Composers are more likely to prefer the workflow and functionality of a workstation keyboard as it enables multitrack recording and possesses high-quality synthesis engines and sampling capabilities. It suits home studios and musicians who compose on the go. Performers or band leaders will prefer the arranger keyboard.

While a keyboard is an instrument that you could use in performance or in the studio for recording, a keyboard workstation gives you the ability to create entire songs with full arrangements and mixing all from the convenience of one instrument. It’s kind of like having a mini studio in your keyboard.

Both the workstation and the arranger keyboard combine multiple sounds, drums, sequencing and effects into a single instrument. Under the surface they are very much the same. But it’s how those features are accessed and presented that makes all the difference.

One of those options is the world of the Workstation Synthesizer and the other is the Arranger Keyboard. At first they seem to be more alike than different and both offer many of the same features but the main difference between a workstation synthesizer and an arranger keyboard is that the arranger keyboard has built-in “auto-accompaniment.”