Funnzie

Yes, you will want what is called - Near field studio monitor speakers. You will need a minimum of a 5 inch woofer and bi-amped for the best sound. You will also need $200 to $300 for a pair of speakers. Always monitor in stereo with two speakers. You will also want what is called active speakers, which have built in amplifiers inside the speakers. Most at the price level quoted above are bi-amped, meaning each driver, the tweeter and woofer have their own amplifier. So for a stereo pair, there are 4 amplifiers inside the speakers. These speakers (near field) are designed to be close to your ears and can provide accurate sound and a good stereo image sitting as close as 5 feet away. Here are two suggestions of the most popular near fields being sold today at the quoted price above: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LSR305MK2--jbl-305p-mkii-5-inch-powered-studio-monitor AND https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ErisE5--presonus-eris-e5-5-inch-powered-studio-monitor You can spend up to $10,000 on speaker monitors if you wish to, but I think you would be happy with one of the two suggestions.

I agree. I have played keyboards for 50 years (pro for 20 years), have owned many synths, romplers, Dpianos, samplers, organs. I bought it for the powerful pattern sequencer, phrase pads, and sampler. I purchased one, but have not received it yet, still shipping. I have my doubts the sounds are above average, but we shall see. I own a XWP1 and a WK7600, so programming the MZ-X500 is going to be a dream!! I create and program everything, and so this is an extremely creative keyboard. To call it an arranger is only the tip of the iceberg...it really is a workstation and synthesizer with the most powerful and variable sequencer, that can be played live, available in the world.

Yes, I know about the software, just wondered if anyone in this forum has used it regularly and successfully, including the sampler too.

Hello: (background) I am a XWP1 and WK7600 owner for over 7 years, have gone deep into the programming of the synth and arranger. Now I just purchased a Mz-x500. I have been searching for 3 years now for a good hardware sequencer/sampler. All I found was incomplete devices. I thought the Roland JunoDS would do, no. Then the Roland FA, no. Then the 1010Music Black Box, good, but no keyboard, not really and instrument. Then the Pyramid Squarp, very powerful sequencer, but for $700 way over priced for a MIDI sequencer only. So here I have laid out lots of money on a Mz-x500 that has very little review on YouTube and the net. I read the 3 owners manuals and firmware update manuals and it seems the closest to what I need. BUT...the sampler seems very limited and I don't have any info on the mapping of samples to the keyboard for adding new voices. Is there a person on this forum deep into the sampler function? AND....did I make the right decision in buying this "arranger" more a workstation than arranger???? I am the guy on YouTube with all the XWP1 tutorials. Example of a XWP1 jam: