Re: [linux-audio-user] linux MIDI controller keyboards

On 2/28/06, Chaz Worm <chaz@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
> any suggestions?
>
> chaz

I recently had this same decision to make, and I wanted more than
24-keys, so I got a 49-key E-MU (read: Creative) Xboard49. I initially
wasn't buying it for the USB MIDI support, because both google
searches of this list and others as well as Creative themselves told
me that this board would NOT work in Linux.

The board is powered by [sold-separately] plugin, or USB (I'm not sure
about batteries, can't recall), so I decided to plug it into my PC for
power (no sense using yet ANOTHER power bar to get another plugin). Lo
and behold, it worked!

The reason I chose E-MU over Edirol or M-Audio was that I read a ton
of reviews, and the keybed got much better reviews for the E-MU board.
It has a lot of knobs on it too, so I'm happy with that. If you don't
like dual wheels for your pitch/mod controls, then look elswhere, but
I'm happy with wheels. There is also a MIDI out, obviously, and a
sustain pedal input.

The only thing that you might not like is that the buttons are a bit
loose, but it doesn't bother me at all. I'd rather have a solid keybed
than real good buttons and keys that just stop working randomly (as
reported with many M-Audio devices).

Here's an ok picture of it:
http://www.kartydzwiekowe.com.pl/allegro/xboard49.jpg

I'm not trying to knock anyone's brand or anything though, maybe lots
of people here are happy with their M-Audio boards or Edirol boards. I
haven't had my E-MU for very long myself, but I'm happy with it. The
only thing I had to go by for purchasing decisions was what other
people wrote in reviews on zzsounds, harmony central, and the like. I
ended up going with E-MU based on reviews and I wanted just a MIDI
controller, no PC intereaction was even in my mind at that time. It
was just a bonus for me that it worked OOTB with Linux (Ubuntu Breezy,
that is, should work fine with others though).

Dana
Received on Wed Mar 1 04:15:07 2006