- Bus-powered 25-key USB MIDI controller
- 8 MIDI-assignable knobs
- DirectLink mode
- Dedicated transport and track select buttons
- Pro Tools compatible
USB MIDI 25 velocity-sensitive keys controller 8 MIDI-assignable knobs 6 dedicated transport controls MIDI-assignable slider Dedicated track up/down buttons DirectLink mode automatically maps controls to common DAW parameters Factory presets map controllers to popular music software Xpand!2, Hybrid, Velvet, Strike, Oddity, ImpOSCar, Minimonsta Unique Select buttons for on-the-fly step through of presets, program changes and MIDI channels 4 velocity curves and 3 fixed velocity setting
USB Controller,
(Earlier review deleted)
Ideal as an input for software instruments, without the kind of compatibility issues you might find with older controllers. No Midi in/out, though, so you can’t use it to control other pieces of hardware.
Nice, solid build, with two pitch-bend and modulation wheels (default state); eight mappable pots and various sliders and buttons which can all be assigned to anything you like. I haven’t done any of this yet but,theoretically, it should be quite straightforward. Setting velocity-sensitivity is simple (though I prefer just to turn it off).
Keys feel a bit flimsy (not full-size), but they’re okay, once you get used to them. Extra octaves are accessed with up/down buttons.
If you’re used to composing on a keyboard with four or more octaves and wonder if you could replace it with a two-octave controller, then the simple answer would be ‘no’ – because, obviously, similtaneous lead and accompaniment are out of the question on a two-octave controller.
Portable, but too bulky to be as portable as the manufacturer seems to suggest.
Inputs/Outputs: 1 USB port (which provides power, as well as connection to your recording software).
Sustain pedal (not included).
On/off switch.
Good, for what it does, but the absence of any midi in/outs make it extremely limited.
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|M-Audio Oxygen V3 keyboard,
I agree with the previous reviewer about the spongy feel to the keys but as I am not a keyboard player this is not a problem to me as I bought it as a controller for my music programs (DAW)and this it does fine. The Oxygen 8 is well built and works out of the box. It is worth mentioning that the directlink for instant mapping to DAWs functions mentioned in the manufacturers blurb only works if you have the latest versions of the software i.e. Pro Tools 8 or Cubase 5. I think it is possible to configure the keyboard for older versions but I haven’t found out how as yet (the User guide is not the best to understand).
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|Good for desktop use,
It’s hard to decide on a star rating for this – do I rate it for what it is, or do I rate it in terms of usefulness and usability? I’m opting for the latter. I bought this to use as a desktop solution for my Logic experiments, as my larger 49 key Keystation is a bit unwieldy in my living room where I work, so I’ve opted to set it aside (unless I really need it) and use a smaller desktop keyboard instead, and chose this. It’s nice because it sits comfortably next to my Macbook within easy reach – so no more turning in my chair to the Keystation that I used to pop on my drum stool next to my table. I did find the initial setup a little confusing, largely due to the lack of any useful documentation accompanying the product. However, a visit to the M-Audio website fixed this as they offer a PDF download of the manual there – what took me the longest to discover is that you need to set the keyboard to preset 10 to use all the functions in Logic (once you’ve downloaded the DirectLink driver for it). Now it’s working well with all the knobs and the fader doing what they should. I do feel that the keyboard’s keys are a little too light and that for the price, perhaps they could have thrown in a few more features but for a basic desktop solution, this is a decent option.
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