What are the advantages of having a built in keyboard on a synth vs. using an external MIDI controller? For example the Roland JP8080 vs. JP8000, or the new Virus TI Desktop vs. Keyboard or Polar versions.

The way I look at it is why not save money and space and just have one really nice keyboard and use it to play all your synths? Get like a M-Audio Keystation Pro 88 and a MIDI patcher/interface like the Edirol UM-880 and you're set.

If you're taking your synths on the road for performances then I could see why you would want the integrated keyboard. Other than that am I missing something? Lower latency or something? Do people play more than once synth at a time?

I just wonder why people have like 3 different synths and each of them has a keyboard.

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-tom

depends on the keyboard, the control surface etc. something like a virus TI keyboard would double up as a nice midi keyboard because it has aftertouch i think and the virus control surface is pretty huge so you are not in danger of running out of rotaries to automate. nord lead keyboard is pretty rubbish. well its not bad. its feels pretty good if you've only used semi weighted keys and dont really play piano alot. best keyboard i ever played on was an alesis QS6 which was amazing. would have doubled up as a great midi keyboard (i checked! it can be done!) but the person who owned it only used it in a digital piano capacity for live performance. the keys were fully weighted. feature wise it had the works but there wasnt that many rotaries and buttons. it depends on the type of music you make. if you like warping sound live ala lab4 you'd probably want a decent control surface. if your focus is more on recreating a performance naturally then investing in a good synth keyboard for performance and recording is nice.

Well I mean the Virus desktop has a great control surface anyway, the only thing the keyboard adds is...um...a keyboard, right? I just don't know if the extra $700 is worth it when you could get a great separate keyboard for less, which would be more flexible.

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-tom

quote:

Do people play more than one synth at a time?

As soon as you asked that question I got an acid flashback of a SASH! video clip where he was playing 2 synths at once



ADELANTE!

It is funnier to play on a synth with a keyboard.. You dont have to stretch to get to the knobs and stuff like that

BTW, Howard Jones had used to play all his songs with a TR-808, Jupiter 8, Juno-60 and two Moog Prodigys.. And all live without computers..

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Waldorf Q, XTk, Pulse
FTW

I like them with a keyboard because I think most midi controllers suck. If its not going to move from the studio then the keyboard isn't really necessary if you have another one already. If you're going to take it to gigs then I'd get the keyboard for sure.

you don't need everything to have a keyboard on it...have your fav synth with a keyboard, and hook up the rest via midi...done and done.

i use the MICROKONTROL from KORG and i think it's the best controller on the market at the moment....MICROKONTROL

I've heard people complain about the small keys, but the new KONTROL49 has 49 full sized key so that might be a good option

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-tom