Best keyboard under $1000

[mca25]

Ive greaty reduced my shortlist, at this point just keeping an eye out for any deals. The mox8 had some broken keys. I think that any of the new keyboards ive mentioned would suit me well, Im leaning towards the used kross 1 due to the fact that it is cheaper, although i am waiting to see if the others get any discounts. Ive also just been scanning for used keyboard around me and have found a kurzweil sp88 for 250. Please pardon my indecisiveness but bear with me please im just trying to due whats best.

 

[Kaneda]

Please pardon my indecisiveness but bear with me please im just trying to due whats best.

No worries, we all suffer from 'indecisivitis' from time to time

 

[Biggles]

Ive greaty reduced my shortlist, at this point just keeping an eye out for any deals. The mox8 had some broken keys. I think that any of the new keyboards ive mentioned would suit me well, Im leaning towards the used kross 1 due to the fact that it is cheaper, although i am waiting to see if the others get any discounts. Ive also just been scanning for used keyboard around me and have found a kurzweil sp88 for 250. Please pardon my indecisiveness but bear with me please im just trying to due whats best.

Indecisivness can be a good trait.

I walked into my local Music Store to check when a newly released Korg model would be in store as a demo, I walked out with the demo unit.

 

[Rayblewit]

I walked out with the demo unit.

Another one?
Replacement?
Or very impulsive buying?

 

[Biggles]

Ray

It was the PA700 that I bought on impulse, but that said I did do a lot of research prior and as they had a demo unit of the similar priced Yamaha S series I had the chance of playing both keyboards back to back.

The comparison was probably where I developed my dislike of Yamaha keyboards, since some sounds especially pianos were good, overall they were poor and the materials used in ts construction was very similar to a cheap E300 series model.

 

[zstringer999]

I have a Yamaha P-125, 88 weighted keys and am very happy with the sound and touch. I tried Casio and Korg but the keyboard feel just wasn’t for me. I grew up playing a Yamaha baby grand, so I guess I found something familiar. It’s not expensive, weighs 26 lbs. For gigging I use a Korg Kross 61-key synth. Keys aren’t weighted but it weighs only 10 lbs - can’t beat the portability. Go to a music store and try as many as you can.

 

[brian3284]

I am disabled and therefor look for the smallest and lightest units. However as an Ex Semi Pro pianist can't entertain any rubbish.
My current keyboard is a Yamaha NP-V80 which is approx. 6kgs and has all the backings, voices and songs that I need with a USB for extra settings and midi files. To avoid carrying folders of music I am fully digital on a large tablet. With advancing age I now have to use a roadie - especially if I need to use an amplifier.

 

[GeraldR]

Wow. this goes on and on (although it echoes the mental gyrations that I can go through before, during and after buying a keyboard). This is a bit like the fable of the blind mean and the elephant - there are so many attributes one might consider. My first portable keyboard was an amplified reed organ with two voices which could be used individually or combined; only weighed 50 pounds, had a carry handle, and a clumsy direct valve linkage ... did I mention it was portable? Around the same time I was occasionally renting a Hammond L122 for gigs: usual classic tone-wheel sound, intermittent and sometimes noisy key contacts, limited soundscape in spite of the draw-bars, mechanical echo/sustain with microphonic tendencies, mediocre internal sound ... hard to cut through a rock band sound and a major PITA to lug around especially when stairs were involved; like many classic Hammonds, it was somewhat naked without an equally bulky Leslie cabinet but either way needed to be mic'd up (that approach didn't last long). Finally, joy (sort of): a Farfisa combo organ with flute and reed stops in a novel horizontal lever arrangement, sufficiently aggressive sound, somewhat versatile, now (judging by popular simulators) a popular classic/vintage sound, with a carry handle and only 70 pounds - at one point the instrument broke loose from the handle!; this needed separate amplification (more stuff to carry). Then came an equally 'portable' Yamaha YCD combo organ with usable foot-pedals, horizontal lever stops, a carry handle, needing external amplification, relatively nice sound - apparently another vintage/classic; this instrument was built tough: the detachable folding legs must weigh 40 lbs, swell pedal 5, foot pedals 20 ... so piece-wise portable and still works 40 years later. But Yamaha outdid themselves with the DX7: again a heavyweight with a steel package, endless flexibility if one has time and patience, some great sounds (I'm told that there are over 1/4 million patches somewhere out there but I'm willing to bet most load up 16 patches and rarely change them), somewhat awkwardly sprung keys that occasionally stick (but can be fixed once you figure out how); this instrument was built like the proverbial brick outhouse and just keeps on ticking - bought mine used 36 years ago and still a-okay. At the other end of the durability spectrum, a Novation synth which is light and has moderately versatile sound but I managed to break a key on day 1 (the shakeout was a collection of several tiny plastic bits i.e. not repairable).
The parameters are many:
- sound quality
- sound diversity/versatility
- sound verite'
- durability
- keyboard feel
- keyboard action
- portability
- ease of use
- amplification and speakers, if any
- price
- etc
Choice is a balancing act between the many factors. As we see in this forum, different people weigh different parameters more highly. In quality management a rule is 'avoid local optimization' but maybe Sir Mick said it best: 'you can't always get what you want'. I once tried a Kurzweil digital baby grand that touched all the bases, IMHO, but ... improbable to justify the cost and floor-space if I brought one home (my Wurlitzer console organ with full pedal-board seems to have used up my credit in that area).

 

[tommy7man]

I am currently an intermediate level piano player and am looking to purchase a new keyboard. I started playing on a Casio Ctk-4200 which is a entry level piano with 61 keys. It was perfect to learn the fundamentals but now I feel like I need more keys as well as better sounds. At this point I would like to spend less than $1000 on a solid keyboard. I am looking to keep it long term so I want to make the correct choice. Ive been looking at the Yamaha MX88 as well as the Korg Kross but they both look quite old and am unsure if I should consider them. Ive heard that 88 weighted keys are essential. I also need it to be reasonably portable I am open to buying used keyboards if it is worth it. Thanks!

I have had both a Yamaha MX and a Korg Kross, and I preferred the Yamaha, to the extent that I loaned out the Kross and haven't asked for it back. Actually, I just loaned out the Yamaha too, but that's because I'm using Roland Juno DS and VR09 now, in tandem. Other than no aftertouch (Novation ReMOTE SL does that well) or real weighted keys (a Casio Privia 330 is my favorite there) this is my perfect lightweight duo. I suspect the new Numa 2x compact, with organ drawbars, 88 keys and aftertouch, AND speakers, with some synth ability, will be less than the sum of its parts, but haven't been able to get my hands on one yet. It's intriguing though, and an everything-in-one box. . . Sometimes everything in one isn't the best though.

 

[DavidCooper]

If portability and a bit increase in budget is not an issue.
YDP 144 is a good option