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#165699 - 01/26/01 12:52 PM
Re: GEM wk8
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Member
Registered: 11/15/00
Posts: 255
Loc: Marietta, GA USA
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I used to play GEM keyboards and I thought they where very easy to operate. The styles are great and you can use lots of user styles. The board I owned last was a SX2, the pro version. The keys felt great, very similair to the roland pro keys, not that plastic feel at all. One of the big advantages for me was the option to expand your sounds with new samples. In those days i bought some awesome sounds from GEM. The only thing i did not like was that in some sounds did not sound good all over the range of the keyboard.
When I moved to the US i had to sell al my gear. I recently got a Roland G1000 but when I was looking i tried to check out GEM.
I think they are very good keyboards but the reason that they are not that populair is bad marketing in the US. Nobody has them in stock, their agent in the states in now Peavey.
Strange though if you know that General Music owns their own PA company (LEM) back in Italy. I used to have a mixer, amp and speakers from them who sounded real good too.
I am sure that a lot more people would use General Music if they would improve their marketing strategy. The SK880, SK760, WK6 and WK8 are high end instruments with about the best specs in their class
My advice, try to find one, try it out, fall in love with it and buy it.
_________________________
Arno Thijssen mailto:arnothijssen2002@yahoo.com
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#165702 - 01/29/01 10:52 AM
Re: GEM wk8
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Senior Member
Registered: 01/27/01
Posts: 2227
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Hold on SK880 user. You have said that you haven't heard the PSR 9000. The PSR 9000 is way beyond the PSR 8000. So not having heard the PSR 9000, you cannot say that the SK880's amplifier runs rings around the Yamaha.
I was able to try out the SK880 where I live. If my impression is correct, the SK880 is like the WK8 but with no speakers and more keys. I found it very difficult to maneuver around, and I wasn't very excited with the way the styles sounded. I didn't play it for very long, but I soon realized why people said that it isn't in the same league as the X1 nor the PSR 9000.
Maybe the keyboard would grow on me, on the other hand. It's true, the best thing would be to try every keyboard. But if the distance is too great ... maybe you have to take a chance on a keyboard everyone is raving about (like the X1 or SD1)and make sure you can return it if you don't like it. You'll lose over $100 on shipping, but ce la vie.
I owned an X1, got rid of it because it wasn't suited like the PSR 740 for my job and performance style. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful keyboard, and if I could have afforded to own two keyboards, I would have kept it.
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#165703 - 01/29/01 11:33 AM
Re: GEM wk8
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Member
Registered: 01/26/01
Posts: 1255
Loc: United States
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Beakybird,
Yes, I have not heard PSR9000. You claim it is lot better than PSR8000. This might be true but I want to verify it myself. You are right about WK8 and SK880. However, when I tried WK8, it sounded like a cheap casio keyboard. WHY?
I also own some yamaha keyboards. I noticed that yamaha has some of the best speakers. I played my sk880 with the yamaha speakers of one yamaha keyboard, and SK880 sounded lot better. So there is the speaker factor when comparing quality of sounds.
Finally, before I purchased Sk880, I tried WK6 which is the same engine and quality sound of WK8 and SK880. I tried it for half an hour, here is what my impression:
1) Sounded purely garbage and ugly 2) very difficult to use. I barely could do anything with it.
what do I think of sk880 and wk series?
1) after you learn it, it will be truely the easiest to use and the most convenient at stage.
2) I found that some of the feature (little ones) were vital for studio recording.
3) Excellent styles and Excellent sounds... EXCEPT THE PIANO... but all other arranger keyboards suffer from lack of good piano anyway.
In conclusion, I believe that WK8 must be given a fair chance in testing and that the reports here that claim that it is not that good are actually not objective for many reasons. Many people do not know how to use it, others do not compare it critically with others, and finally somepeople just do not like those particular styles.
I have not listened to the newer keyboards because the stores around me do not carry those keyboards and because I am not shopping for one anyway. But when I do, I will surely post a lenghty post here of what I think.
Cheers.
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