I'm not even the worst offender here, I think I have three little 80s keyboards, an old Hammond drum machine and the chopped Yamaha.

My roommate's organ is way bigger than my organ, too NO NOT THAT ONE YOU DIRTY DOG.

I'll try to temember what model my roommate uses, he's a piano teacher and repairman and has a pretty inexpensive 88 key, fully weighted controller that he loves. I'm pretty sure it was only a couple hundred dollars, too. It's USB only but if you ever needed DIN midi I just today found out that Kenton makes a 0 box that will convert USB midi to and from DIN midi without a computer:

http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/usb-host.shtm l

Casio Privia. He has an older one but he says they all have the same keyboard action. He doesn't like the simulated ivory texture on the new models' keys but apparently some people love it.

Hey, thanks! The cheapest used ones I can find are under 0, and they look a helluva lot better than your average 0 beater. I've never tried a Privia, but I really like Casio's Celviano line (I was thinking of getting one of those, but they run between one and two thousand dollars and fuck if I know how I'd get a full sized upright into my third floor apartment) I'm guessing your roommate's model is one of the PX-5Ss, yes?

Ooo, and one more quickie, while we're on the subject of audio-nerdery, do you know of any good successors for the Roland JP-8000 "supersaw" synth? That's one of those tones that I loved as a kid (the authentic NES PSG is another), but just can't seem to reproduce using software synths.

I don't know Roland stuff much at all, actually, especially the newer ones.

I don't know which Privia his is (the label is on the back and I couldn't see it because he has a synth on the stand above it) but he says they're all pretty much identical as controllers, the main difference is the internal sounds. 'm not much of a pianist but I've played it a few times and like it as much as the expensive weighted digital pianos I've tried (like the Clavinova series, although you won't get the Enya like sounds of the CLAVINOVA TONE voice).

If you're looking for some analog sounds in a small box and don't need a lot of hands on control, look for a Korg EX-800, it's the Poly 800 in a box with a simple sequencer and is pretty inexpensive (or was last time I looked for one). I like the Korg Poly sound a lot though (my first analog was a Poly61m and I still miss it but it was too damn big, the buttons had been treated pretty badly by previous owners, the joystick was bent and the power supply was starting to fail so it had to go), and it's kind of an acquired taste I think.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/korg/poly800.php

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Korg-EX-800-EX800-Programmable-Pol yphonic-Synthe-Module-w-Power-Supply-/130922841551?pt=Keyboards_MI DI&hash=item1e7b9c05cf


I bet nobody bids on this. 5 is pretty fair for how it sounds but I feel like they should be under 0. I'm probably biased because the only person I ever knew who owned one paid at a pawn shop, and I feel like only a few years ago a full poly800 was under 5 in stores, much less on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Roland-JP-8080-Analog-Modeling-Synthesizer -Module-Rack-JP8080/310680562518?_trksid=p2047675.m2109&_trkparms= aid%3D555003%26algo%3DPW.CAT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D142%26meid%3D8222556 961512785322%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D1076%26rk%3D5%26sd%3D151057330 281%26