Ableton Forum

I am looking for a good masterkeyboard with nice piano-key feeling. about max 700-750 euro...which one of this list http://www.thomann.de/at/cat.html?gf=ma ... ten&oa=pra would you recommend?

thanks, spacy

even though i own an UF80, i would avoid CME like the plague.

their firmware, documentation and technical support are totally crap (and all based in China). close to zero Mac support too.

they closed down their official forum a few months ago, i guess because it was dominated by pissed off people. unfortunate because it was the only place to share info on how to work around some of the ridiculous firmware bugs.

I was in Cologne on friday and visited Music Store to look at some 88 keys masterkeyboard. My fav is the Akai, which has nearly the same knobs and faders as my apc 40. The keys seem to be good, but i'd like to play my own sounds with it before i buy it. Maybe i have to take my laptop to a store to get a complete picture. Music Store has also their own brand "Fame" and an 88 key masterkeyboard which keys feel quite good and is very cheap (300€). The faders and knobs are crap though. Its a tough decision...

I have a Roland RD-700SX. We spent a couple of months trying different keyboards -- it was the best-feeling one we found.

Braindropz wrote:I have a Roland RD-700SX. We spent a couple of months trying different keyboards -- it was the best-feeling one we found.

have also tried this one @ the music store. really very good (wood keys) but just too expansive...

http://www.doepfer.de/lmk2.htm
Not cheap and not really good looking, but considered to be high-class.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... alaxy.html

This, or a Behringer device somewhat lost in space

Yamaha have some piano feel midi keyboard as well as m-audio and are around 1,000-1,500 us dlls

My advice:

Save up as much as you can, pay no attention to the knobs and faders since you can buy controllers that are specifically devoted to this sort of thing without breaking your bank and go for a professional quality keyboard that has the nicest feeling weighted keys you can find (Kawai, Roland, Yamaha ect.). Then all you will need is a minimalistic midi interface, I.e. MAudio MidiUno for around $40.00 to get it hooked up to your computer. Or, alternatively a simple midi chord to hook it into you current audio interface assuming it allows this.

I have yet to find an 88 key midi controller that has a "good" piano feel. They are all funky. That said I use a Yamaha S08 electric piano for a great feel and includes pitch and modulus wheels. I use other controllers for the sliders/etc.

I would recommend going and playing yourself, but do checkout the Yamaha and Korg models that have some sounds built in as IMO they have better keyboards. I have never figured out why I can't get a midi controller that nicely built.

my $0.02