M-Audio Keystation 61es

plug and play, very easy. I hooked it up to logic EVP88 and later to loungelizard for vintage wurlitzer and rhodes sounds. Worked ok, although if your computer falls accidently asleep, in some cases you would even have to start it up again... but that might be apple's fault.

there is a modulation wheel and a pitch bend and octave up and down, which work. The volume fader works well with logic plug-ins but i couldn't make it work with loungelizard 2 and 3 and neither with plugins in ableton live.

i had to adjust the velocity curve in logic and later ableton live, as usual the default curve is too sensitive for my playing style (if you are used to hammers). it doesn't come with different velocity curve options, which i would have appreciated. The keys felt good, better than similar novation or edirol controllers. That was also the crucial criteria to get it (prices are comparable between the 61 key-controllers anyways, surprisingly cheap!)

I had to use my setup without backup (but in Nepal there is frequent power outages during gigs anyways, so nobody bothers ;-). If i didn't have to, means used in in Switzerland i would never play gigs without a backup... as mentioned, i would never use it for gigs in "industrial countries" where there are thousands of good options available, anyways... For studio use, although i never used it that way, i reckon, it's a good option (don't know whether other brands are better)

Due to work i had to do in Nepal i wanted to get an inexpensive lightweight midi-controller to hook up to my g4 powerbook in order to be able to play gigs... my experience stems from a nine-month stay in Kathmandu Nepal during which i used it almost everyday for either rehearsals, jams or gigs. It did it's challenging job quite well over 7 of the 9 months. However, i wouldn't buy it anymore. If i had 50kg overweight on international flights i would take my fender rhodes mark II, with 20kg overweight my doepfer LMK-2. I play the keys for over 20 years and my way of playing can get pretty rough, literally "hitting the keys" is the right expression. If you have (wanna) play gigs, club and open-airs, look for another solution. for my next leave i think of getting a fatar tmk-88 or 61 (the keys MUST last), a roland A33 or 37, although the roland controllers are heavier. If i decide on a similar gear i wanna try the korg 61k, hoping that the old-fashioned companies have more robust keys. After 7 months the velocity on two keys was completely lost. I opened it and learned: the problem is, the keys wear out and squeeze the rubber contacts to hard, so that they eventually break. For a similar gear i would try the korg 61k or the lightweight fatar controllers. maybe even roland A33 or A37, although they are heavier.

This is extremely easy to use master keyboard for computer use: just plug in the USB cable and you're all set: no drivers for windows xp, mac. I even use it in linux with 2.6.15 kernel and ubuntu 5.10, and once I plug it in, the midi device is automatically created and I can start playing e.g. with fluidsynth.

The only minor drawback is the advanced functionality, which re-use the keyboard (so to change a instrument, you have to press advanced+f#1 on the keyboard, and then start pressing octave + - ).

It has a sustain pedal input, and my guitar channel switcher, which came with the behringer v-amp works great.

For the price, good weighted keys. Velocity can be quite well controlled, even for piano soundfonts.

quite plastic casing, but it seems sturdy enough.

did not try.

It really is a plug and play keyboard, very easy to set up. But if you're using it as a stand alone midi controller you will find the lack of buttons annoying, but what makes it more difficult is the lack of function markings on the keys, this means you'll need to continually refer to the manual for the first couple of weeks to remember the key sequences you need.

The action of the keyboard is quite nice. It's only semi weighted, but it one of the better actions I've tried on semi weighted keyboards.

Two two wheels are both assignable as well as the volume slider. The dedicated octave shifters are a nice touch, but obviously if you're into extensive manipulation of a the sound, this isn't the keyboard for you.

It's light and small, which would make it excellent for gigging, although you'd need an odd shaped bag/case.

N/A It has no internal sounds.

Right, this is where the keyboard really falls down.

There is a fault in the hardware which controls the Active Sense of the keyboard. Now if you're only using it for it's usb function it won't affect it, but as a stand alone midi controller it won't operate properly with any sound module that requires active sense / cannot turn it's active sense function off. What will happen is that the keyboard will fail the sense check, so the module will turn off the notes. Obviously this destroys any sustained passages.
Because of this problem the entire keyboard will stop working every few minutes and remains like this for a few seconds.

M-Audio do offer a service to fix this problem or can supply a part for you to fix it (voiding the warranty). But it would be easier to simply get a different keyboard to use as a stand alone midi controller.

M-Audio are very slow at responding to enquiry forms sent through their website, and regardless of which nationality M-Audio page you're on it will be sent to the US tech support (not that helpful really).

When I phoned the UK tech support it takes a few minutes to get through to the right department and when I did manage to get through they didn't answer. But I have to say, they did phone me back the following day and gave me an honest answer about the problems with this keyboard.

Eventually helpful, but slow.

It's ideal for computer input work, but out of the box it won't work as a stand alone midi controller with a lot of types of sound module.

If this problem is fixed though it would be a good keyboard.

Very simple to use.

Keyboard action is not like in weighted keyboards, but still very good! Suits fine for piano, rhodes and hammond and everything.

It's quite compact and not too heavy.. good for gigs.

There is a bug in hardware that makes the keystation unusable. If I press down a key and hold it down, the sound stops about 1 seconds after I've pressed the key. This happens with keystation connected with midi-cable to my motif es rack. If I route the midi signal thru a computer, it works, but it's not very good solution, cos I don't want to carry a computer to gigs.

Very good product, cheap, easy to carry around, nice touch and everything, but useless due to the bug in hardware.

This is a very basic 61 note semi-weighted action controller. Octave up/down buttons. Assignable slider and an advance button to access advance settings of the controller via the controllers keys. I bought this controller because of its action and the fact its just a no nonsense quality controller.

As mentioned, basic functionality. If you want assignable knobs/sliders/pedals etc then get something else. I've never been one for tweaking and hands on control. I'm a player and as such wanted a quality key action in a small compact controller. I had a PCR80 which is great but the key action was not quite but to playing expressive piano but was good for synth/organ playing. The 61ES has a great action, its semi weighted and is great for every kind of keyboard playing. The 61 note's are not a limitation for me as I stick in this range most of the time and can use the octave buttons quite easily if I require to go up or down an octave.

N/A as this is a controller with no sounds. I use my Keystation 61ES to control N.I. Kontakt/Absynth and Cubase.

The 61ES looks really sturdy and well built. The Pitch wheel is not too stiff or springy and the case is made of thick plastic. A lot more sturdy than the PCR80. The USB port and Sustain pedal input all seem very sturdy. I've bough a lot of M-Audio gear and everything has always been reliable.

Not needed them so have no opinion. They have good support on their website so thats always a bonus.

I am really pleased with my Keystation 61ES. It fits nicely on my desk in front of my PC, its built really well. The key action is superb and one of the best all round actions I've played on.Its the main reason why I bought this controller, for its action and playability and its ease of use. Overall, I'm very happy.

Very simple and easy to use. In fact, "simple" is the perfect word for this controller. I'm using this as a controller for Sampletank 2XL within Pro-Tools LE, and I was up and running within minutes. I bought this to replace my Oxygen8 and I'm not looking back!

Though there are no outstanding features on this controller to speak of (Pitch and Modulation Wheels and Volume/Control Sliders only), the semi-weighted action of this keyboard feels great. I'm running directly into my PC from this controller via a USB cable.

No internal sounds included.

I've used it for quite a few months now without so much as a hitch.

Haven't had to use them!

I'm recommending this controller to other friends who are in the process of putting together their own Pro-Tools project studios, so I'd definitely purchase this over again if I had to start over!