What is the best 88-key workstation?

Roland Juno-DS88 (Our Pick) Our Pick. ... Yamaha Montage 8 (Best Premium) Best Premium. ... Korg Kronos X88. KORG Kronos X88 Keyboard Workstation. ... Roland FA-08. Roland FA-08 Music Workstation. ... Yamaha P71 (Best Beginners) Best Beginners. ... Korg Krome 88. KORG KROME 88-Key Music Workstation. ... Yamaha MODX8. Yamaha MODX8.

producerhive.com - 7 Best 88-Key Synthesizers (All Budgets) 2022 - Producer Hive

Why is there no sound in MuseScore?

Check Edit → Preferences → I/O ( MuseScore → Preferences → I/O on the Mac). If that is empty, try to update your sound drivers. Esp. if you're on a...

Last updated Jul 19, 2018

How long should a 6 year old practice piano?

For a student that is 6-8 years old, well, they can start putting in a little more time and start practicing regularly for 10-15 minutes per day....

Last updated Jan 28, 2019

Join almost HALF A MILLION Happy Students Worldwide

Pianoforall is one of the most popular online piano courses online and has helped over 450,000 students around the world achieve their dream of playing beautiful piano for over a decade.

Learn More »

Promotion

Disclosure: We may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. Read our full affiliate disclosure here .

Discover the best 88-key synths

Find out which is best for your needs

Learn which are best for beginners

Also, check out our post on the best 61 key MIDI keyboards

If you’re a hardware synth user looking to add advanced music production features, you’re in the right place. This article will cover the 7 best 88-key synthesizers on the market so you can choose the right model to take your synth experience to the next level. Today, there are so many amazing 88-key synthesizer workstations available that it can be hard to pick the best for your needs. We’ve broken down the pros, cons, and real-world experience for the 7 best models available.

Our top 7 include:

Roland Juno-DS88 (Our Pick) Yamaha Montage 8 (Best Premium) Korg Kronos X88 Roland FA-0 Yamaha P71 (Best Beginners) Korg Krome 8 Yamaha MODX8

What Are The Best 88-Key Synthesizers?

If you’re a beginner, I’d recommend the Yamaha P71; if you’re a more experienced user with a tighter budget, I’d recommend the Roland Juno-DS88; and if you’re looking for the best 88-key synthesizer workstation on the market, I’d have to choose the Yamaha Montage 8, with the Korg Kronos X88 coming in a close second.

1. Roland Juno-DS88 (Our Pick)

Our Pick Roland JUNO-DS88 Synthesizer The Roland JUNO-DS88 88-key synthesizer delivers all of the benefits of its predecessor, along with realistic hammer-action keys, improved pianos, additional organs, waveform expansion capability, Phrase Pads, new vocal effects, and more. Why We Love It: Massive sound bank

Massive sound bank Affordable price for the quality

Affordable price for the quality Parametric EQ Capabilities View Price On Sweetwater View Price On Guitar Center The Roland JUNO-DS88 synthesizer keyboard is one of the best all-around 88-key synthesizers when it comes to value for money. You can build custom patches and download over 1,000 free high-quality sounds, including world instruments, percussion, and loops which you can load onto the JUNO-DS88 via USB. This keyboard is great for any use case but excels for street performers and stage musicians.

Pros

Massive sound bank

Affordable price for the quality

Parametric EQ Capabilities

Great for playing live

Cons

No aftertouch

2. Yamaha Montage 8 (Best Premium)

Best Premium Yamaha Montage 8 Synthesizer Built on the legacy of Yamaha's groundbreaking DX and Motif series keyboards, the Yamaha Montage 8 is driven by its programmable Motion Control matrix, which gives you fluid, interactive command over two powerful synthesis engines. Why We Love It: Easy connection to your computer via MIDI

Easy connection to your computer via MIDI Great FM synthesis

Great FM synthesis Clean and precise sound View Price On Sweetwater View Price On Guitar Center The Yamaha Montage 8 is a fantastic synthesizer workstation capable of producing just about any sound you can imagine. Many users are blown away by this synth’s clean, precise, and ‘big’ sound quality, although the learning curve is steeper than your typical 88-key MIDI keyboard. This unit has the same pristine quality and feels of a baby grand piano in a MIDI keyboard package. It’s no surprise that this is Yamaha’s flagship hardware synth, and at just under $4,000, it offers an all-in-one package that most users would crave.

Pros

Easy connection to your computer via MIDI

Great FM synthesis

Clean and precise sound

Quick start-up time

Able to modulate multiple parameters in real-time

Cons

Not very portable

Able to stack up to 8 layers, but layers may ‘cut out’

No XLR outputs

3. Korg Kronos X88

KORG Kronos X88 Keyboard Workstation From acoustic instruments to gritty analog synths, the nine synthesis engines onboard Korg's Kronos X88 can provide every sound you need. The SGX-1 acoustic piano engine captures every nuance of authentic German and Japanese grand pianos, from damper resonance to mechanical noise. Why We Love It: Excellent sound quality

Excellent sound quality Effortless and smooth sound transitions

Effortless and smooth sound transitions Ability to save, copy, and paste presets View Price On Guitar Center The Kronos X has nine different independent synth engines, which give you a massive variety of sounds. Because of its solid-state memory, the Kronos X can record 16 tracks at 24-bit/ 48 kHz quality alongside lightning-fast streaming. The sound output is fantastic with the enhanced modeled sympathetic resonance, bridging the gap between MIDI and ‘real’ piano sound quality. The only problem with this hardware synth is that it was discontinued by Korg, which means you will have to buy it for resale.

Can I clone a key at Walmart?

Does Walmart Copy House Keys: Minute Key. Walmart offers self-service key copying through a 3rd party kiosk called MinuteKey, which acts similar to...

Last updated Feb 19, 2022

Is flow key good?

I believe that Flowkey is a great online resource that you is worth checking out, even if it's for a month. While using Flowkey lessons, I would...

Last updated Dec 24, 2021

Promotion

New or used, this keyboard is one-of-a-kind, offering SST (smooth sound transitions), eight velocity samples, polyphonic abilities, and a massive soundbank with tons of options to tweak and experiment with your sounds.

Pros

Help section available on the onboard user interface

Simple and high-quality graphical interface

Excellent sound quality with sympathetic resonance

Effortless and smooth sound transitions

Ability to save, copy, and paste presets

Cons

Discontinued from retail sale / can only buy used

Not very portable

4. Roland FA-08

Roland FA-08 Music Workstation The Roland FA-08 comes loaded with over 2,000 sounds taken straight from Roland's flagship INTEGRA-7 sound module. This includes the complete SuperNATURAL synth engine (giving the FA-08 the capacity to download entirely new synth sounds), plus a killer set of acoustic tones, drums, and much more.

Why We Love It: Precise MIDI control

Precise MIDI control Doesn't require a DAW

Doesn't require a DAW Great for making your own sounds View Price On Sweetwater View Price On Guitar Center The Roland FA-08 has a weighted 88-key bed, a simple and elegant user interface, and a 128-note polyphonic synth engine. Each oscillator can be set as a regular synth waveform or a PCM, which means you can create VA or hybrid patches. This keyboard may be more of a rompler than a synth, but it offers lots of versatility to create unique sounds. The sampler may not compete with higher-priced alternatives, and the provided sequencer won’t replace a real sequencer. Still, it provides a really good feel when playing the keys and excellent overall sound quality. If you’re looking for comprehensive DAW integration, this unit is limited to a handful of DAW functions, but for just under $2,000, this is a solid hardware synthesizer.

Pros

The MIDI control is precise

Doesn’t require a DAW

Great for making your own sounds

Cons

Playing samples isn’t velocity-sensitive

Sampling is very limited

Limited functionality with your DAW

Lesser sound design

5. Yamaha P71 (Best Beginners)

Best Beginners YAMAHA P71 The Yamaha P71 provides a quality playing experience with 88 fully weighted piano keys that simulate the feel of an acoustic piano. Great for beginners, this keyboard contains 10 different voices, including digitally sampled tones from real Yamaha acoustic grand pianos. Why We Love It: Portable and easy to transport

Portable and easy to transport Good bang for your buck

Good bang for your buck Great for beginners View Price On Amazon

This piano is excellent for beginners with a reasonable sound quality, given the budget price. If you’re a seasoned veteran, this may not be the model for you, but the graded hammer standard key action allows beginners to learn proper technique while building finger strength and stamina. Professional musicians would probably require greater polyphony and complexity in their analog synthesizer. With a price tag around the $600 mark, this hardware synth offers tremendous value for someone just starting.

Pros

Portable and easy to transport

Good bang for your buck

Great for beginners

Cons

Lacks refinement for professional musicians

Less capable of layering complex sounds

Lower sound quality reflected by the price

6. Korg Krome 88

KORG KROME 88-Key Music Workstation One of KORG's best-selling synths has received a major refresh. Updated to meet the needs of current music creators, KROME has a special emphasis on sounds that can immediately fit into any production. In addition to standard sounds that will never grow old, KROME provides numerous new programs and PCM data, including piano programs explicitly prepared for this model. Why We Love It: Impressive sound with acoustic resonance

Impressive sound with acoustic resonance Very durable

Very durable 32-track workstation View Price On Guitar Center View Price On Amazon With this hardware syn, Korg offers 185 effect types, including compressors, envelopes, choruses, panners, reverbs, phasers, cabinet models, decimators, and a vocoder. It has nine different sound engines allowing users to sculpt their particular sound. The main attraction here is the sound quality which integrates acoustic resonance and filter warmth. Many users rave about the sound of this unit compared to other analog synthesizers, which is what you would expect for a unit with a price tag close to $3,500.

Pros

Impressive sound with acoustic resonance

Very durable

32-track workstation

24-bit/48kHz recording system

Cons

Big, heavy, and not portable

Fairly expensive

How do you pass time in a waiting room?

7 Ways To Pass The Time in The Waiting Room Play games on your smart phone. ... Take up knitting or crochet. ... Keep a journal. ... Write thank...

Last updated Apr 18, 2020

Who is the heaviest grunge band?

Alice in Chains - "Them Bones" To many, Alice in Chains are the quintessential heavy grunge band, so much so that they're often thought of as more...

Last updated Dec 20, 2020

Promotion

7. Yamaha MODX8

Yamaha MODX8 The biggest of the Yamaha MODX+ series with its 88 keys, the MODX8+ synthesizer struts a staggering amount of power and sonic versatility. Ideal for music production and sound design alike, its 8-operator, fully programmable FM-X engine delivers an array of sounds as vast as your imagination. Why We Love It: Great preset sounds

Great preset sounds Clean and simple graphical user interface

Clean and simple graphical user interface Great MIDI control View Price On Guitar Center The MODX8 might be seen as the little brother to the Montage, but it offers awesome sound with just a little less polyphony than its bigger sibling. It also has fantastic presets for the price. It may not sound as “analog” as the rest of the synths in this article, but that’s not a big issue considering how many added features it offers, including smart morph, motion control, and envelope following.

Pros

Great preset sounds

Clean and simple graphical user interface

Great MIDI control

Cons

Steep learning curve

Lacks a dedicated VA engine

Does not have aftertouch

FAQs

Is An 88-Key Keyboard The Same As A Piano?

No, a standard piano will have 88 keys, but many digital keyboards also have 88 keys. Some keyboards will only have 12 keys or 72 keys, but if you want to play the majority of popular piano compositions, you will want at least 72 keys on your keyboard.

Should I Get A Keyboard With 88 Keys?

It depends on what you are doing. Most popular compositions can be played with a 72-key keyboard or piano, but for beginners, 66 keys are typically sufficient for learning to play. A full 88 keys are recommended for more advanced users and anybody interested in playing classical piano. All traditional pianos are 88 keys, though.

Do I Need A Full-Size Keyboard To Learn Piano?

No, you do not need a full-size keyboard to learn piano. A 66-key keyboard will suffice, and a 72-key keyboard works for most popular piano compositions.

How Do Weighted Keys Work?

Weighted keys are used with digital keyboards to mimic the weight of an actual piano. Piano keys are attached to a hammer that strikes two or three strings when you press the key. This causes the strings to vibrate and produce the sound you want to play, so a regular piano is naturally fully weighted. Weighted keys in a digital MIDI keyboard mimic a piano to ensure that the transition between the two doesn’t throw off your performance because of how different it feels and plays. If a keyboard is “fully weighted,” then it mimics a regular piano’s weighted keys entirely.

What Is A Sound Engine In A Keyboard?

A keyboard’s sound engine, or sound module, is the keyboard’s element that creates the sound. A keyboard will have two main parts, the sound engine or module (there can be multiple), and the external MIDI keys. The sound engine is responsible for creating the sound you want, while the midi keys respond to which notes you wish to play.

What Is Polyphony?

Polyphony is the maximum number of notes a piano, MIDI keyboard, or any other musical instrument can simultaneously produce. For example, if you wanted to play a three-note chord with a one-note melody, you’d need a keyboard capable of at least 4-note polyphony. Most digital keyboards will have at least 64-note polyphony, but some can go up to 128-note polyphony.

Is 8-voice Polyphony Enough?

8-voice polyphony means you can play a 6-note chord with a 2-note melody simultaneously or in any other combination. Meaning you can strike 8 notes on a MIDI keyboard at the same time and have all of them be heard. For most people, this is enough, but for others, this is not enough.

Final Thoughts

Where to start? There are so many options when choosing the best 88-key hardware synth for your music production. Again, if you are a beginner, I’d recommend the Yamaha P71; if you are a professional musician on a budget, I’d recommend the Roland Juno DS88; and if you are looking for the highest quality 88-key synthesizer workstation on the market, I’d go with the Yamaha Montage 8.