New Keyboard Needed for Church

[hammer]

I often play keyboard with our church praise group.  All I do is provide PAD background sounds and sometimes
play melody using only right hand sounds like a flute or clarinet.  My question is this.  This keyboard is
used only for the purpose described above.  No styles or other fancy features are needed.  So, what keyboard would you consider for this purpose?  There is no need to pay tons of money for TOTL products with features that will never be used.

Deane

[Amwilburn]

You're best of visiting your local retailer to get a feel for what's available, but generally you're not paying for more features, you're paying for higher sound quality.
For example, the lowly PSRe373 has most of the features of say the PSRs650, but a massive gap in sound quality. Even the top of the line Genos mostly adds sound quality (and yes, much more control and flexibility of the styles, but you're mostly paying for sound quality)


As I don't know what kind of sounds you prefer, nor do I know if you need on-board speakers, I can only point you in a few directions to look

But i would start by looking at the Roland Junods88, the Yamaha Modx8 (absolutely fantastic synth), the Yamaha MX88, the Korg Kross (none of these have built in speakers)

Built in speakers? Absolutely a PSRsx900

[Normanfernandez]

If you can get your hands on a 2nd hand PSR S 770 or Tyros. Should be very powerful.

Or go for the PSR E Series 3xx or 4xx.
Norman.

[pjd]

Hello Deane —

My church gig is similar. (Well, when there isn't a pandemic...)

I've played MODX and MOX in church for the past 10 years. The MODX woodwinds and strings are a cut above MOX. However, a used MOXF would be a fine option if budget is an issue.

Happy to provide more info — pj

[casiokid]

Many in the UK churches use the Nord Stage 2  or 3, which has become almost the standard keyboard for worship, playing
often by splitting the keyboard utilising a synth or string pad in the left hand for hymn and song accompaniment with a single or layered voice in the right hand.  I've often taken my humbler keyboards (Yamaha, Korg or Casio) and emulated a similar effect with good results when asked to play in churches without an instrument.

[guitpic1]

Deane,

Had I seen this thread earlier, I would have suggested your church consider a DGX 670. It really is a an arranger with piano functions.

Assuming you don't have to move it much(heavy) it could function as a piano in a pinch.

[vbdx66]

I agree, the DGX670 is great bang for the bucks. Alternatively your Church might consider an used DGX660 or 650.

Vinciane

[SciNote]

I must respectfully disagree that the main difference between a PSR-E463 and PSR-SX600 is the sound quality.  I'm not saying that there is no improvement in sound quality, as I'm sure there is, but I do not believe it to be as dramatic as the price difference implies, and I believe the PSR-E463 can sound very good -- especially with proper use of effects like chorusing and reverb to fatten up the sound.  Add some external amplification and speakers, and it sounds even better.  The OP mentioned a flute sound, and I just happened to be doing some experimentation with the flute sound recently on my nearly 8 year old predecessor to the PSR-E463, which is my PSR-E433, and it has a "Sweet Flute" sound that is just amazing.

So, what do you get for the price difference when moving from the E463 to the SX600?  After all, the SX600 costs about three times as much as an E463.  Here's a partial list...

Hundreds of additional sounds
Hundreds of additional styles
Dozens of additional chorus, reverb, and DSP settings
80 more notes of maximum polyphony
Number of registrations limited only by available memory in the keyboard, instead of just having 32 available registrations
Style creator
16 track sequencer, instead of 6 track -- and with more features
Additional auto-accompaniment modes, as well as 4 style variations instead of 2
Master compressor
More EQ settings
Multi-pads, which are not available at all on the E463
Modulation wheel control
More settings for the live-control knobs
More power for the built-in amplifier and speakers

There are likely even more, but this gives you a picture of the many additional features included with the SX600.  Granted, you can argue that things like the compressor, EQ, and additional DSP effects, as well as the additional polyphony available, all relate to an improvement in sound, and that would be true.  And the additional onboard amp/speaker power may alone justify the SX600 (or an even higher-end model with more power) if the OP is not using external amps and speakers and is using it in a larger church.  It just depends on how he intends to use the keyboard, and based on his original post, these features don't seem all that important.  If he is mainly holding down a 3-4 note pad chord with his left hand while playing a single note melody with his right hand, then I doubt he will notice a difference between 48 and 128 note polyphony.

Another consideration is whether he thinks he may use this additional functionality in the future.  If so, the the SX600 could still be the better choice.  Otherwise, it might even be worthwhile even to check out the E373 (or EW310 if a bigger keyboard is important).  You lose things like the live control knobs and USB to device port, but those features also do not sound very important to the OP.  I have no direct experience with it, but it appears to have quite an improved sound when compared to previous E300-series models, and now includes dozens of DSP effects.  However, it still only has 9 registrations, which could be quite limiting if he plans to store combinations of sounds in registrations.

Of course, depending on how soon the OP needs to buy this keyboard, it might be worth waiting for the long-awaited PSR-E473 and PSR-EW425, which still involves quite a bit of speculation, but may not be that far away since a leaked picture of the EW425 is out there and is discussed on another thread on this forum.

[MIKEP]

I use a Tyros 4.
Mix together the pianos, electric pianos, organs and pads.
Sounds amazing!
Mike

[vbdx66]

Hi Deane,

I know we're on a Yamaha forum here, but if you need something very portable and you don't need any arranging features at all, the Casio CT-S1 might just be what you need: highly portable, very simple to use, nice key feel and 61 high quality sounds mainly geared towards keyboardists.

A video demonstration here:

https://youtu.be/mdmrIeaZFSs

Hope this helps,

Vinciane

[Toril S]

And if you need 88 keys there is the Casio PRX1000 and 3000.

[Robert van Weersch]

Funny how most people just make a hard recommendations based on a personal experience, without knowing your exact requirements or even budget.

I'd make my choice depending mostly on budget and requirements. For a few hundred bucks, you could be shopping in the PSR series. For double that price, a PSR-SX is an option. Given the setting you need it for, I'd choose an arranger and not a synth: an arranger will give you plenty of sounds with the option to use decent accompaniments (I've done some church choirs for some time and I have used the ACMP quite often). A synth like a MOD-X is very powerfull when it comes to sound creation, but that is also the focus of a synth, so that depends on how you'd want to use it; I like a synth as an extra machine, but not as my main instrument. And another requirement might be 61, 76 or 88 keys. Or which keybed: full-weight or organ keys , or in-between. And how about portability: it makes quite a difference if you'd need to schlepp 7 kg or 16 kg, especially when you need to climb stairs.
So please, I think people are willing to give advice, but give a bit more information on budget, environment, requirements, usage etc.

[cliffordleo1965]

ftp:// i,m using psr s 975 its very nice we can create good quality expansion pack and use voices also very nice now waiting for sx 900 its not available now no stock south india if i get sx 900 it is very useful for me