customer reviews
38 People rated this product :
9 out of 10
5 People wrote reviews
8 out of 10
"one of the best midi keyboards you can buy."
Feature:
the keyboard came with a setup cd and another cd with ableton live lite. i don't use ableton so i have no opinion about it. the setup was fairly easy. it took about 30 minutes of troubleshooting to get it going, but after that everything ran fine. the faders are more useful than the knobs/dials. the knobs don't spin freely (although they spin infinitely). they click as they turn, which kind of prevents you from using them as very quick adjustments lile you would with the faders. it's not a big deal, but i would prefer it if they didn't click.
Quality:
the keyboard seems like it's built pretty solid. more so than the few others i looked at (edirol, and the m-audio oxygen keyboards).
the faders don't all move the same though. some slide a bit easier than other. not a huge difference, but it's noticeable. the keys have a good feel compared to other similarly priced keyboards i tryed. i like how the key extend down into the keyboard, rather than other keybaords that have a gap under the keys. it makes the key seem more solid. i only use it in my house and don't move it around much at all, but it seems like it would hold up well for gigs.
Value:
i payed more by buying it at a small local shop. it would have been maybe $50 cheaper if i got it online. but if the thing breaks i don't have to deal with it, i just bring it back the shop and they'll deal with the replacing. even for the steep price i paid i think it's worth it.
Desirability:
the keyboard looks pretty good. i'm not big on the futuristic, silver keyboards that are coming out, so this one looks good to me. it's simple, with no pointless, flashy additions.
Sound:
it's a midi keyboard that has no sound.
Ease of Use:
it sets up pretty easily. the transfer buttons (play, stop, pause, record, etc.) are hard to get to work with lots of DAWs, so i've heard. i use fl studio 6 and can't get them to work. i haven't tryed very hard because it's not that big of a deal. and i can't for the life of me figure out how to map the keyboards controls to different soft-synths in my DAW. when i try to map a new set of controls if starts overwrtiting the old ones. it's a problem with my DAW i think though, not the keyboard. and there is no manual booklet. i understand the reasoning behind it (save paper because not everyone is going to read it). but they don't even give you the .pdf manual on the setup cd. you have to find it on the net for yourself, which is completely retarded. other than that, it's easy to use.
Support:
i only emailed m-audio once and got and answer back within 24 hours. so i don't have much to say about the support. one stupid thing is that the enigma program that lets you map the keys doesn't come on the setup disc either. m-audio definitely should include the enigma program and the .pdf manual on the setup disc.
Overall:
overall it's the best midi keyboard i've tryed. i haven't tryed a lot of them, but it's the best i've tryed. it's built solid, is pretty easy to set up, and feels good when you're playing it. other than having to go on the net to find the manual and key-mapping program, there have been no set-backs or problems. i haven't had it for a long time (2 months), and i treat my electronics well so i can see myself having it for a while.
Submitted: 9/15/2008
Style of Music: hip hop
10 out of 10
"Overall, I love this device."
Feature:
n/a
Quality:
I love the way it looks, but I had an Oxygen 8 that was made like junk. This is by the same company, so I am holding my breath. I hope it is built better than their products used to be built.
Value:
Can't beat the value.
Desirability:
Looks great. Feels great. Keys are polished white and flat tone black, just as they should be. Semi-weighted feels good.
Sound:
Sounds great through the FL studio program.
Ease of Use:
I had a major problem getting it to work. After calling support, the problem was deemed to be excessive drivers assigned to USB ports. I uninstalled the drivers from the Axiom 49 (they are not necessary with Windows XP), unistalled nokia drivers, unistalled logitech drivers, and any other driver that was linked to a USB port. After this, the unit ran flawlessly.
Support:
You have to call them. Forget email. Some things still work best with the phone. Long distance charges no longer apply to anyone, check out Rebtel for ultra cheap international calls. I called the UK from Latvia for 30 minutes... a few cents. Take that, Ma Bell!
Overall:
Probably will be very happy with it until I can purchase an upper end Kawai grand piano.
Submitted: 10/31/2007
Style of Music: no style yet, just the basics: scales, chords, fingering
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