hello all... have been using 49 for the longest, but some pieces I am studying would be more
playable with an extra octave or so...

I am looking at the Roland A-800 Pro , or the Novation SL MK2

so far I have read that the Roland has had some negatives on the ease of assigning the controls, and
the SOS review of the Novation made it sound just "ok" , so I'm not yet convinced either way

anyone have thoughts on these? or maybe a controller I had not considered yet?
not so interested in akai, unless someone wants to make a special case for those..


graci..

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2016

Personally, I'd go for the Advance 61 or the NI S61. These are a little pricey but software integration seems to be the future of controllers. And investing in a piece of gear that you use everyday is always a good idea. I bought my Max49 5 years ago when it was pretty much the most expensive controller per octave and I'm still finding new features and workflows with it.

I personally like Akai key beds, every key played on my Max 49 feels intentional. The Advance has less "Akai-ish" key bed, feels more natural ie softer and less springy.

The SL61 at this point is about 7 years old, and Automap is more or less dead (good I've always hated it, fortunately S1 natively does the same job)

The mod/pitch joy stick on the A-500 is cool, but the connections are awkwardly placed on the side which would make cable management a huuuge pain. (its really weird they did this, they do it with 25 key controllers so you can push them up to a laptop but on a 61 key??)

One thing you might want to look out for is the Alesis VX series which is pretty much a cheaper Advance (sister companies). Currently only a 49 key is out but I'd be willing to bet a 61 key will be coming soon.

 

thanks for the excellent reply, I will look into the options you have presented...

 

Novation SL MK2 61, which is the one I have is an incredible keyboard, I really, really love the keys...But I hate automap, and you can get around it for the control of the VSTs, but it's a real pain if you want to control your daw mixer, in Samplitude and Reaper it's automap Hui, it's really annoying.
Other than automap, good keyboard, lots of options, you can really go deep in customisations, I've had it for 6 months now and I'm not regretting buying it.

 

@Talmi how do you like the key action? so far I have seen it described as "smooth" , is it more synth touch? I forgot
if it had any aftertouch , semi weighted etc, and how do you like the joystick feature on yours..?

yes it seems automap does not get favorable reviews as I have seen,
but then Reaper simply allows you to assign buttons, knobs, and faders through it's actions list ..

 

@Herr Durr Take a look at the Alesis VI61. Its nicely priced, it has TONS of controls, a set of 16 velocity sensitive pads and a descent key-bed with aftertouch. For this price I dont know if you can find something better.

 

Semi-weighted, really, really smooth...I also have the akai mpk which is also semi-weighted but it's...I don't know...harder ! You can tune in depth the velocity curve in the novation, and how you tweak that changes drasticely how it responds to your playing. It can be piano like in its response or synth like, you really can fine tune it like this. Aftertouch yes, it responds well (you can also tune it), the xy pad (it's not a touch sensitive thingy, you have to push hard to use it but still) is cool, specialy for synth that includes modulateurs with 2D XY modulation (like in synth master). The mod pitch is solid, there is a way to make it snap back to zero position or not. The pads are complete crap, but since I have a mpc, I only use them as shortcuts or stuff like this. And all the touch sensitive controls (faders, buttons, knobs) respond very nicely and effectively.
Yeah Reaper is great for that part, I agree, but I never took the time to mapped those two closely together.

EDIT : and while I think of that, the splitting functions of the keyboard are awesome, and if it's still there on AudioZ and you do get the MK2 there was a groove/E.Krantzberg tutorial on the mk2 and automap and it's worth watching, because the manuals on this (and I actually love manuals) are horrible, so this specific tuts is actully usefull.

 

Last edited: Mar 31, 2016

I recomend you also the Novation SL MKII, I have the 49 one and the quality is nice, I got on second hand 1 year ago and on that price is the best controller, and if you spend time on setup the automap its work ok, but like most keyboards you have to map the controls , even the native instrument keyboards with 3rd party vst you have to map also,

 

The Rolands look nice. I almost got one when I got my Axiom MKII. If I had to do it over again, and couldn't get my current board (traded a 32" tv for a mint one on the local gear swap), I'd get a Nektar Panorama. But I use Cubase Pro 8 and appreciate deep DAW integration (my current board uses a combination of DirectLink and creative mappings for deep mix level and track level functionality). If you get the right controller/daw/mapping combo, you can really get a true hardware feel. I used to use 16 track hard disk recorders, and the feel is similar.

 

@Herr Durr
It all depends for what U use it... (and how much You care about Your fingers )

for piano playing, of course go for full weighted keys, high action
for rhodes, fast semiweighted keys
for organs, low action, rounded keys
...and so on...

- the A-800 Pro is a nice keyboard, good choice of faders, knobs and things, but not very gentle on Your fingers... the action is too light, the fingers crash to hard when playing forte.
Not a good choice for piano playing, but ok for rhodes and very good for organs.
(haven`t tested it long enough... I had it for 2 days, when a friend brought it to me to set it up for using in cubase)

since You are using Reaper, maybe this clip could be of use to You if You choose the A-800 (

)


- The Novation is on the other hand great for organs (tried it only in the shop)
very synth like action.
I was not able to find a good velocity curve for playing piano in the shop, so for me it was unplayable as a piano.
The action was to "shallow" for playing rhodes.
...again, good choice of faders, buttons and things, but they feel very modern... (I like to feel some resistance/drag under my fingers, like the older gear used to feel like ... this is subjective I believe)


Since I play mostly piano and rhodes, and like heavy keys and high action, the above 2 keyborads would not be my choice.
(but the price of both is acceptable IMO)

If You like fast keys, low/medium action, many buttons and faders, than go for a test drive... maybe one of the two will connect with Your fingers

- Sorry, but I can`t suggest nothing `cause I am looking already 2 years for a replacement of my ancient A-90, but haven`t find nothing in the price range that I can afford .
I can just say stay away from MAUDIO!

Good luck!

 

@Rhodes indeed , watched that one last night... made me feel more love for Reaper if not the A-800

one thing, I am not used to playing anything that has "natural" action such as a Rhodes
( altho I am in the market for one of those too ha ha) or acoustic piano, I have been playing a cheap synth action 49 key for years now, light and easy, and not worried if I break it.

I also have an Arturia analogue experience ( heavy piece, but light action also) So I am used to the synth feel keys,
but I get what you're saying, about when hitting the keys harder.

I'd like to test drive but have not seen the Roland in any shops around,
part of the problem in deciding

thanks for the reply

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2016

If you want a nice keyboard with deep integration with Reaper, and several other daws, look at the Nektar Panorama P6. I have a P4 and love it but i have used no other keyboard to compare what the action feels like.

http://www.nektartech.com/Products/Panorama-P4-P6

 

Novation SL MK2... Great keybord. I use Novation Launchkey 61 MK2 but I'm going to upgrade to SL MK2.

 

Nektar Impact LX61 for me - integrates 100% with Studio One

 

I've got the A300PRO (same thing with less keys) and it's very solid.

Don't believe the crapy reviewers, it is easy to assign and works very well. As in everything else, you just have to know what you're doing.

 

After 7 years here and a few more at the original owner's studio, my ancient Novation SL 61 hasn't yet broken. All knobs, keys, wheels and sliders are still functioning just like the day that they left the factory. If owners of the newer models with all those pretty lights can confirm that they are still made this well I would recommend the brand whole heartedly.

 

I'd go with the Advance 61 especially if you have a large collection of vst(i)'s, I have the 49 key version and the software hardware integration with VIP is definitely a game changer. Especially considering 2.0 makes it so that you can use your fx and create fx chains along with your instruments also. I'm definitely no pianist, but the key bed feels pretty great, semi-weighted but not heavy or difficult to play, the knobs are big and reminiscent of some of the moog stuff and arguably the pads are better than the ones on Maschine. Also I think Alesis put out a version of their keyboard with the VIP integration and m-audio is supposed to release one later this year (they are all owned by the same parent company). It's definitely can be a bit of a doozy to get all of your vst's and expansions on there since some don't have built in maps but it's soo worth it to be able to browse everything without ever touching your mouse (if you want).

You might even be able to grab a used one at half the cost if you look around

 

Last edited: Apr 1, 2016

Ask one question, get a million different answers lol.

Ps: I like the NI S61

 

Last edited: Apr 2, 2016

All I can say is: Avoid the M-Audio Axiom 61. That thing is a hunk of garbage. I had the original version (and from what I've read, the new versions aren't much different), everyday all of the keys would stick causing a clicking noise until they warmed up a bit, the endless knobs made a loud grinding sound as they turned, it had an overall cheap feel, and to make everything even worse; it just stopped working one day, which (from what I've read) is a common problem due to a faulty chip on the mainboard. It looked cool sitting on my desk for the time that it lasted, but it was ultimately a $300 hunk of crap that is now in a landfill somewhere.

 

Last edited: Apr 5, 2016

As you know I asked about a a 61 keyboard controller just recently. I purchased the MPK261 and it is not bad. The keyboard feel is not great but not bad. It's is like a D-10 like others have told me and I am in agreement with. The nice features are all the pads and sliders and knobs to control everything. It also can be powered via the USB buss and it has 3 pedals controllers that can be hooked up. I have it controlling CUbase and Reaper. Reaper did take a few tweaks but not that many to get it working.