[Jeebs]

I've been looking at MIDI keyboards, such as the Yamaha PSR-E403 and Casio WK110 and 3300, but they specify their USB compatibility is Windows only. One store demonstrated on a Mac at their store that after downloading the Yamaha drivers, the Mac recognizes the keyboard as a MIDI device, but could not transfer MIDI files to the keyboard's memory--that requires Windows, and the learning software that comes with it is also Windows-only. Casio specifies only Windows for computer compatibility. Eventually I'll want to connect the keyboard to my Mac to work with Pro Tools and Finale PrintMusic, but I also want to transfer MIDI files to the keyboard. Do others have similar keyboards in the $200-300 range that work well with Macs? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[IceEnclosure]

Try a Korg.

[Jeebs]

Korg definitely supports Mac OS, but I didn't find anything in my price range (<$400) that clearly stores MIDI files transferred from a Mac, or displays a note played in standard notation to aid in singing. They're apparently made for people who know what they're doing, not noobs like my wife and me. I guess maybe I'll wait a while. Thanks for the reply, though!

[cometa]

in order to help you better, please let me know why you want the midi file stored in your keyboard? if you want a simple keyboard to enter midi notes into a music program, mac pretty much works with all of them... a few i've personally tried are e-mu and m-audio. if you're looking for a keyboard with sounds, instead of using the sounds within your audio program, then you'll be spending at least $400 for something good, and in that case, get the korg.
hope this helps!
brian cometa
mac computer repair burbank ca

[Jeebs]

Thanks, Brian. The reason I need to store MIDI songs in the keyboard is because my wife and I belong to a band at church. Our songs for each week are recorded on an electric piano and emailed to all band members as MIDI files. We need to play these files to practice. I play bass and practice while playing the MIDI files from iTunes through an instrument interface. My wife, however, sings, and wants to practice in a more comfortable chair in the living room, listening to something that sounds better than a MacBook, and she wants to press a key on the keyboard, see on a display that she's pressing the right key (neither of us play piano, but Yamaha and Casio both show the notes played on a staff graphic <http://www.casio.com/resource/images/press/wk-3300_press.jpg>which tell us if we're pressing the right key to get the note we need to hear) as an aid to learning the alto notes she needs to sing, which are printed in a music book. Listening to the soprano melody line of the MIDI file is not quite enough info for an alto singer. Eventually I'll want to enter notes into Pro Tools and Finale, and a very basic keyboard with ordinary MIDI ports would suit me fine, but the MIDI files and graphic notation display are features that would make it useful for my wife, as well. What I seem to be finding is that this type of display is found only on consumer keyboards, and Mac OS X compatibility is only on pro level keyboards. I hope this makes sense.

[CharlesS]

If you get a USB MIDI interface for your Mac, you should be able to connect pretty much any keyboard just with ordinary MIDI cables.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

If you get a USB MIDI interface for your Mac, you should be able to connect pretty much any keyboard just with ordinary MIDI cables.

Can you suggest a good source for these? I have an older "Midisoft" keyboard that came with a 15-pin interface cable (like a PC's game port) and it's just gathering dust at the moment. I'd love to get it back into operation.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Can you suggest a good source for these? I have an older "Midisoft" keyboard that came with a 15-pin interface cable (like a PC's game port) and it's just gathering dust at the moment. I'd love to get it back into operation.

I have an M-Audio USB MIDI interface, so one option is looking at M-Audio's offerings.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

I have an M-Audio USB MIDI interface, so one option is looking at M-Audio's offerings.

I will. Thanks.

[analogika]

FWIW, I've been using an M-Audio midisport 2x2 USB interface for the past five or six years (it's from before they were called M-Audio), with no trouble What.So.Ever.