Kawai X50-D

This is a 5 octave synth, MIDI controller and more. You can connect headphones, have a line out to an amp, and there is MIDI in and out. There are well over 100 sounds available for the keys including drums and random sound FX. You cannot edit them - you just take them as they are. However there are some effects, such as a hall or a room reverb. You can also play back demo songs, and if you play a note or a two note harmony on the bass octave, the chording of the song will change to the chord that is specified - so you can do a lot more musically than you'd normally be able to do, and it's a lot of fun to play with.

UTILIZATION

The configuration is quite simple. You just dial up the patch you want and play for the most part. Setting the reverb is just pressing a button, starting and stopping as well as choosing demo songs to play over is also very simple. The manual is very clear and should clear up any confusion you may have - although the layout of this keyboard is very self-explanatory.

OVERALL OPINION

I have had this keyboard for about 5 years. I like the versatility it offers, in that it has so many ready to use patches. I like how you can use it to play drums like a drum machine as well, so if you're playing music with a friend and there's no drum set around this can suffice. However I will say that the sound quality on this keyboard is really quite poor, cheesy sounding and dated at this time in 2008. Using this on a recording would seem more like a "throwback" than a good sound. Also the action feels too bouncy and cheap to be a real contender. That said, it is still fun to beat around on and to play over the corny demo songs it provides. It is also pretty cheap, so it's not a bad value. If you just want a stock keyboard to play with and perhaps to use as a MIDI controller, this will serve you just fine.