MIDI controller keyboard?

[A101]

I need a controller keyboard with knobs/faders for soft synth tweaking.
There are lots of choices out there.
Any recommendations?

[A101]

Originally posted by Kent
Have you a clear idea of your price range and minimum requirements?

Well, basically to control soft synths, plug-ins and outboard sound modules.
Don't tweak much but a certain amount of assignable knobs and faders would be nice along with pitch and mod wheels.
61 keys, no need for hammer action but don't want anything that feels like a toy either.
Price is not an issue.
Just want to get a general sense of what people use and like.

[radiospace]

I think perhaps the nicest MIDI controllers right now are made by Novation. They have two lines of them, the ReMote series and the X-Station series. The major difference is that the X-Station series includes the built-in synth engine of their KS-series keyboards, as well as two audio inputs (with mic pres) and even onboard DSP for effects (reverb, delay, chorus, EQ, compression, and distortion) that can be applied to the incoming audio. As a controller, quoting their website, "X-Station offers a total of 55 assignable physical controls, including 3 Encoders, 16 pots, 9 sliders and 22 buttons. And that doesn't include the dedicated controls in the Audio section. A template can have up to a massive 150 virtual controls in total using the shift functions." The ReMote series looks similar but actually has a different layout of knobs and sliders, fewer of them apparently. Again quoting, "8 rotary potentiometers, 8 sliders, 8 rotary encoders and 24 switches that are entirely programmable."

Each of those Novation series (X-Station and ReMote) are available in 25-, 49-, and 61-key versions. I've only played a ReMote 25 in real life and to me the build quality and the keyboard action both seemed superb.

Note that neither of these keyboards has pitch and mod wheels. Instead each has a joystick (more like the Triton) and separate X-Y touchpad (like on the Roland V-Synth). On the Triton the joystick always bounces back to neutral which makes it practically impossible to use as anything but adding performance flourishes. On the Novations, though, apparently you can have the vertical (modwheel) axis of the joystick either spring-loaded (bounces back) or free-running (stays where you leave it). In any case if you insist on a traditional pitch- and mod-wheel setup you might have an issue.

I recently plunked around on a new M-Audio MIDI controller, called the Ozonic. I was pretty impressed with the feel and build quality of it. I've got one of their original (Oxygen) MIDI controllers and it's a real piece of junk, but the Ozonic seemed about as well built as the Novation ReMote 25 I played (it's been awhile since I touched a ReMote 25 so it's hard to compare). The Ozonic has an extremely nice, large display. Unfortunately for you it appears to only be available in a 37-key version. It has mod and pitch wheels, a joystick, and about 8 knobs and 8 sliders.

Now if you wanted to go really nuts, possibly the best MIDI controller available today is the Nord Modular G2X synthesizer. Of course, you have to buy the synthesizer to get it. What's cool about it is that it has 5 LCD displays, which are arranged so that each of 8 control channels (1 knob plus 1 button) has its own LCD display, and the knobs have LED position indicators in the style of the Nord Lead 3 synthesizer. The G2x actually has 3 Modulation wheels and Nord's odd but apparently popular wooden pitch bend stick.

I actually started doing some research on the (smaller) Modular G2's capabilities for controlling softsynths but never really got a solid answer: can it display the parameter names and values of softsynths on all of its LCD displays? I do recall being told that you could create templates for each softsynth which would display parameter names above the knobs, but don't remember whether it would also display parameter values. Probably not, but if they added this functionality (using Mackie Control standards) it would be a heck of a MIDI controller. (Well, you did say that price wasn't an issue!)



Some prices from novamusik for comparison purposes:

Novation ReMote 61 $499
Novation X-Station 61 $799
M-Audio Ozonic (37 keys) $499
Nord Modular G2x $2625

[jho]

http://www.faderfox.de/

[sparker]

The Novation keyboards are pretty good - Fatar have the best action for players, but their USB integration isn't as good as M-Audio/Evolution.

One range that you could look at are the 49/61/76 & 88 note keyboards from CME (www.cme-pro.com) - the website dosen't quite do the keyboards justice, but these will be good options for you, if you can wait about 2 months....

Cheers

Steve

[kittonian]

I just picked up a Keystation Pro 88 from M-Audio and couldn't be happier. Just get a sustain foot pedal and make sure to buy an external AC adapter to plug it in (doesn't come with one).

The only thing to remember about that one is they are fully weighted keys so doing drums is not as easy but playing synth and piano is awesome.