I would suggest definitely getting a MIDI keyboard. Trying to work out melodies on the computer is a pain in the arse...

The first link you gave seems to ONLY be USB. I wouldn't get that. That means you can't hook it up to hardsynths (unless there is some USB->MIDI adapter for it, too?

The Evolution MK-361 you linked to looks good.

Another option is to get a hardsynth with a keyboard and use that. You could probably get a decent one for not much more than $250.

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-brash

What is the difference between the second link and the third link?

(They are both MK-361 s but with a $70 difference!)

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Looks to me like one is the MK-361C, and the other is the MK-361. The C has 16 assignable controller knobs, the other does not. (You want controller knobs.)

See here: http://www.evolution.co.uk/products/keyboards_01.htm

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-brash

the MK-249C IS connectable to hardware synths...it has both USB and the regular midi interface on it

I actually bought the 249 today...it's one hell of a keyboard

I sugest that one or the bigger one

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quote:

Originally posted by davedresden i suggest getting the gabriel & dresden prog-a-minute. in 3 easy steps you too could change the face of dance music. batteries not included. - dave

as far as I can tell, only the mk-361C has velocity. am I correct?

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Hey, Majglow, do you remember me mentioning the Radium, I would look into that one.

yeah... I checked it out... but it doesn't seem to have velocity from the specs that I found. If it does have velocity, then I probably would go for that over the evolution.

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Alright, I went to the guitar center today and got dibs on the next radium coming in (should be tomorrow or monday).

They claimed it has velocity... so I'll see... if not, i can always return it and get an evolution mk-316 instead.

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The evolutions have velocity (I own the 249c², and it even has 16 different velocity curves you can select), but they don't have aftertouch, something you'll only find on more expensive keyboards.

Didn't test the Radium yet, but I sure hope they did a better job than on the oxygen 8 (that one is a nightmare, breaks easily, and it happens a lot that it sends midi control messages even when doing nothing).

You should really look into what you need... Do you really need 61 keys (5 octaves, if making trance or similar you'll rarely need this, use transpose), or can you manage with less (keep in mind all those keyboards still have transpose features)?
Do you want to be able to control other parameters via the keyboard (it's an extra, but it's worth it imo).

I suggest you take the evolution keyboards with controllers (the C stand for control), the number of keys is you choice. If you want even more controllers than the evolution, take a look at the Edirol PCR keyboards (http://www.edirol.com/products/keyboard.html), they not only have programmable controller knobs, but also sliders and buttons that are fully assignable. I like the feel of the evolution keys better myself, but edirol has nothing to be ashamed of either.

I think one of the best things with the evolutions is that they are easy tapped...you can do really fast hit's on the keys and it still reacts good....

ohh btw...what do you mean with veolcity...what is it?

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quote:

Originally posted by davedresden i suggest getting the gabriel & dresden prog-a-minute. in 3 easy steps you too could change the face of dance music. batteries not included. - dave