Hello!

This subject comes up time and time again relentlessly, but I think it's a very important one since there are relatively few possibilities to try out these devices live. I live in a large metropolitan area and in spite of that there are relatively few dealers. So, here it is.

I am trying to decide between the EMU-Xboard61, M-Audio61 and M-Audio ProKey88.

Now, I have been researching these controllers and some others in their price range for quite awhile. I am reading user comments. If on one dealer's site one sees good reviews of a controller, on another dealer's site the same controller is pulled through the mud.

Can anyone, please, give me some appraisal of the above controllers, steer me clear or give the thumbs up of a fourth, fifth, etc.? Price range is $200-400.

Thanks in advance.

John.

Pro Key 88 is a great keyboard for the cash. Forget the semi-weighted 61, as the keys do not feel natural. For just a little more money however, the studio logic 990 XP performs and lasts as long as keyboards 3X its price. I swear by this one, and it is only $100 more than your budget.

OH YA, one more thing, if anything you want to purchase has EMU written on it, do not walk, but run away.

Good luck!

Are you somewhere in Australia/NZ? I got your message at 9:30 AM, but your sending time was 3:39. It must have been sent earlier than 9:30 though, since the clock is showing GMT + 10 Hours.

Anyway, many thanks for the input. Here's some more about me. Since I am a pianist, I am not looking for a replica of a weighted piano keyboard. For that I have a piano, a good Roland P330 digital with the 3 MIDI connections implemented. It's 11 years old, there's no USB. I'll be using the controller solely for composition, therefore virtuosity and instrumentality are no object here. Composers ponder and ponder. If they play fast they can't write too well

I also thought buying a non-keyboard MIDI controller such as the Behringer BMC2000, to couple it with the piano. Problem is, it's bulky and I don't quite know how the keyboard will be graphed in a sequencer. Too, this ensemble won't fit in my tiny urban computer lab/studio which is housed in a very well ventilated closet, but tiny nevertheless.

Musically as well as technologically I am very advanced, but as far as VST I am a rookey and am just in the exploratory phase, reading books and countless forum pages. Thorough research is my mantra, it has paid off many times. I'd take a couple of VST courses but don't know of anyone around Washington providing anything like that.

I also took a look at Rolant's Edirol PCR-800. It's 61 keys all right and doesn't have the 4 zones of the Axiom or Xboard but it has some other strengths. As fas as 88 keys, I don't think I need them for composition. It'd be very very nice, but I simply don't have the money. I am one of those intellectuals who didn't find the means to make a comfortable life in spite of his 4 degrees. Anyway, the latter may be a gratuitous confession. It's just a reality that lays strong constraints on my budget.

Thanks again, John.