ZincT Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share Posted April 29, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, abacab said: I think so too. This seems to one of the few keyboard controllers that is not oriented to Ableton Live integration, and in fact includes Bitwig 8-Track in the bundle. It claims integration with other DAWs, including Cubase, Studio One, Sonar, Reaper, and others. But that is where I would put more weight on actual user reviews as to how well it works with any specific DAW, such as Sonar/Cakewalk. The integration with many DAWs including Cakewalk was what attracted me to it abacab. I found this thread which is interesting as it seems that many people have issues with getting it to work fully in Cakewalk... ...but there are actually lots of threads on this forum (and the old one) about integrating the Nektar series of keyboards with Cakewalk (I'm using this to mean various versions of Sonar and CbB). If you Google "Nektar with Cakewalk" you can find them plus links to the relevant Nektar support pages and PDF manual for using Nektar controller keyboards with Sonar. Here's the --> Nektar Sonar setup PDF Edited April 29, 2020 by ZincT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 (edited) On 4/29/2020 at 2:55 AM, ZincT said: ...but there are actually lots of threads on this forum (and the old one) about integrating the Nektar series of keyboards with Cakewalk (I'm using this to mean various versions of Sonar and CbB). If you Google "Nektar with Cakewalk" you can find them plus links to the relevant Nektar support pages and PDF manual for using Nektar controller keyboards with Sonar. Here's the --> Nektar Sonar setup PDF That Nektar setup looks to be quite similar to that used for the Roland/Cakewalk A-PRO series keyboards. Both inputs have to be selected in Cakewalk, one for the keyboard, and the other for the control surface. The modes for transport, mixer, and virtual instrument appear to align with the ACT functions. I finally got my A300PRO working, with a bit of effort. Not currently using it as I found it a bit short (32 keys), and I don't really care for a spring loaded modulation joystick that Roland seems to be fond of... but I do miss the sliders... Edited April 30, 2020 by abacab 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 On 4/27/2020 at 1:57 PM, ZincT said: Did you have any luck with your Graphite 49? Unfortunately, by the time I decided to go for it, it was sold. Anyway, after looking into it a bit more the Nektar Impact LX49+ looks like a good alternative but they seem to be out of stock everywhere (maybe due to the virus?). Have you had any experience with one of these at all? Thanks Sorry for the delay it getting back to you - just tried to update the firmware on my Graphite 49... it refuses to update to 2.5, but takes the V1.42 update with no issues. So no change to the graphite's behaviour. It's a real shame as the feature set is great and the key action feels fantastic, just a pity no two notes play with anything like the same velocity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted May 1, 2020 Author Share Posted May 1, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, msmcleod said: Sorry for the delay it getting back to you - just tried to update the firmware on my Graphite 49... it refuses to update to 2.5, but takes the V1.42 update with no issues. So no change to the graphite's behaviour. It's a real shame as the feature set is great and the key action feels fantastic, just a pity no two notes play with anything like the same velocity. Ah that's a pity The two top runners for me at the moment are the Nektar Impact LX 49+ or M-Audio Oxygen 49 Mk IV. I can get the latter slightly cheaper (£104 inc VAT vs 115).I'm reading through a lot of Cakewalk forum threads about both and trying to decide. I already have all of the software that comes with the Oxygen but not Bitwig that comes with the Nektar (but do I need yet another DAW?!). From reading through various forums I'm unsure whether the built-in preset configurations of the Nektar are really worth having as ACT config in CbB doesn't seem too hard (I also use Cubase, Reaper and Studio One but much less than CbB). Would be interested in any opinions of anyone who owns either. I should probably start a new thread with an appropriate heading. Edited May 1, 2020 by ZincT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 4 hours ago, ZincT said: The two top runners for me at the moment are the Nektar Impact LX 49+ or M-Audio Oxygen 49 Mk IV. I can get the latter slightly cheaper (£104 inc VAT vs 115). Something to consider about M-Audio is that they are owned by InMusic Brands now, so no longer the old M-Audio. They are in the same company with AIR, AKAI, Sonivox. and Alesis now. https://inmusicbrands.com/ I own several of their products, which work fine now, but I wonder about their future direction and commitment for ongoing support of existing products. Their top end line of hardware appears to be AKAI Professional. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 Back when AKAI came out with their plug-in host VIP, the company issued 3 controller series with fully integrated support for VIP, including onboard color LCD screens, and on-screen controls for plugin selection, patch selection, mixer for multis, etc. The series were the Akai Advance, the M-Audio CTRL, and the Alesis VX. https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/akai-advance-49 I caught a great deal on the Alesis VX49, with the same functions and software bundle as the AKAI Advance 49. But it now appears that all of the VIP tightly integrated hardware has been discontinued, except for the AKAI Advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted May 1, 2020 Author Share Posted May 1, 2020 2 hours ago, abacab said: Back when AKAI came out with their plug-in host VIP, the company issued 3 controller series with fully integrated support for VIP, including onboard color LCD screens, and on-screen controls for plugin selection, patch selection, mixer for multis, etc. The series were the Akai Advance, the M-Audio CTRL, and the Alesis VX. https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/akai-advance-49 I caught a great deal on the Alesis VX49, with the same functions and software bundle as the AKAI Advance 49. But it now appears that all of the VIP tightly integrated hardware has been discontinued, except for the AKAI Advance. That's a nice looking controller but it doesn't seem to be available in the UK (nor the other two as you said). They seem to be pushing their MPK range over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 1 hour ago, ZincT said: That's a nice looking controller but it doesn't seem to be available in the UK (nor the other two as you said). They seem to be pushing their MPK range over here. I think in hindsight, I would probably rather have the MPK249, over the Advance. Sliders. https://www.akaipro.com/mpk249 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 (edited) On 5/1/2020 at 8:59 PM, abacab said: I think in hindsight, I would probably rather have the MPK249, over the Advance. Sliders. https://www.akaipro.com/mpk249 Ah yes, nice ? For some reason I now have a retro 80's hankering after one of these... ? https://www.alesis.com/products/view2/vortex-wireless-2 and also one of these... https://www.roland.com/uk/products/aerophone_mini/ Edited May 4, 2020 by ZincT 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 4 hours ago, ZincT said: For some reason I now have a retro 80's hankering after one of these... ? https://www.alesis.com/products/view2/vortex-wireless-2 That Keytar looks like fun! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 1 hour ago, abacab said: That Keytar looks like fun! Not a whole lot of money either, hmmmm ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 1 hour ago, ZincT said: Not a whole lot of money either, hmmmm ? Yep, $349 vs. $999 for the Roland AX-Edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 1 minute ago, abacab said: Yep, $349 vs. $999 for the Roland AX-Edge. Ouch! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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