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I have the MPK-61 and am plenty pleased with it. However, if I were going to buy and didn't think I wanted drumpads (which I now realized I wanted too much and will probably never use ala Jeremy Ellis) I would have more considered Novation/M-Audio or even moreso now Arturia. I would probably look into the Arturia Hybrid series, you can get the 32 which has some knobs, pitch and mod wheel, but it is around $250 on Amazon. Bonus: if you purchase before the end of this month the Analog Factory Hybrid will get you a choice of two of the V series softsynths from Arturia which are normally 250 each. That would really come down to whether you had any interest in those. It's something to consider. If I were to rebuy right now, I'd have bought the factory 61 from arturia as it would come with a choice of 4 of their soft synths (full licenses) and has a nice selection of knobs/sliders and I think four pads.
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this is looking really gravy to me so far:
http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Oxygen-25-25-Key-Controller/dp/B002VYJDYW/ref=sr_1_4?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1340373355&sr=1-4&keywords=M-Audio+Oxygen+49
i guess i can work around the keyboard range for the time being. this can fit on my desk and i wouldn't need to get a stand. -
I have an Oxygen 49 and I like it. It's got plenty of controls (although of course I WANT MOAR) and the keyboard range is, in my opinion a perfect compromise between full-size and portable. It feels solid enough to me; I mean obviously it's not a high-end keyboard, but it's also not cheap-o and flimsy.
I would hesitate to get the 25 because I would feel very limited by the number of controls and keyboard size. Reason has a play-with-your-computer-keyboard option which gives you 18 keys, so I feel like what's the point of buying something to give you only 7 more keys; but that's me. -
I'm not convinced of the need for full-sized keys.
I'm a huge fan of the Korg Microkey 37.
http://www.amazon.com/Korg-MICROKEY37-37-Key-Midi-Controller/dp/B007VQIGPW/ref=sr_1_2?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1340391685&sr=1-2&keywords=korg+microkey
For me, its only down side is that it's slightly too big to fit in my backpack.
The Akai LPK25 was perfect for that. (in fact, I can fit two of them and two 128s in the same backpack) But the Korg is a better keyboard.
(note, neither of those have a jack to support sustain pedals) -
I use an E-mu X-board and have been very happy with it, but I've been eyeing the M-audio key station mini 32 for something more portable. The Edirol PCR 300/500/800 are also worth mentioning, good keyboards. I just wish someone still made poly-aftertouch keyboards(that are affordable).
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i really like my arturia factory
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I love my Arturia Factory keyboard and it has some wonderful emulated analog synth vst/au instruments bundled with it (>3,000!) it also has aftertouch, which you don't usually get on keyboards in that pricerange. The construction is solid but it might be a bit //too// solid for Aaron's needs as it is on the heavy side and if he wants to tote it to gigs it might be problematic. Another factor is no pads...
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I specifically wanted a crappy portable keyboard, to throw in my courier bag with my laptop and GS64, and got the Akia MPK Mini... I'm really happy with that for the price and it's not nearly as crappy as I expected it to be.
The pads are a little cheap but work well enough for my needs. The arpeggiator is loads of fun. No pitch or modulation wheels but you could always map that to the knobs.
The only thing I wish it did have was encoders, rather than pots... The ability to pick up settings from whatever it's focused on would make everything a little more immediate.
