Quality MIDI Controller?

  • Thread starter Thread starter rweiss
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rweiss

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I am buying a Yamaha Motif ES rack in a few weeks and i want a nice quality controller keyboard to play into it. I want a nice 88 key weighted or semi-weighted board to use, but i am really looking for performance features like a wide selection of on-board effects and good overall performance like high speed or low-latency. I've basically been looking at a couple M-audio boards and Studiologic controllers so far. I'll be playing into my new PreSonus Firepod :) which i haven't had a chance to experiment with yet so please toss me some advice on what you think are the best controller keyboards out there, money really isn's an object, but i would like to keep it under $1,000. Thanks.
 
what about live performances?

Yea guy in guitar center suggested that one, what about using the controller to play live though? I am most likely going to be buying additional racks and foot controllers and crap to jam out with, are there any keyboard controller's there that do live performances well?
 
I use a Studiologic VMK-88 and it suits my needs well. Lots of knobs and faders to tweak controllers with. It's also thin so it doesn't take up a lot of space in your studio.
 
Yea i was definitely checking that one out too, do you have an opinion on the M-audio Keystation Pro-88?

Also, could i buy a good synth keyboard and be able to plug my racks into that?? for example plugging a motif rack into the nord lead synth, is that possible??
 
Yes, any midi keyboard can be used as a controller. It just depends on how many keys you think you'll need.
 
Okay here's my next question: What is the best synth keyboard out there for under $1000 dollars?
 
Your question sorta depends on what your looking for. Are you looking for functionality with MIDI controller data? If so, you probably want a controller with lots of knobs and faders (such as the VMK-88) that you can assign to MIDI CC# data and control in real-time on the fly. It never hurts to have a controller with 88 keys either, cause most of the time you will be able to map samples across different keys on your board, so the more keys, the more sounds you can work with at a given moment. If your looking for a board that contains its own samples, something like the motif or the triton might suit your needs better. Of course you can always buy soft synths or modules to beef up your sound collection.
 
Yea thanks man, thats exactly what i was looking for, im going to buy the motif rack and plug it through the VMK-88.

I should be able to plug multiple racks into my presonus firepod and play them through the VMK-88 also rightt??

Thanks for the help.
 
Controllers with D-Beams

Yes, The new Roland Guitar-like controller ( apologies for forgetting the model number ) does have a d-beam, but it is not worth the expense unless you want to spend a lot of time on stage.

I would stay away from the M-audio MIDI controllers, although I own a few of their interface and recording products cuurently. The feel is cheesy and the keys are very thin and way too light. Even the big one is not good. The black keys sink below the white keys when you play them. Even though I am not a pianist who should care about this, it really sucks when your fingertip goes below the surface of the adjacent white keys while you are playing.

I have a Yamaha CBX-K3 which is about 12 years old now and I have to tell you it is built like brick shithouse. All steel construction makes a big difference on the road. This would be too simple for you however.

The Studiologic products are far better.
 
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