My little neffew will be taking keyboards lessons soon, my sister told me they don't wanna spend more then 1000 euro, that leaves them with the following options

-Yamaha MM6 for €500
-Yamaha S500 for €600
-Yamaha YPG-735 for €750 (88 weighted keys)
-Roland E50 for €999
-Korg PA500 for €999
-Casio Wk3800 for €650 (76 keys)
(seccond hand gear is out of the question, they wanna buy something new...woman)

Which of these boards do you think suits best for a little kid, 8 years old, that needs to have fun when making music...

Next to that, i haven't even heart most of these boards... How do they sound? ...whats your opinion, do you have any experience with some of these?

He is supposed to begin after the summer vacation, so that leaves me with some time to seriously study these machines.

[This message has been edited by Bachus (edited 05-10-2008).]

If he's taking piano lessons go with:

-Yamaha YPG-735 for €750 (88 weighted keys)

-Casio Wk3800 for €650 (76 keys)

Both are great keyboards, although the Yamaha will be worth more on a trade-in if they decide on something more substantial down the road.

Also, if he doesn't continue with the lessons, the Yamaha will be easier to sell.

Ian

He is taking arranger keyboard lessons...

Yes that is possible here in Holland, it replaces the organ lessons from earlier days..

They learn play with arranger ... adn with 10 finger synth piano style, requirenets are a 61 key or more arranger keyboard...

I can't judge the sound of the casio, or thequallity of the actuall keys... From the YPG i tought the styles where rather thin compared to what i am used, the piano part tough was extraordinary..

The Roland E-50 is a fine instrument, I've played one and it's a got a great sound and styles are excellent...I can't speak about the Korg PA-500 as we don't get them in my area.

What about the Yamaha PSR-S700...is that over your price limit?

The Yamaha MMO6 is not an arranger.

Ian

The S700 is about €200 to expensive...


And the MM6 as i was told can be used as an arranger with only 1 variation (no intros's and fills)It has an awesome arpegiator that allows for this..

But you are right its not a standard arranger keyboard, more like a synth zound module with some extra options.....but it sounds about 100 times better then the S500

The MMO6 would probably be "cooler" to an 8 year old, and the arpeggiator functions are pretty neat.

They don't support "on bass" or slash chords which may be limiting.

The Yamaha PSR-E403 features two control knobs for real time control of effects, filter, EG, tempo, an on-board arpeggiator and Pitch Bend wheel. Also included is a 6-track sequencer.

It doesn't support on bass chords either, whereas the Roland E-50 does.

The keyboards you mentioned(other than the MMO6) have built in speakers...is that important to you?

Also, have you considered the Korg PA-50?

Just trying to help and run the possibilities by you.

Ian

Yes,

I suppose build in speakers are important as this keyboard is for home use...

I considered the PA50, but its been replaced by the PA500 as i was told.

(If it was up to me i'd spend €200 more on a roland E60, but sadly thats out of the budget, same as the yamaha S700) as that would have all the feautures to last a few years more.

According to Korg UK and also the dealers, the PA50 is to continue in production, as the PA500 costs about £300 more, and so is not a direct replacement.
As most young ones are into computers, also consider a controller keyboard and some software like Live-Styler. http://www.live-styler.de/home (Get a controller with plenty of buttons and controls for best results)
Hope this helps

Bill

That would also be an option....a nice CME controller livestyler or OMB and a good vst..

But then i think my sister will dislike it, she is a typically woman and not intoo tech things...She owns a PC to read her E-mail and chat with her friends, and prolly does not know it can be used for other things too...

Its an advice i surely will keep in mind...

If he's got to carry it around, the built in speakers would be a big plus.

Ian