i payed 7.50 for this keyboard w/out even hearing it first, because i knew what destiny had provided for my competition in the means of richness and snootyness.This keyboard is great.I would have payed $30 for it, yes the synth-your-self-i-sizer portion is the best part about it but there are other facets to endure exposure here.what about.......circuit bending? huh? a lot of useful tones we could get then righto? huh? and the real-sliders as opposed to digital readouts that i have to study and converse about with the vicker and candle-stick maker before i can excersise use of. you can mess them up in real time you know.especially the decay slider.hold a chord w/ the decay at "0" then move it all the way to 5 in one motion.cool results...no? to hell with korg.....
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Thursday-Mar-29-2007 at 10:33
Malcome
a part-time user
from US.
writes:
A surprisingly versatile and interesting little synth. Its more of a synth than a home keyboard. There is also a drum machine with a custom drum pattern. It is well built and reliable. Why didn't the DX range have these sliders? FM would have been so much more fun. You can apply the sliders to the preset sounds or just use them independently. There are also a few effects. The bass sounds are paticularly good. These used to be common finds at garage sales. Not any more. Old 80s Yamaha and Casio stuff is being destroyed/collected at a fast rate. They remind people of times when they were young! 5/5 because its amazingly good for what it is and what it cost new.
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Monday-Aug-15-2005 at 03:16
Tony York
a professional user
from USA
writes:
Want a dirt cheap FM toy? This was the best $15 I ever spent!! Thats right, $15!! Originally my friend (ex-friend) had it.He didnt like it! Sure its a toy. Sure its got no midi. Sure it got sliders (stepping kind tho) and can get some usable FM sounds!! Everytime I play around with this, I end up sitting there for at least 30 minutes just getting all into it. I let me kids beat the crap out of it, and then I get jealous and say "give me back my favorate child!" Okay.. It gets a 4.5!
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Monday-Jun-27-2005 at 06:52
Mather's Studios
a hobbyist user
from UK
writes:
"The mini keys, however, are murder on the fingers".
This is one of the great things about having tiny, but stretchy hands! I find that I can get used to playing the smaller keys, but at the same time I still have enough stretch in my handspan to be able to make one and a half octaves on a full size keyboard.
Maybe my only gripe about this keyboard is the fact that it was never built like a synth. It might be interesting to open it up and somehow rebuild it with a full 49 full size keys having read Andy Walker's comments, and then build the existing control panel (including the plastic) into some sort of metal frame and hide the speakers underneath blank metal, not forgetting to put a couple of thick blocks of the finest hardwood at each end!
Favourite sounds? Erm... play around with those digital sliders - you're bound to find something sooner or later, and some multi-effects really spice the sound up and you can get some dirty, grungy versions of the higher quality sounds capable with the DX7 - another great synth!
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Tuesday-Oct-01-2002 at 06:55
Andy Walker
a hobbyist user
from Glasgow, Scotland
writes:
My 470 sat unused in my room for several years, with a broken power connecter, until I soldered a new one on (tip: don't bother repairing the original connecter, just cut the battery wires, remove the battery casing and attach the new connecter to the wires...who uses this on batteries anyway?) Most of the synth is built on a single PCB; however, the keyboard is connected via a ribbon cable, as is the front panel, so rebuilding it into a new chassis may well be possible.
It's a really interesting keyboard Try feeding this through a guitar multi-effects pedal. I use a Zoom GFX-707. The drums sound a little more solid fed through some distortion and ring modulation, and you can use a wah pedal together with the digital synth section to create interesting-sounding grungy digital sweep noises.
The mini keys, however, are murder on the fingers.
Rating: 3 out of 5
posted Monday-Jul-29-2002 at 16:54
