more, let’s say, refreshing. I even think that with a decent digital piano it’s much easier to be content with some middle arranger, as piano doesn't really leave much free time to go very far in other direction.

*I do have some trouble with Juno DS, but I’ll talk about it other time. Just to clarify that I’m not promoting it; hope to fix it later.

Kabinopus Спасибо....
the Genos adventure starts sometime tomorrow..

Kabinopus, I purchased a Clavinova CVP 307 around 2004-2005, I don’t remember the exact date. Moving it to a gig is a problem, moving it in my home is pretty easy I can usually do it by myself but it helps to have another person. The CVP 307 has been trouble free and I’ve never had to have it serviced. I’m hoping I won’t have to have it serviced. When I think if I had kept my Samick Grand piano and had it serviced 2 times per year I’d guess I would have spent upwards of $2000 over the course of 15 years. Just guessing at that number. The Clavinova hasn’t cost a penny for service and it is always in tune unlike the grand piano.

As as side note if the Clavinova were ever to stop working and the cost of repair was too high, I’d get another Roland FP80.