Looking for Main Controller/Workstation

[Viscount]

Candidates so far include Kawai MP7SE, Korg Nautilus 88, Korg Krome EX 8, Yamaha MODX8, Roland RD 88 or possibly a used Roland Fantom 8 I might be able to pick up for $3500 CDN.

Price Range is $2000 to $4000 CDN. Saving money is nice but not if I end up with an unplayable board.

I'm finally selling off my Juno DS88 and upgrading the main living room workstation.

Kurzweil is off the table, since they no longer have a distributor in Canada. The PC4 is unobtanium.

Being realistic about my options these are what's available.

Where do I find my best bang for the buck out of these options.

I do require good tweakability of sounds, multi zone support and a solid variety of sounds including synths and pads. Pinaos are not my main priority and every bloody review spends half an hour on the pianos and skims over other features and drawbacks. I DO however, like a good solid hammer action board. MIDI class compliance is also a dealbreaker.

Also important is sturdy build quality.

The Fantom 8 looks like the best of the lot, but it weighs in at over 60 lbs and is 17 inches deep. It's a bloody monster. I'd have to buy a new gig bag just to get it home. I'm really not sure if I want something that huge.

OK guys, you've helped hundreds of people with a similar dilemma, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts on which way to turn.

Saving money is always nice but I'd really like to skip any trace of buyers' remorse on this one.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Gary

I think you already know the answer to this yourself....

 

[happyrat1]

I'd rather have blown $2 grand on a Devil I have danced with and know well, than take a chance on the latest and semi greatest that the cost cutting Asians are selling us these days,

The PC3K8 is an INCREDIBLE CONTROLLER.

32 zones!!! User memory with 2000 slots!!!! Note Stealing Prevention Algorithm!!! Channel Aftertouch!!!! Non Volatile Sampling!!!! Complex FX Chains!!!! EXCELLENT Hammond Emulation!!!! Superb Orchestral Samples!!!! VA Synth Capabilities!!! 16 track sequencer with hundreds of preloaded patterns!!! Arps up the wazoo!!!! ALL in a package which I KNOW100% will work with my system!!!!!!!

Really, how much of that does anyone else offer these days and how many more years would I waste learning them?

If everyone has had their say by now I'd say the mods could pound a nail into this thread and hang it up in the "Closed" file.

Biggles and I have come to an understanding and I'll be following up in the coming weeks on the progress of the deal.

Thanks everyone for your contributions, and the conversation was very helpful indeed.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Well, the seller backed out of the deal.

Now I'm back to plan A.

The Nautilus should be in stock locally by the end of the month.

I'll go ahead and pick one up.

Biggles >>> I will follow thru on paying for the Kore64 you have ordered. I always follow thru when I make a commitment and I
can always resell the chip easily enough.

Gary

 

[delaware dave]

One caveat.

The new Kurz comes without a Kore64 expansion ROM.

Now I have to find someone who'll sell me one.

Gary

Gary, check with Dave Weiser (https://www.weisersound.com/). He may have a Kore 64 board he can sell you.

 

[happyrat1]

Dave >> The deal fell thru. The seller backed out at the last minute.

Getting a Nautilus instead.


Gary

 

[Biggles]

What a bummer.

 

[happyrat1]

What a bummer.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade...

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

At least I should have no trouble picking up a Nautilus in a few weeks.

Gary

 

[Biggles]

Gary
I’ll eMail you

 

[Biggles]

Korg Nautilus 61

Don’t get any ideas but A&C Hamilton, 15 minutes away from me have 4 off 61 keys and 1 off 88 keys in stock.

 

[happyrat1]

Korg Nautilus 61

Don’t get any ideas but A&C Hamilton, 15 minutes away from me have 4 off 61 keys and 1 off 88 keys in stock.

I don't even want to speculate on shipping and customs costs on getting one to Canada

Local dealers have the 88 coming in about 2 or 3 weeks for $3649 CDN plus taxes.

That's as good as I'm going to get and I won't have to deal with prima donnas selling off their beloved keyboards for the same price they bought it 5 years ago

Frankly, covid and supply chain issues have made buying a keyboard much more difficult than it should be.

Thanks a million for your help Colin and hopefully Bonners will accept the return no questions asked.

If you've incurred any shipping costs during this fiasco, I promise to make good on those as well.

Gary

 

[Biggles]

Korg’s Video Manual series with Steve McNally will help you with the mammoth task of learning the Korg OS.

Korg Forums is also a good hangout, but not as friendly as here.

KORG FORUMS - Maintenace

A community for KORG users from all around the world, plus many downloads for your KORG and much more.

www.korgforums.com

Also Korg must be slipping the Nautilus Manual is a mere 269 pages

https://cdn.korg.com/us/support/download/files/3be3abd4881c4796add1ca32e39b6f94.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3Bfilename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27NAUTILUS_OG_E3.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf%3B

Good luck learning Klingon.

 

[happyrat1]

I owned a Korg TR766 way back at the beginning of time, so I'm sort of familiar with how Combis and Programs are set up on Korgs.

The rest of it I can deal with once I've downloaded the manuals and watched a few tutorials.

It has a touch screen which I assume is relatively idiot proof.

Gary

 

[Biggles]

I owned a Korg TR766 way back at the beginning of time, so I'm sort of familiar with how Combis and Programs are set up on Korgs.

The rest of it I can deal with once I've downloaded the manuals and watched a few tutorials.

It has a touch screen which I assume is relatively idiot proof.

Gary

I have no idea if this applies to the Nautilus but the sounds straight out of the box may be a bit muted, be interested in what you find.

My Pa and Kross 2 certainly needed a bit of global Eq lift in low and high ranges plus acoustic pianos for me whilst good, they were not great. The Pa required Rueben’s sample which I used all the time and the Kross 2 benefitted from Korg’s update which included a lot of acoustic piano samples.

A downside of some Korg products is the paid for additions.

Updates and software updates do take lot of time ie v1.2 of the OS is out with a warning that the Sound Editor software will not be compatible with it and to wait for said software to be updated (took 12 months for the Songbook Editor for the Pa to be updated).

 

[Davegrahamlive]

Candidates so far include Kawai MP7SE, Korg Nautilus 88, Korg Krome EX 8, Yamaha MODX8, Roland RD 88 or possibly a used Roland Fantom 8 I might be able to pick up for $3500 CDN.

Price Range is $2000 to $4000 CDN. Saving money is nice but not if I end up with an unplayable board.

I'm finally selling off my Juno DS88 and upgrading the main living room workstation.

Kurzweil is off the table, since they no longer have a distributor in Canada. The PC4 is unobtanium.

Being realistic about my options these are what's available.

Where do I find my best bang for the buck out of these options.

I do require good tweakability of sounds, multi zone support and a solid variety of sounds including synths and pads. Pinaos are not my main priority and every bloody review spends half an hour on the pianos and skims over other features and drawbacks. I DO however, like a good solid hammer action board. MIDI class compliance is also a dealbreaker.

Also important is sturdy build quality.

The Fantom 8 looks like the best of the lot, but it weighs in at over 60 lbs and is 17 inches deep. It's a bloody monster. I'd have to buy a new gig bag just to get it home. I'm really not sure if I want something that huge.

OK guys, you've helped hundreds of people with a similar dilemma, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts on which way to turn.

Saving money is always nice but I'd really like to skip any trace of buyers' remorse on this one.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Gary

 

[Davegrahamlive]

Candidates so far include Kawai MP7SE, Korg Nautilus 88, Korg Krome EX 8, Yamaha MODX8, Roland RD 88 or possibly a used Roland Fantom 8 I might be able to pick up for $3500 CDN.

Price Range is $2000 to $4000 CDN. Saving money is nice but not if I end up with an unplayable board.

I'm finally selling off my Juno DS88 and upgrading the main living room workstation.

Kurzweil is off the table, since they no longer have a distributor in Canada. The PC4 is unobtanium.

Being realistic about my options these are what's available.

Where do I find my best bang for the buck out of these options.

I do require good tweakability of sounds, multi zone support and a solid variety of sounds including synths and pads. Pinaos are not my main priority and every bloody review spends half an hour on the pianos and skims over other features and drawbacks. I DO however, like a good solid hammer action board. MIDI class compliance is also a dealbreaker.

Also important is sturdy build quality.

The Fantom 8 looks like the best of the lot, but it weighs in at over 60 lbs and is 17 inches deep. It's a bloody monster. I'd have to buy a new gig bag just to get it home. I'm really not sure if I want something that huge.

OK guys, you've helped hundreds of people with a similar dilemma, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts on which way to turn.

Saving money is always nice but I'd really like to skip any trace of buyers' remorse on this one.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Gary

Hey Gary, I just went through a similar situation. I needed to upgrade my Korg Triton le, and needed it to do a few things. I’m not at all sorry for pulling the trigger on my Korg Kronos 73… I’m just wondering why it’s not included in your candidates. 9 sound engines, 16 tracks MIDI, and 16 tracks audio…
I’m a solo performer so I use maybe 1 track of audio where there’s a “call & answer” vocal overlap. I can load 30-40 songs into the sequencer depending on the event count.
I use the damper pedal, the footswitch, and the foot pedal, so onstage controls are great!
I paid about $3200 from Sweetwater brand new.
There was a steep learning curve, but YouTube, you know?
These are my 2 cents
Good luck

 

[happyrat1]

I included the Nautilus 88 and not the Kronos 88 because of the extra grand or two it would set me back.

You don't buy a new Kronos 88 in Canada for under 5K and change.

I'm not made of money and the Nautilus can pretty much do everything the Kronos can.

I'll live without aftertouch, it ain't a dealbreaker for me.

Gary

 

[Kaneda]

Pinaos are not my main priority and every bloody review spends half an hour on the pianos and skims over other features and drawbacks. I DO however, like a good solid hammer action board.

Well, when reviewing 88-key boards with weighted actions, I guess the person reviewing the board assumes that the one looking for a board like this has piano playing as top priority in his/her mind. Therefore I don't find it strange that the focus is on piano sounds and action.
By the same token, I wouldn't expect a review of a synth action or waterfall board to focus on the piano side of things... That would be like Jeremy Clarkson test driving a Lamborghini Aventador and talk about its offroad capabilites for half an hour...

 

[Biggles]

Well, when reviewing 88-key boards with weighted actions, I guess the person reviewing the board assumes that the one looking for a board like this has piano playing as top priority in his/her mind. Therefore I don't find it strange that the focus is on piano sounds and action.
By the same token, I wouldn't expect a review of a synth action or waterfall board to focus on the piano side of things... That would be like Jeremy Clarkson test driving a Lamborghini Aventador and talk about its offroad capabilites for half an hour...

I do not see at as strange at all, if the prime focus of the keyboard is as a digital piano then there really is no need to buy a workstation.

If on the other hand a player wants a versatile keyboard that is good at everything and likes to have plenty of layered sounds where the keybed is split into multiple sections then 88 keys is the way to go.

A versatile do everything 88 key workstation is generally a Korg, Yamaha or Roland.

 

[Kaneda]

Versatile ? 88 keys yes, weighted no...