[LAU] Which keyboard to buy?

[Ken Restivo]

On Tue, Jan 15, 2008 at 03:05:57PM -0700, holotone at gmail.com wrote:
> I've recently received an M-Audio Axiom 49 that I absolutely LOVE - Worked
> out of the box, easy to configure, no drivers; Easy as it gets!
> 
> ~c
> 
> On 1/15/08, Arnold Krille <arnold at arnoldarts.de> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I am planning to by a second keyboard (once I really talked my wife into
> > it:).
> > The primary reason to do so is that a keyboard with faders and knobs costs
> > less than for example the M-AUDIO UC33E
> > (http://www.thomann.de/de/evolution_uc33e_usbcontroller.htm).
> > So I am thinking about a keyboard in the 49-keys range, either the M-AUDIO
> > OXYGEN 49 (http://www.thomann.de/de/maudio_oxygen_49.htm) or the EVOLUTION
> > MK449 C (http://www.thomann.de/de/prod_zoom_AR_166415.html).
> > Has anyone recommendations in regard to stability, usability and
> > linux-/standards-compliance? (I remember a time when m-audio-devices
> > seemed
> > to need a firmware?)
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >


I had bad luck with the M-Audio products. Cheap and cheesy-- my Axiom49 died a few months after purchasing it (used, no warranty, I was screwed). Its motherboard or power regulator died, probably. I had a Keystation Pro 88 before that and I liked the weighted action on it, but it was too big and the faders/knobs felt cheesy to me.

Now I have a way-too-expensive Novation RemoteSL 61, which I've found very reliable. It's very light and thin, the LED display is very verbose and easy to program (compared to the numeric displays on the M-Audio products), it's very configurable, and the action feels more solid to me than the M-Audio products. There is a GUI patch-editor for it that looks like it might be coaxed into working under WINE.  Only thing that sucks about the Novations is that firmware updates for it require using Windoze or OSX-- they're not available in raw sysex format. And, there is a firmware bug in the ADC code in version 3.0 which renders the volume pedal useless. 3.1 might fix it, but, since I don't have Windoze or OSX, I have no idea if it does. Also the drum pads are useless, and the buttons feel cheap. The knobs feel great though, and there are 8 rotaries in addition to 8 variable-resistor knobs.

-ken