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Best keyboard for Cakewalk.


Gerry 1943

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On 3/4/2019 at 3:46 PM, Simeon Amburgey said:

Agree with @msmcleod, the Studiologic recommendation, I use an older SL-880 with a nonoKONTROL. As far as a nice portable righ I have been using an IK Multimedia iRig Keys I/O 49 which I am really enjoying. I am actually working on a review and video to share my experiences.

Best,

Simeon

Long time Cakewalk user, but new to the forum.
Seeing your post is encouraging and its good to hear you are having success with the iRig I/O  - I have the 25 key version and it is constantly loosing connection with Sonar even during inactivity and crashing Sonar after every take of midi recording.
Happy to hear any tips.
Cheers!
Doug 

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One of the best for Cakewalk was Roland A800 Pro. It is still the best IMHO. Not only it has really really nice keybed & feel (synth type), it also perfectly integrates with Sonar. The setup is easy, never had any problem in any Windows (7,8,10). Too bad it was discontinued couple years ago, but it is still available in many store to purchase.

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52 minutes ago, topodojo said:

Long time Cakewalk user, but new to the forum.
Seeing your post is encouraging and its good to hear you are having success with the iRig I/O  - I have the 25 key version and it is constantly loosing connection with Sonar even during inactivity and crashing Sonar after every take of midi recording.
Happy to hear any tips.
Cheers!
Doug 

image.png

I wonder if it might have something to do with the USB port setting?

I have to check but there seems to be something you can set to keep the USB port awake during certain power saving profiles.

i have yet to connect my iRig Keys I/O 49 to my PC (using it with MacBook and iPad) but I will see what happens.

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1 hour ago, James Argo said:

One of the best for Cakewalk was Roland A800 Pro. It is still the best IMHO. Not only it has really really nice keybed & feel (synth type), it also perfectly integrates with Sonar. The setup is easy, never had any problem in any Windows (7,8,10). Too bad it was discontinued couple years ago, but it is still available in many store to purchase.

The A Pro series are still available from Roland.  They are rebranded as Roland, duh, but everything else is the same.   I also have the A 800 Pro and it works great with CbB .  They are listed as Keyboard Controllers.

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On 3/7/2019 at 12:37 AM, InstrEd said:

I ended up getting a Casio Privia PX5s and use it both ways as a MIDI controller and keyboard with sounds. Hammer action and only 25lbs. Does the job for me now. I want to add a small MIDI keyboard controller myself but haven't went looking seriously yet. I also have an old Alesis QS61 keyboard that has synth keys that I use for organ sounds.  My problem with the Studiologic is several keys stopped working and the sensors were not available. Plus I actually like the Privia PX5s keyboard better.  I personally go the route with get a good 88 Hammer action piano that has MIDI out and get another small keyboard with all the controllers buttons that you might need and use them together :)

Thank you for the reference, I wasn't aware of the Casio Priva PX5. Been exploring it a bit, and it seems very likable. Nice that it functions as a stand alone unit, could even throw it in the back of the van and go play in the woods with it :) I will need to get my fingers on it to see how the hammer action feels, from the demo videos I've seen I get the impression that it is maybe a touch to light played. The light weight of it (~10 KG) seems advantageous,  but I'm worried that might make it a bit bouncy with hammer hard play on the keys. 

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22 hours ago, Simeon Amburgey said:

I wonder if it might have something to do with the USB port setting?

I have to check but there seems to be something you can set to keep the USB port awake during certain power saving profiles.

i have yet to connect my iRig Keys I/O 49 to my PC (using it with MacBook and iPad) but I will see what happens.

Thanks for the reply! It is on a laptop, so I'll change the USB settings and see if it resolves the issue.

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14 hours ago, iRelevant said:

Thank you for the reference, I wasn't aware of the Casio Priva PX5. Been exploring it a bit, and it seems very likable. Nice that it functions as a stand alone unit, could even throw it in the back of the van and go play in the woods with it :) I will need to get my fingers on it to see how the hammer action feels, from the demo videos I've seen I get the impression that it is maybe a touch to light played. The light weight of it (~10 KG) seems advantageous,  but I'm worried that might make it a bit bouncy with hammer hard play on the keys. 

I guess they are a little bouncy and the pivot point is short, so harder to play by the fallboard for classical pieces. But since I don't really play classical on it it has been fine for me. I got mine in April of 2013. So far so good.  Yes you can play it in the woods to if you like. It can run on AA Batteries. Great feature. With the Casio keybed,either you like it or you don't.

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3 hours ago, topodojo said:

Thanks for the reply! It is on a laptop, so I'll change the USB settings and see if it resolves the issue.

So being a laptop I would definitely check the "power profile" settings as this could help with other aspects of using it for a DAW, etc..
The settings you want to check are found in the Device Manager. 
Here is a good article on optimizing Universal Audio Apollo Twin but the principles described can benefit anyone using USB with their setups.

https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/208139723-Windows-Setup-Required-Settings

Edited by Simeon Amburgey
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Great article! Funny enough your previous suggestion had already led me to the power management and so far this seems to have resolved the issues. This is my first laptop so power management hadn't crossed my mind.

Thanks again, Cheers!

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Just an FYI
Sad to report the iRig Keys I/O is not working at all now without any changes to the system - works fine with Stand-alone Sample Tank, Syntronic and EZ Drummer and  also works in Presonus Studio 3 and Ableton Live - it appears its just a Sonar issue.  (All of this spanning two days, multiple system/application restarts and shutdowns)

Sonar also becomes unresponsive until the Keys I/O is unplugged from the system.  Time to learn a new DAW I suppose

BTW, FWIW I completely removed Sonar and made a clean install as well...

 

Edited by topodojo
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  • 6 months later...
  • 1 year later...

After Considering So Much, I Finally Bought a M AUDIO OXYGEN 61. Actually I Made This Purchase After Watching Charlie Puth Video On YouTube In Which He Showed How He Made His Hit Song Attention! In the video he was using an M Audio. So I thought I must go for it! And I Have to Say, this Midi Works Amazing! 

Edited by Jyotiraditya Singh Guleria
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On 10/8/2019 at 5:33 PM, weltering said:

I have a Cakewalk A-500PRO. Please be warned the pads are very hit or miss and practically useless for fingerdrumming.

The Menu system is also pretty 1950s .

Everything else is pretty lovely and well built,  especially the keys.

I've had my APro 800 for many years now - still find it unfathomable! Must be the worst manual in the world!

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  • 1 year later...

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