Ableton Forum

Guys..

I have tried out the Ozone and the Photon X25. I realized that they do not have the pad.

As a new Live user, is there a midi keyboard that you would recommend?
Please help..

Thanks

If I was buying a midi keyboard & cash wasn't an issue, I think I'd go for the Korg Kontrol 49 at the moment or the Novation Remote SL..

I have my eye on the new M-Audio Axiom 61 and the Axiom 25.

I'm assuming you were refering to keyboards with drum pads....I think these are gonna be the ones to beat.

The 61 adds faders and buttons

Oh, here's the 61....
they're $179 and $299......I think the 49 is $249

The 25 is already out and they said the 61 will be out this month. I already hearing a lot of good things from people who have used them. I only messed with the demo in the store, felt nice.

Bow down and kiss the ring:-

kiss your ring?
this is the one

The Anxiom is certainly nice, but it doesn't have any sound input.. Which I might need.

The Novation is tight looking.... Does the pad assignable.... I always wonder instead of using my mouse pad to move that little effect dot around... Is it possible to assign that effect dot thing to one of the midi pad or joystick so I can better mulnipulate the effect??? I personally don't like to use the mouse pad so much.....

The Nord is cool too... I love it...

I have an Axiom 25 and it is a great controller (and you can always get a seperate audio in/out - which I would actually recommend over USB audio that many controllers have built in).

If you are using a laptop and just need basic stereo in/out, check out the Indigo i/o (it is a cardbus interface with DSP that takes load off your cpu to process audio streams - unlike USB interfaces which can hit the CPU pretty hard to process audio streams). For more extensive in/out, the EMU cardbus interface would be worth checking out (again, it has DSP that processes the audio streams and can help the CPU load).

(By the way, I also have a Nord G2X - which can be set up to be the ultimate MIDI controller.)

Thanks for you input, guys. I finally ordered an Anxiom 61 key today for 250 bucks... Pretty damn good price.... It won't arrive for another 22 days though

I figure that I might use it to play as an instrument too.. so the 61 key will get me in the mood for some candle light piano....

One thing I wonder is how the keys feel like on this bad boy? How does the 25 keys feel like?

They are semi-weigthed - and the action feels really good for a keyboard at this price. (Of course, they are plastic keys and do not have the touch of a piano at all - but I wouldn't want that for synth work anyway.)

lerky wrote:kiss your ring?
this is the one

Hmmmmmmmmm bubble wrap ........... kinky .

bubble wrap is so funny to pop... I can never resist, I destroyed the protection of my soundcard in two days... pop, pop...

DJThis wrote:Thanks for you input, guys. I finally ordered an Anxiom 61 key today for 250 bucks... Pretty damn good price.... It won't arrive for another 22 days though

Good price.....where did you get it from?

huffcw wrote:I have an Axiom 25 and it is a great controller

Have you found any bugs in it yet or does it seem pretty safe to pre-order the 61 (I believe they are using same firmware/drivers.)
Also if you could elaborate on some of your likes and dislikes......I'm just so amp'd up waiting to get mine....I've been using compact keyboards for so long.....I'm planning on this being 'the one' main keyboard.

Also, being that it is so light, does it feel cheap when banging out drum patterns or does it feel solid?

Any info you hav would be apreciated....I'm like a groupie right now.

So far it has been rock solid. The keys have just enough weight to them to feel really good. Also, you can select from a variety of velocity curves to suit your playing style.

The pads are awesome (velocity and pressure sensitive - and also have a variety of curves to choose from).

I haven't played a better MIDI controller at any price (besides the Nord G2X - but that is much more than just a controller).

Remember that it is not hammer action - so you will not get a piano feel out of it, but if you are playing mostly synth sounds with it you probably wouldn't want that anyway.