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-- wanna get a midi controller, who knows anything about this? and any suggestions?

wanna get a midi controller, who knows anything about this? and any suggestions?

hey all, looking to buy a midi controller, under 200 euros is the budget, not sure where to start, any help appreciated!

what functions do you need? keyboard? lots of knobs and faders? or maybe dj functions like pitch bend platters etc?? and what software are you using?

Hey clay, thanks for your response. I am not about any of the questions you asked, like I said I need recommendations. A keyboard would be cool, and in terms of software, I think abledon is the best? but again, my knowledge on midi's is pretty poor

how did u figure you need a midi controller if you havent bought any software yet? do that first, use it for a year and then you will find out what you need (probably just a pianoroll). you're welcome

edit: ableton isnt best. nor is it worst. its good. like all the others. its a matter of taste.

Thanks for your advice, well i didnt figure i needed one....i just want to buy one thats all. They look fun to use and i bet they can create good sounds. also, abledon i have only heard good stuff about, but nice to hear different opinions. do u have a midi controller?

Decide on a sequencer first, then use it for a while. If you find youd like to move knobs/faders without using the mouse then you will probably need some kind of midi controller

I have a Korg NanoKontrol2 myself, its handy for doing a few things at the same time in Live

Also, midi controllers dont "create a sound" - they just send midi signals

Re: wanna get a midi controller, who knows anything about this? and any suggestions?

quote:

Originally posted by tonyhibbert321 hey all, looking to buy a midi controller, under 200 euros is the budget, not sure where to start, any help appreciated!

You need to elaborate a bit more about your expectation, what you going to use that for, any specific requirements on functionality???

If you looking for some cheap DAW surface control unit around $200.00 then look farther then Behringer BCF2000 USB/MIDI Control Desk w/ 8 Faders.

Darek

quote:

Originally posted by tonyhibbert321 Thanks for your advice, well i didnt figure i needed one....i just want to buy one thats all. They look fun to use and i bet they can create good sounds. also, abledon i have only heard good stuff about, but nice to hear different opinions. do u have a midi controller?

ableton is good, dont get me wrong. is just a matter of taste and how you like to work on your songs which software/sequencer you should end up with. ableton is considered to be one of the most flexible ones so its a good software to try first. personally i havent been able to make any music in any other sequencers than propellerhead Reason but to be honest i dont really recomend it as it is so closed compared to others. Ableton is a safe bet, and if it doesnt work for you it has second hand resale value too (the license).

Midi controllers doesnt make sound, it just sends control signals to your synths to change parameters or just sending notes if its a midi-keyboard (either to your softsynts inside i.e. ableton or other sequencers, or to hardware synths - not recommended lol).

Yes I had a midikeyboard with additional knobs and faders (edirol) and i currently have a midicontroller consists of only faders and knobs (uc33) and to be honest i have almost not used any of them, its a waste of money as all the parameters is available from your PC-mouse just a click away - much simpler. A full size pianoroll keyboard would be useful though, to play the softsynths live instead of drawing notes like i do today. But i mostly make simple arp melodies anyway and drawing notes is much simpler than actually playing them myself so i guess i really dont need that either.

Each to his own but you need to understand what the peaces do. What you firstly need is a sequencer/software like ableton. Play with it a year and youll find out if you need anything else.

hey guys, thanks for all your questions and tips....like i said though, i have no expectations, nor really any idea about midi controllers, just want to experiment thats all.....experiment with deifferent sounds and production techniques. All of your help is much appreciated, can anyone reccomend one for under 200? i have no specific requirements at all, just a cool midi controller where i can learn the basics, but that is also respectable....if thats possible

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_...tation49es.html

I had to buy a new midi controller recently. See below for my thoughts on the ones I tried. Keep in mind I've owned an upright piano and a couple of Yamaha keyboards, so I expect a lot.

Novation Impulse
- Good keys.
- Average build quality and drum pads.
- Bad faders and knobs.
- Only 5 velocity curves, all of which REALLY suck. This made it absolutely useless for me. My shitty ass Evolution keyboard from high school was better than this.

Novation SL MKII
- Good keys and knobs.
- Bad faders and drum pads.
- Build quality is average.
- More velocity curves than the Impulse, but still not a single good one. Again, this made it useless for me.

M-Audio Axiom Pro
- Good keys, velocity curves and knobs.
- Average build quality.
- Bad faders and software.
- Many have driver problems.
- Company has recently been bought out, so support is an unknown.

M-Audio Keystation
- Good default velocity curve.
- Average keys.
- Bad build quality.
- No knobs, selectable velocity curves or other features.

Roland A500 Pro
- Great build quality, key feel and velocity curves.
- Good knobs, faders, build quality.
- Bad drum pads, bad key size.
- The keys on this feel great, but they are slightly smaller than usual and it's kinda weird.
- Ports are on the side, instead of the back. This doesn't work for me.

Roland A-49
- This is similar to the A500, but without all the knobs and buttons. I think the keys are slightly larger, but still not full size.
- Build quality is great; there is hardly any horizontal movement in the keys at all.

Akai MPK
- Worst keys ever. Holy fuckballs. Do not even think about buying this shit.

Behringer UMX
- Surprisingly good. I won't bother going into more detail though; it's a Behringer and You probably won't buy it, because it looks like crap.

I went with the Roland A-49. It's expensive for a basic 49 key controller, but you get Roland quality.

quote:

Originally posted by tonyhibbert321 hey guys, thanks for all your questions and tips....like i said though, i have no expectations, nor really any idea about midi controllers, just want to experiment thats all.....experiment with deifferent sounds and production techniques. All of your help is much appreciated, can anyone reccomend one for under 200? i have no specific requirements at all, just a cool midi controller where i can learn the basics, but that is also respectable....if thats possible

i think u miss the point. a midicontroller of its own cant do anything. you need software or hardware synths and a sequencer to be able to make sounds at all. the controller is just a controller - like a lightswitch; without a light bulb or electricity it doesnt do anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Oq1G-IUNfg

Thanks echsystm for your detailed response, i will do some research into these products, guessing the roland one is most expensive . When did you buy it and have you had any problems with it?

hey clay, I understand midi's need software, and i dont intend to buy the software seperately, i want to buy it with the controller, therefore thats why my queastions have been based around the controller, thanks for your input though!

the software that usually comes with midicontroller, soundcards etc are often limited versions of some kind. like max 3 VSTs or max 8 channels, max 64 bars or something. just to keep in mind. theres no shortcuts except piracy which i cannot recomend either. you could get Reaper though, it is semi "free" (meaning you can evaluate full version for as long as you want). and theres some free VSTs to put into Reaper too, like synth1. Start there. If id were to start today that might have been the way id go. Ill admit though that i bought Reason in a bundle with the Edirol midikeyboard lol (after a year or two of pirating).

btw: midi doesnt "need" software. software could have good use of a midicontroller/keyboard. you seem to have everything upside down. a midi controller can control hardware synths also, through, yes, midi connectors (oldschool 5pin control cables - again no sound, just control messages to the synth which in turn is the device making the actual sound, or synthesize it if you like, hence the name synthesizer).

maybe what you really would like is a hardware synthesizer??? ALOT more fun there.

Sometimes midi keyboards bundle a "cut-down" version of a sequencer - i remember getting a copy of Live Lite with something as i have the disc lying around here somewhere
You wont get a full version with something like that though- not as far as im aware anyway

good post echo on those keyboards, im thinking of getting a new one myself possibly

quote:

Originally posted by tonyhibbert321 Thanks echsystm for your detailed response, i will do some research into these products, guessing the roland one is most expensive . When did you buy it and have you had any problems with it?

The Roland I bought is about half the price of the Novation Impulse, so it is affordable. What I meant is that it is expensive compared to other simple keyboards (eg. M-Audio Keystation).

I bought it about a month ago and have had no issues whatsoever. If you want a keyboard with nice keys and lots of useful velocity curves, I think this is the best keyboard you can get without upgrading to a full workstation. It is very much a players/musicians keyboard.

Some people aren't actually interested in playing their keyboard and just want lots of buttons, faders and pads. If you're one of those, the Novation Impulse is probably better. However, be aware that the velocity curves may make the keyboard useless for you if you ever want to start playing keyboard properly.

I can't say I'm impressed by any of the midi controllers available at the moment though, including the one I bought. None of them are even close to the keyboards that you get with a good workstation. You really just have to buy the one that you hate the least.

quote:

Originally posted by echosystm I can't say I'm impressed by any of the midi controllers available at the moment though, including the one I bought. None of them are even close to the keyboards that you get with a good workstation. You really just have to buy the one that you hate the least.

This. The MIDI controller market has been shit for the past 6-7 years. The best newer controllers I've found are the ones from Arturia, which also happen to come with a good selection of usable synth sounds. The decent ones are a little above your budget, but I'd recommend saving a little more for something like this one:

http://www.thomann.de/de/arturia_ae...boratory_49.htm

thanks guys, really good input again, much appreciated. Yeah heard of thomann before, heard they are pretty respectable brand, anyone heard of hifi tower? came across there site recently, they look like they have decent stuff too and quite cheap. I guess ill have to start looking for the midi controller i hate the least then

thomann is just a shop as far as i know. not a brand for products.

cool, yeah just checked them out, have some cool stuff but quite expensive than i thought, hi fi tower look a bit cheaper, has anyone shopped there before?

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