Yamaha P90 vs Korg Karma
 

Okay, today is Christmas shopping day, and I have to decide which.

I know jack shit about musical stuff, and have only gotten this far because of some helpful people in another thread.

My college age son has never played any instrument that I know of.

He is interested in learning the piano. And since this is the only thing he has said he wants for Christmas, this is what he is getting, though the price of the Korg does make me blink.

I'm leaning toward the Yahama, and not just because of the $500 price difference. From what I've been able to glean after tons of reading is that the Yahama might have a truer piano sound than the Korg. And it has more keys and they are weighted.

I will think I have my mind made up, then my total ignorance on the subject raises it's ugly head. I don't even know the difference between a digital piano, and a music workstation. And there has to be something that makes such a price difference. I don't know whether it is the name, or if there is some huge downside to the Yamaha that I haven't uncovered in my reading.

So if you know instruments, which is the best one?

The closer you can get to the real thing, the better. The extra keys and the weight would put the Yamaha at the top for me.

The best would be an acutal piano, but he won't be able to throw that in the trunk and take it home with him.

this one is pretty simple, if he wants to learn how to read music or just practice songs then get him the yamaha cause of the realistic type feel of the keys, if he wants to be a rapper or a dj or make rapbeats, dance beats or anything like that, then he will need the korg workstation. it has a ton of sounds that can be recorded and looped.

keep in mind that neither of these two come with speakers, so get him powered/active monitor speakers, or a set of nice headphones

If he wants to learn piano, Yamaha hands down! It has wieghted keys and more of an authentic piano feel. He will love it, especially if his goal is to learn piano. Note that P90 doesn't have too many other sounds, but he can hook it up to the computer and use as many soft synths and samples as he desires.

Btw, if you were considering Karma price range, take a look at Yamaha S90... many many more sounds and same weighted keys as in P90 :)

I'll try to explain the difference: Digital piano is just that - a piano. You can play it, it feels good, it sounds good. They come with several other patches, like strings, choirs etc, but not too many.
In a workstation, there's generally an advanced synth engine and a LOT of sounds. Like, 500+. They also may include sequencers that allow you to make multi-layer recordings right at the keyboard, thus the name workstation.

The big price difference is because Karma has many more sounds a lot of features that P90 doesn't (for example, you can set it to play a rhythm which you can compose to. The rhythm will change as you play along and adapt to you!). But it's aimed for people who can already play and may already have a weighted controller in their studio, thus the smaller keyboard and less keys.

Thank each of you. :)

The posts have been very informative, and very helpful.

I think I'm going to go with the yamaha. It sounds like a very decent instrument for a beginner. And it is more affordable. If he really gets into it, and wants to upgrade, then he (or I) can. I don't want to think about spending $1500 for something that ends up in a corner though.

So if I get the $1000 model, and it ends up in a corner, he will listen to $500 less of bitching. :D

I was planning on some headphones so he can use it at school, but I will look at speakers too. Especially now that I will have some extra money to play with.

I really, really appreciate the educational posts. It means alot. Thanks again. :)