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Topic: What kind of *Sound* to buy? (Read 2434 times) previous topic - next topic

What kind of *Sound* to buy?

My internal sound is SoundBlaster which I don't like at all, so I use my Yamaha PSR 500 keyboard for sound. I like the sound very much, but this model Yamaha has only MIDI, not General MIDI. In other words, it has 100 voices of Yamaha's creation rather than the 128 General MIDI voices.
The question is: I want to buy a General MIDI *EXTERNAL* sound generator. Can someone please give me advice on what's available in the market.
All help appreciated.
Gordon

Re: What kind of *Sound* to buy?

Reply #1 –
There are so many on the market, by best suggestion is to go to as many music stores as you can and listen to them. There are synths with keyboards, and also "modules" which don't have a keyboard, from Yamaha, Roland, Korg, and others in the "consumer" range, and from Alesis, Kurzweil etc. in the "semi-pro" and "pro" ranges. Also browse the various manufacturers' websites for further info.

Consider getting units that have also one of the two available midi extensions (Yamaha XG or Roland GS), as this can considerably extend the capabilities of General Midi.

Fred

Re: What kind of *Sound* to buy?

Reply #2 –
Usually, the Yamaha PSR series keyboards respond to external MIDI events using General MIDI by default. I am not sure about the 500, but you might want to check the manual...