In the next month or two I am planning on getting a keyboard synthesizer. I am looking at keyboards and the ones I saw over at Evans Music City were like $600-$900. I am wondering if I should just find some old synth that has some really warm analogue sounds rather than spending a bunch of money on a huge keyboard.
What should I be looking for and where should I be looking?

well,, it depends on what exactly your trying/wanting to do with it among alot of other aspects...what style of music u wanna make, or are u more of a player type thing?... your personal taste for sounds, and what kind of set-up you plan on having...(will you be using it into your comp. via MIDI etc.)...stuff like that u obviously need to consider, and take your time selecting....dont jump into buying something real quick, look around....

Depending on what store you go to and your luck of the draw in a salesperson Id just spend some time chatting with them, they're usually knowledgable..... play around on any gear before u buy it, read magazines, etc......

and oh yeah.....dont buy a Roland unless its one of the more expensive pieces-

P.S- check out [url]DigiBid.com[/url] if u decide maybe u wanna buy used after u find out what u want....I've nevr avtually ordered anything, but Ive seen some good deals there

Dont buy an old analog keyboard. It willl be more limitiing than a new one. New keyboards sound just as good as an analog keyboard. Your audience will not hear the difference.

They don't even sell analogue keyboards anymore, I just like the controls of old analogue keyboards.

I mostly like funky house, disco, trance, progressive. I am an experienced pianist and having a touch response is mandatory for me. I used a Kurtzweil for a while and didn't like those either. All the controls were inside the computer rather than having knobs. I was thinking and old Moog or a Juno106 would be a good old keyboard to buy just so I have something to play with, and then buy a sampler or one of those effect pads rather than putting all my money into the keyboard.

buying an old keyboard like a juno106 would be cool but buying someing made in the last 5 years will give you the same capabilities times 20. I own a couple old synths and they arent much than sound modules. If you buy a workstation its possible to get a sequencer or a sampler. Plus you will be able to have multitimbral cabablitites (x16 sometimes.) Also the older synths will not give you a touch sesitive keyboard. Old keyboards also break.

They still make analogue keyboards in a sense....The Korg Ms2000 for example is an analogue modeling synth, i cant get all technical about it, maybe someone else can, but it doesnt really matter to me, I know what I like...... It uses analogue sounds and processes the signal digitally...U dont want one of those old analogue keyboards imo unless you have money to spend around and are adding to your arsenal of other boards n gear etc or for simple collection sake......The sounds on boards today can get fatter, more complex and waaaay better sounding than those old boards.....The reason I bring up the Ms2000 cuz it sounds like something u might interest u...Its got a shitload of knobs and seems to be a rather easy machine to run with, and its very analogue sounding.....but if you want something to play as a piano as well probably not.....But I'd check it out......just my 2 sense

I agree with Patented Funk, the Ms2000 Korg is bad ass...It is a really good synth to start out with because not only does it replicate a true analog synth, but it also has a very cool built in vocoder for all those robot voices out there. I have one and I think it's very cool because it is affordable and sounds great. But in order for you to get started producing complete tracks, you will definitely need something that has a sequencer built into it...Try a Korg Triton out or an mpc2000. The mpc is very powerful, yet it is only a sequencer and sampler, so you would still need several synths to accompany it...

get the yamaha an1x or the waldorf XT !

but before you even go blow all that money i'd say just buy software and get a midi controller. and you'd still have money left over

don't buy a keyboard that has a sequencer...unless your willing to spend 1200 more dollars. computer based sequencing software is much easier to use imo...if im sequencing some tracks I don't want to have to be flipping through pages, switching instruments, and adjusting the sound with number values on a 6 inch by 4 inch screen...i would much rather have a nice full 20 inch screen with bar graph adjustments to control my tracks...it would be wise to stear clear of keyboard sequencers, but i do think that having a synth would be very useful...there are sounds that you just can't make using softsynths.

The only let down with the ms2000 is it only has 4 notes polyphony, when other keyboards like the Access Virus or Novation Nova have at least 12 up to 24 note poly.

If you like programming and stuff the Access Virus is a real killer keyboard, ya just have to take some time with it :)