Edirol PCR-50

Fairly easy when you get used to it, although the downloadable presets are useful until to get used to it.

There are lots of controllers (27 in total) which are fully programmable albeit using the PCR Editor available from the Edirol website. They keys are fairly solid and the pitch bend/expression control is different but fun when you get used to it. It also comes with General MIDI 2 support for suitable programs.

Being a MIDI controller you must use a VSTi/DXi compatiable program however the reaction and feel of the keyboard is good.

So far I have encountered no problems with this, so I would recommend this to anyone.

In comparison to my other MIDI controller (Evolution MK225C) it feels more natural and I like the layout and functionality better.

It's a typical Roland operating system, you're not going to figure it all out without the help of the manual. But the manual's pretty good and it's easy to find the stuff you need. After a little practice the setup becomes pretty straightforward. And the downloadable editor software makes it all that much easier.

It has been a long road to finding a great controller for my computer/soft synth setup. I've tried Oxygen 8, Evolution, and older products like the Edirol PC-300...the PCR-50 blows them all away. Finally, a computer friendly MIDI controller that actually feels like something other than a toy. The case has a decent weight to it, the knobs and sliders have a good positive feel, the keyboard action is better than the PC-300 which itself was better than any of the others I tried. Knobs and sliders are totally configurable and there are 16 full setup memory locations. You can save more setups using the editor software. The only thing I could possibly ask for is maybe more knobs and sliders (there is some empty space on the thing, they should have filled it!)

NA

Feels very solid, like most Roland gear.

Now that they've fixed the controllers so they increment in 1's, there's just nothing better than the PCR series on the market, for this kind of money. The Novation Remote 25 looks interesting but it's still not out, and it's going to be considerably more expensive. You really can't go wrong with the PCR series for your computer based MIDI setup.

I purchased its smaller brother - PCR-30 - couple of weeks ago. Being aware of "increments in 3" problem, I asked the sales guy to open the box and try it in the store. It was a new shipment - "increments in 1"! So Edirol obviously fixed this problem.

Interesting fact: they were demoing an old PCR-50 unit in the store! :)

PCR is exremely easy to use and program, especially with the supplied PCR editor. Some settings (like default power-on memory profile) are not quite clear but the manual is very helpful.

I needed a decent small MIDI keyboard with knobs and sliders. I used to own Oxygen 8 but it was too fragile and unreliable. PCR-30 is very solid and does not feel cheap, has programmable knobs, sliders and buttons!

I had the only problem so far - with velocity. The default setting of "velocity offset" is not the best one for me. Fortunately it is adjustable.

Very solid.

I did not have a reason to contact Edirol support about my PCR. But I contacted them in the past (regarding DA-2496), and they were very kind and helpful.

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy another one without hesitation. It is well worth the money I paid.

Exceptionally well-written manual. Simple installation of driver on Win98SE. Considerably easy to get up and running with controller presets for Sonar, Cubase, etc. as well as a variety of VSTi's. Also quite easy to assign and save controller presets in one of 15 memory banks (1st bank is read-only with a GM setup). Addition of new (and free) preset editor from Edirol website adds to flexibility.

Best keyboard action of all controllers at its price-point, although a tad stiff and/or springy (may well "break in" over time) - though this is a very minor and subjective observation. Controller knobs & faders have a solid feel and are consistent in their action across each of them. Buttons are rubber-surfaced and have a pleasant and responsive action - several of them are designed to light up and/or flash while patch editing, making the process more intuitive. Newly designed bender/mod wheel has a good action and improves the transmission of mod data, although this controller is not assignable. All controllers can transmit a wide variety of data including MIDI CC, SysEx & RPN/NRPN. Each controller can send data on its own dedicated MIDI channel, on one of two MIDI Out ports (using USB connection, IE - keyboard & bender transmits on USB Midi Port 1, while all controller data transmits on USB Midi Port 2 (Ch. 1-16)) Can be powered by USB or DC adapter (included). MIDI I/O via USB or standard jacks. On board MIDI I/O jacks can route external MIDI hardware through USB MIDI connection.

*The most recent shipment (as of April/03, I believe) of this controller rectifies the "controllers transmit in increments of three" issue. All controllers now respond in increments of one.*

Solid construction and build quality. Solid keyboard feel lends itself to playability. Velocity offset feature in system settings can compensate for different playing styles, although no "velocity curve" preset feature is present.

Good initial selection of controller presets downloadable from Edirol website. New Editor application (free and downloadable from the Edirol website) for PC & Mac is a great new support feature.

Technical support: N/A

Absolutely the best choice among the current keyboard/combo controllers (ie - Evolution MK-361c, M-Audio Radium - both suffer from an immediately distinctive "cheap" and "toyish" feel). Feels more like a professional piece of gear despite a few shortcomings. Resolution of the controller increment issue makes the PCR series a hands down winner (though where's the 61-key version?). May get competition from the new MK-461c if Evolution improves their keyboard action.

THIS MACHINE IS USELESS AS A CONTROLLER. IT SENDS OUT CONTINUOUS CONTROLLER DATA IN INCREMENTS OF 3!!! FILTER SWEEPS ALL STEP, EVERYTHING SOUNDS TERRIBLE. APPARENTLY THEY ARE GOING TO FIX IT BUT WHO CARES, I JUST WASTED FOUR HOURS OF MY LIFE GOING TO THE SHOP, BUYING IT, TAKING IT HOME, UNPACKING, INSTALLING IT, AND THEN FINDING OUT IT DOESNT EVEN DO THE ONE THING EVERYONE WILL BUY IT FOR.

WASTE OF TIME.

It' s simple to program this controller Key.

better than Midiman Radium (more function) and Evolution (better keys!!). But why not 5 octave!?

no sound...only a controller

Unuseable with MAc Os 9!! I can't use it with one of my G4 set up, because it doesn't work well with OMS and the other Midi interface! I have to choose: PCR or Midisport..with a PCR oms doesn't recognize any other interface :-(

a lot of competence!!

MacOs 9 vs PCR.

For basic use, the PCR-50 is ideal. Just plug it in & go. It comes with a number of presets & the manual offers information to help set it up with different software programs. I use Cakewalk SONAR 2.0 and had a little trouble as the menues are different from those in the PCR-50 manual. Their instructions are for SONAR 1 which made it a bit of a pain. Most of the important features are accessible directly from one button or two button combinations. So it is really easy to adjust octaves, transpose keys, switch presets, and so forth.

The feature set is really impressive. In the manual there is all kinds of useful information. Even a little tutorial for creating SysEx, but I'm not very proficient at that. But I did find it useful. The programming isn't exactly intuitive, but every menu behaves the mostly the same, so once you learn one, most of the processes after that are the same.
The keys feel much better than on my friend's MK-249C. It feels more like an instrument, although changing the velocity sensitivity isn't easily accessible as I would like. After another jaunt through the manual, I found out how to do that.
The level of development on the PCR-50 is really deep. There's what's called an "H-Compatible" preset on the PCR-50 that basically emulates a HUI. Also, what I found to be the most useful for me, personally, was that the advanced control settings allow you to create a sort of range limit for your controls. It's really cool because it will prevent you from over-shooting the "useful" boundries of the parameter you're tweaking. Next I think I need to get an expression pedal for it.
I hope it pushes some of the other guys to get in the game and start making really powerful control tools with some more extended features, like aftertouch, or a ribbon control.

As I said, it was not at all intuitive to change the velocity sensitivity, but the manual is indexed, so finding out how to do that wasn't too bad. I would have liked to have better access to that feature in particular. But otherwise, it's been quite good.

The knobs don't fall off, so that's a plus. It's sturdy. If I were going to use a USB controller in performance, this is the most suitable I've seen.

If something happened to it today, I'd have to get another. After learning to program it & creating my own SONAR control setup, I've grown pretty attached to it. I would like to see who sets the next bar for computer controllers. I played around with the Oxygen & my friend MK-249C, but I can't see going to either of those after using this one. I wonder if some of the bigger keyboard companies are going to target the computer user.

Easy to program right from the controller.
A plug and play device. (but will not work if unplugged and replugged while computer is on, a software bug).
Not very heavy. Very compact. So not so hard to carry or throw in the back seat of a car.
The manual is OK, not great.

Well, its a low end inexpensive keyboard.
It does not have keyboard after touch, it does not have a million pedal inputs and breath controller input.
For $233 its great !
Better then previous PCRs and better then Midiman controllers.
It has two pedal inputs ! Including expression.
It has a user bank.
It has a pretty blue light when plugged into a powered USB port. =)
The keyboard can be powered by a powered USB port. (works on my laptop USB port)

If you want a 88 keys or 76 keys weighted keys with aftertouch and velocity settings you should not even bother playing this keyboard at a store, well hack don't even bother looking at this price range.
You can not get a Lexus all wheel drive for the price of a volkswagon.

Its a nice MIDI controller for those who have Gigastudio, Reason, etc..

It has 2 pedal inputs, 8 knobs, 8 sliders and a whole bunch of bottons.

No jog dial.

Ideal for on the road with a synth module or laptop.

A jog dial would have been nice and I would have paid $30 more for it.

I would have loved a serial connector for connecting my Palm or CE device to it. This way I can save a lot of settings for use with different synth modules.

Well, it makes a little thump sound if you hit the keys really hard.
It you drop it on a hard floor it will make a crash sound.

Quality of assemply is excellent.
I have not had it long enough to judge the quality of the components.
It is not made in Japan so I am not sure what to expect.
But I am keeping a open mind.
The quality of assembly is excellent.

Dont be silly.
Its a simple controller.

Excellent little 49 key MIDI controller.
Fair price for the features and size of the keyboard.
An excellent 2nd keyboard for controlling software synths.

I want to paint it.
The color scheme is terrible.

This is a post to the 'velocity curve' issue. There is a sort of velocity curve. See page 136 "Velocity Offset". It's actually better than a set of velocity curves! It adds to the velocity played from the keyboard. Hope this helps!

The following is for PCR-30 keyboard!

Very, very flexible programming. You even can programm sysex!

Though the workflow of programming is kind of fiddle twiddle (you won't be able without the manual in your hand). But maybe that's a compromise because of complexity.

As said: almost no limitaions in programming the knobs and sliders.

N/A

As said by someone else: keyboard is kind of hard to push.

Even if you touch it very sensitive, it's kind of difficult to get velocity values below 30. And pushing it realy hard sends values of 110 to 120. So limited dynamic!

Directly under the keypads there is the electronic PCB board. No cover or protection in between. Hopefully nobody will have sweaty fingers while rockin the keys ;-)

N/A

Not really recommended.

OK - USB keyboard + MIDI controllers - plug & play
Problem is that controllers sliders send values in
increments of 3.
easy & quick acces to octave change & program change
the manual is OK

the keyboard action is quite nice (far better than the MIDIMAN radium)
The velocity response is ok but there's no acces to different velocity curves

N/A

would be a good solution for live performances because you can quickly acces program change ... but there's a big problem with the controllers sliders

EDIROL have annouced they will exchange the PCR-50 for new one with sliders in increment of 1.

not bad except for the midi controllers but it seems that the new one will be OK.
easy & quick acces to a lot of parameters
But it seems that all the new USB MIDI keyboard with controllers sliders have an average key action compared to none USB & none midi controllers keyboard.

This is a post in reply to the previous message. The keyboard 'does' have velocity curves so you should be able to get better response than what you got. Also, I spoke with Edirol today as I wanted to get more info on the value increments moving in 3's and 4's at a time instead of 1 and this is what they said. "The current keyboards (PCR-50 and PCR-30) knobs and sliders move in increments of 3, but in March the new shipment will have the updated encoders to move in 1 value increments. Anyone who has purchased one of the 'older' units can send them back to Edirol (you pay shipping to them) and they will upgrade the board for you and ship it back (no charge). So there you have it! Hope this info has been useful to someone!

This is really short review.
Bought it because it looks really nice and has sliders.
Made in China.
Keys send velocity value of 30 when all my other keyboards send 90 (when I strike them medium hard).
All sliders and knobs send values in increments of 3-4 (1-3-7-11-15 etc)
Evolution controllers send values in incremets of 1.
Mod lever sends only 8 values.
Keyboard action is way too tight.
My fingers started to hurt after plaing it for half an hour.
Pitch Bend Lever is coarse too.
No velocity curves.
Returned it in exchange for Evolution controller.
My verdict: nice looking junk.