Stratovarius Community

Hey,

I can't make up my mind. I might get the Yamaha DGX-230 instead of the E403/413.

The main differences between them are:

- The E403/413 have 61 keys, whereas the DXG-230 has 76 keys.
- The DXG-230 features the "Graded Soft Touch" technology.
- The DXG-230 does not feature the 2 knobs present in the E403/413.

The Graded Soft Touch (GST) technology provides different resistency levels for the keys according to the pitch. Those keys are not weighted, though.

I'm a piano player, not really a keyboard player (though I do play some Stratovarius solos ocasionally), but my previous cheap-ass Casio keyboard (from the early nineties) was useless for anything but piano practice (it lacked a pitch bend wheel and sensitive keys and the voices sucked big time). I'd like to get a keyboard so that I can:

- Play piano songs (I've got a really old upright piano at home, but it's too loud for everyday usage or practice, so I end up not playing much).
- Play keyboard solos for my own amusement. That's mostly Stratovarius or Sonata Arctica solos, so I guess I'd need decent lead patches. I might eventually want to play some more "synthy" parts of a couple of songs, but I believe those keyboards do have decent strings sounds already.
- Eventually, I'd like to be able to hook it up to my computer and use software synth to create patches that sound like Jens', for example.
- Eventually, in the very long distant future, I'd like to maybe join a band (nothing serious, really, I already have a profession and it's not related to music at all).

After getting a lot of tips by Plisken (thanks!), I narrowed my choices down to a decent but low-end Yamaha keyboard, the PSR-E403. It turns out that it's not easy to find it anymore, as it's being replaced by the E413, which seems to be very similar to the E403. After some more research, I think I can get a DXG-230 for almost the same amount of money.

Most if not all scores I play really use all or most of those 76 keys. When I'm playing those scores in a 61-key keyboard (such as my old Casio), I generally either imagine the keys are there and keep playing in the air (those limitations enabled me over the years to play those notes without touching any keys) or play parts of the song on a different octave, which really sucks.

On the other hand, I don't know how adversely the GST technology will affect playing fast-paced solos. Also, the lack of those knobs remove some functionality I could use to work around the lack of decent lead voices if I go with the DGX-230.

So, in short, I'd like to hear experiences from you guys about:

- How adversely does the GST technology affect keyboard solos?
- Do the voices present in those keyboards include decent lead sounds (i.e., voices appropriate for playing a typical Stratovarius solo, for instance)?

I appreciate any feedback, links to stuff I might want to learn (I'm really a newbie in this area), sound clips, whatever. Thanks a lot in advance!

Well if you are looking for cool lead voices in a Yamaha you'll be kind of dissapointed, I have a Yamaha DGX-200, it has around 500 voices but nothing good for a strato solo although the grand piano solo sound is fantastic!. The pitch bend isn't that great and it doesn't have great ryhtms neither. I can't say anything about the other one but I wouldn't recommend it for you unless the new models have better voices and a better pitch bend.

I've played in several Yamahas and they are awesome for classical piano playing but they're kind of dissapointing when it comes to rock stuff, try a Korg if you need rock playing and have enough money, those are fantastic for that.

I hope it helps!

Yeah, a couple of people told me the same too. I don't know, I'll give those keyboards a shot tomorrow I think, and that'll help me decide. Anyways, any other brand is pretty much ruled out because they're too damn expensive (Korg, Roland, etc.) in comparison.

I tried to find some clips which could show the voices that could be more oriented towards power metal keyboard solos, but with no luck so far.

Thanks!

You know, there are some Casios flying around for the same price and they are the same quality , 88 keys and weighted, if you want something more classical oriented, that's the one I'm looking forward to buy.

Really? I always thought Casio keyboards were inferior products when compared to Yamaha?

They are underrated but they have the same quality, I can assure you that a classical piano player would have problems when trying to tell the difference between a grand piano and a Casio PX digital keyboard (With some good old stereo speakers of course), but it depends on what you want, if you want to play rock solos, try a roland or a korg and, as I said, not a yamaha.

Well, I guess the problem is that I want to do both things, heh. I'm not looking for the ultimate grand piano or the ultimate rock keyboard, but something in between.

Apparently only the high end Casio keyboards have a pitch bend wheel, so I guess I'm sticking with Yamaha for the time being.

Well, if you're looking for something in between, I guess a Yamaha would be nice, IMHO this is what every brand is good for:

Casio - Classical, grand piano sounds, weighted keys.
Yamaha - Some rock and some classical, a middle point between them.
Korg, roland, etc. - Rock solos, cool synths, etc.

Got my DGX-230 today, it's been great so far!

Thanks everyone!

Send it to me, I'll try it for you!