Midi Keyboard

I'm looking into getting a Midi keyboard that I can hook up to my computer via usb... any suggestions on what brand/ type of keyboard to get, computer specs, etc? I'm looking to spend around $100- $150 USD.

maudio oxygen 8: 8 knobs, 25 keys, pitch bend & mod wheels, highly portable, cheap and can't be beat

More expensive yeah, but the axiom 25 is very nice. Glad I spent the extra money.

Those both seem phenomenal for my needs, thanks a lot guys!

I'll probably go with the Oxygen, because I don't have the extra money to shell out right now on the axiom.

i think an axiom will be my next big purchase, a 49 key. i have the original oxygen 8, i dunno, i'm not feeling it anymore.

  On 3/12/2010 at 6:51 AM, yek said:

i think an axiom will be my next big purchase, a 49 key. i have the original oxygen 8, i dunno, i'm not feeling it anymore.

I completely understand. I have the v2 and I really like it, but sometimes I wish I had more keys. My next purchase will be a kb synth like a ms2000 or something, but for gigging or a general intro piece I don't think you can go wrong with the little beast =)

I'm thinking of getting an m-audio keystation 61 or whatever (it's just keys and pitch/mod wheel) and perhaps a few BCF/BCR-2000 and glue them together for the ultimate midi keyboard.

  On 3/12/2010 at 6:51 AM, yek said:

i think an axiom will be my next big purchase, a 49 key. i have the original oxygen 8, i dunno, i'm not feeling it anymore.

I bought one for 150 euros and it's the best buy I've ever done.

But I doubt you'll find it at that price.

If your not in need of knobs and dials, I've always liked my CME M-key.

axiom49 is nice but not as easy to program as it seems. also mine seems to be buggy and when I make changes to a program they dont show up until i flip through other programs first. the keyboard seems full of minor annoyance like that so i dont use it to its full potential. also, the knobs really suck. they're way too close together and it's easy to hit another knob accidentally.

however, it's pretty, and inexpensive.

  On 3/15/2010 at 3:45 AM, iamabe said:

axiom49 is nice but not as easy to program as it seems. also mine seems to be buggy and when I make changes to a program they dont show up until i flip through other programs first. the keyboard seems full of minor annoyance like that so i dont use it to its full potential. also, the knobs really suck. they're way too close together and it's easy to hit another knob accidentally.

 

however, it's pretty, and inexpensive.

is it easy enough to program midi commands with it: select midi learn and move a knob? (in reason)

So... I'm almost positive I'll be getting the Oxygen 8... now, my question is, will it work with Fruity?

definitely. plug & play! just be sure to set it as a control surface in FL

Rock on! Thanks for the help, guys!

  On 3/15/2010 at 4:21 AM, yek said:

  On 3/15/2010 at 3:45 AM, iamabe said:

axiom49 is nice but not as easy to program as it seems. also mine seems to be buggy and when I make changes to a program they dont show up until i flip through other programs first. the keyboard seems full of minor annoyance like that so i dont use it to its full potential. also, the knobs really suck. they're way too close together and it's easy to hit another knob accidentally.

 

however, it's pretty, and inexpensive.

 

is it easy enough to program midi commands with it: select midi learn and move a knob? (in reason)

Yeah of course.

  On 3/15/2010 at 10:38 AM, Otto Krat said:

  On 3/15/2010 at 4:21 AM, yek said:

  On 3/15/2010 at 3:45 AM, iamabe said:

axiom49 is nice but not as easy to program as it seems. also mine seems to be buggy and when I make changes to a program they dont show up until i flip through other programs first. the keyboard seems full of minor annoyance like that so i dont use it to its full potential. also, the knobs really suck. they're way too close together and it's easy to hit another knob accidentally.

 

however, it's pretty, and inexpensive.

 

is it easy enough to program midi commands with it: select midi learn and move a knob? (in reason)

 

Yeah of course.

yeah, it is. which is fine. but for example, the multiple programs it offers aren't so easy to use. I was expecting something like novation automap where I could save my settings for different VSTs (like one layout for Reason, one for Massive) and go between them. But their automap works on NRPN data instead of old school midi #cc numbers, so it's much better at saving assignments to different plugins. The axiom is much more basic and im having a hard time doing basic things like using groups to have multiple assignments for the same knobs.

Another thing is that Reason and Ableton have axiom templates to download on their websites. They work well with multiple groups/assignments for each controller, but if you want to reverse engineer them and see how they were made so you can make your own, it's a huge bitch because of the way patches are organized between the software and hardware.

if all you want is midi learn for the knobs and sliders it does that fine. /rant

Oxygen 8 is on the way!