Ableton Forum

hey guys, i'm looking to get a midi keyboard. i just sold my axiom 25 cuz i wanted more keys. i've played around with the akai mpk 49 and i liked the keys, but the drum pads really suck.. i've been looking at the m-audio axiom 49 pro and it looks pretty cool, the novation sl mkii looks sweet also.

which of these keyboards do you guys like? do any of them work particularly better in ableton live 8? i'm looking for something that is all-purpose, i will be playing live as well as using it for production. thanks for the help guys!

Novation :
www.novationmusic.com

I've been wondering the same thing myself because M-Audio Keystation 49e that I have is so noisy that it's almost impossible to use when monitoring at low volume. Are M-audio Axiom Pro and Novation controllers not as noisy?

i would go for the axiom pro 49,much better build quality than novation,period.plus keys arer really nice,faders are a little stiff but very precise,knobs have a good grip and enough spacing between them(plus they have a really good (adjustable) acceleration,which makes them behave like faders on faster settings.pads are good also.
after owning remotes,mpk's,original axiom 49,i have to say this is the best controller i ever bought.
and hypercontrol really rocks!

Does anyone have any experience with M-Audio's Keyrig 49 for plain, no-nonsense keys? My Axiom 61 is taking up too much
space, and I really don't need its knobs and sliders next to my BCR and BCF.

I wouldn't mind a 37 key board, but it seems that three octave boards aren't in demand.

@33tetragammon: I hope that means the Pro versions are better than the old Axioms, cause the knobs on those boards really
suck.

@33tetragammon: I hope that means the Pro versions are better than the old Axioms, cause the knobs on those boards really
suck.

yes,they are WAY better.not detented anymore,buttersmooth and very precise also.

sporkles wrote:Does anyone have any experience with M-Audio's Keyrig 49 for plain, no-nonsense keys? My Axiom 61 is taking up too much
space, and I really don't need its knobs and sliders next to my BCR and BCF.

I wouldn't mind a 37 key board, but it seems that three octave boards aren't in demand.

@33tetragammon: I hope that means the Pro versions are better than the old Axioms, cause the knobs on those boards really
suck.

The Keyrig is my mobile board of choice till I get my lil Akai laptop keyboard (whatever they are calling it) The Keyrig series is ok....no where near good enough to be my main keyboard. My suggestion would be the Akai MPK49. The MPK series has amazing build quality, fantastic feeling keys and lots of buttons/knobs to twiddle with. For the price the MPK series rocks.

I thought the Akai MPK had the best key action and drum pads myself, the pots are super smooth and solid to.

I think there's a gap in the market here - I don't want knobs or faders or drum pads (APC40 and PadKontrol have those covered) - I just want a fairly inexpensive, reasonable quality 49 key keyboard... I'd rather spend the money on build quality instead of knobs and faders I won't use...

Is the M-Audio keystation any good? I have a cheap CME M-key thing and its pretty nasty...

I thought the keystation was pretty cheap feeling. Maybe try looking at the Studio Logic controllers if you just want a simple, high quality controller?

necho wrote:I think there's a gap in the market here - I don't want knobs or faders or drum pads (APC40 and PadKontrol have those covered) - I just want a fairly inexpensive, reasonable quality 49 key keyboard... I'd rather spend the money on build quality instead of knobs and faders I won't use...

Is the M-Audio keystation any good? I have a cheap CME M-key thing and its pretty nasty...

I'm saying the MPK series has phenomenal build quality. Yes it has drum pads and knobs...view these as extras. For me the selling point was the feel of the keys and the over all feel of the unit....which is rock solid.

necho wrote:Is the M-Audio keystation any good? I have a cheap CME M-key thing and its pretty nasty...

I have an older version called Keystation 49e and its key action is one of the worst and noisy as hell. Absolute POS.

This yolk looks nice


I like Novation keyboards.

condra wrote:This yolk looks nice


I like Novation keyboards.

i liked them too,but not anymore :

too many bad experiences with their crappy hardware(especially the knobs,they start "jumping" after a lot of use).x/y pad and drumpads are the worst i ever tried.
plus the mk2's are a joke,they put all the led's on it(which don't work in advanced mode,only when using automap) to give you more visual feedback,but they lose the second lcd screen.

bad move,truly!

that being said,i would love to see a version of automap which you can use with ANY controller.

nocturn keyboard seems to be FANTASTIC! .... for €240,00
you get a nocturn and 49 fatar (but not from the top series) keys.

About drumpads it is not only novation..
All suck!
Even a nanopad has better pads than ANY key controller imo.