shaneblyth Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I have spent the last month researching controllers and most reviews relate to a DAW like logic rather than MAinstrage 2 which of course is difference. For instance axiom pro and novation Sl mkII look interesting in DAWS but what happens if your running mainstage. do u even need anything fancy as MS2 can learn controls? Novation has automap and axiom pro has it hyper controls but am i right in thinking compared to a straight DAW application these controls really dont work or are not necessary cause we can map within mainstage all we want. I'd like a decent action semi weighted or even weighted action. Boards I have considered are Axiom and axiom Pro keystaion Pro 88 cause the weighted action but reviews vary so much on the action it is confusing. I have even thought of a digital piano type controller . any comments or tell me what u are using and how u ;like it and why it works well or not with mainstage 2 WHat I do ... mainly play piano electric piano bass sounds splits and layers of bass pianos and pads and strings and good grungy organs all live use of course. very few synth type sounds at all.. modern church band cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Stone Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I have spent the last month researching controllers and most reviews relate to a DAW like logic rather than MAinstrage 2 which of course is difference. For instance axiom pro and novation Sl mkII look interesting in DAWS but what happens if your running mainstage. do u even need anything fancy as MS2 can learn controls? Novation has automap and axiom pro has it hyper controls but am i right in thinking compared to a straight DAW application these controls really dont work or are not necessary cause we can map within mainstage all we want. I'd like a decent action semi weighted or even weighted action. Boards I have considered are Axiom and axiom Pro keystaion Pro 88 cause the weighted action but reviews vary so much on the action it is confusing. I have even thought of a digital piano type controller . any comments or tell me what u are using and how u ;like it and why it works well or not with mainstage 2 WHat I do ... mainly play piano electric piano bass sounds splits and layers of bass pianos and pads and strings and good grungy organs all live use of course. very few synth type sounds at all.. modern church band cheers Great question! Because MainStage doesn't quite have the same concept as a DAW, all of that automap and hypercontrol stuff is mostly worthless when setting up in MainStage. That's not say that its not a good feature to have, but since MainStage has a different use concept than a DAW, what you really want is something that just sends standard controllers on everything. Setup in MainStage, even on my Axiom Pro only takes about 2 minutes. If you start by using a template which has controls, the Axiom Pro and dozens of other keyboards will attempt to automatically assign hardware controls to the screen controls. Chances are good that some controls will make sense, but you may want to customize it to get the best performance. The best price/performance I've seen so far is the Axiom Pro. I have both a 61 and a 49 now. The semi-weighted action is definitely respectable, esp considering the types of instruments you would play. Playing acoustic piano and EP is less satisfying but that is true for any unweighted keyboard. My suggestion would be to go to a music store which has several controllers and try the keyboards. You could even bring your mac with some headphones if you want to try out playing the keyboards in MainStage. I love the fact that the axiom pro has endless encoders, but I wish that the encoders had LED surrounds since MainStage knows how to update those when you switch between patches. The newest SL mkII appears to have LCD surrounds but I haven't tried it yet with MainStage 2. I have the first generation SL and I loved it for a few months, but found Automap to be too invasive and quickly grew frustrated with the keyboard. Korg does a great job too. You might want to check out the new Akai MPK series controllers as well. http://www.akaipro.com/mpk61 They even have a weighted version of the MPK. I haven't tried any of the Akai stuff. If I had to purely guess, I'd bet the keybeds will feel hard compared to Novation SL, Axiom Pro and Roland keyboards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneblyth Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 thanks great reply. I cant to get try as I am living a v long way from even a small music store. I spoke to a guy in a big store who has a keystaion pro 88 and asked if he had noticed any sticky notes or uneveness in the keybed and he said no so i am considering going this way as it has the hammer action and tons of knobs and cheap and i can get a 3 year extended warranty for and additional 10% of the cost fo the unit which sounds worth it. He had 61 key Axiom personally and said he had never had an issue with it. I dont see the axiom pro of offering me anything extra because of mainstage but maybe i am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Stone Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 thanks great reply. I cant to get try as I am living a v long way from even a small music store. I spoke to a guy in a big store who has a keystaion pro 88 and asked if he had noticed any sticky notes or uneveness in the keybed and he said no so i am considering going this way as it has the hammer action and tons of knobs and cheap and i can get a 3 year extended warranty for and additional 10% of the cost fo the unit which sounds worth it. He had 61 key Axiom personally and said he had never had an issue with it. I dont see the axiom pro of offering me anything extra because of mainstage but maybe i am wrong. I too was very interested in this keyboard when it first came out, but unfortunately, I did not like how it plays. The plunge is way to deep on the black keys. If you push a black key down, it drops below the surface of the white keys which simply feels odd to me. I have an older Studio Logic (Fatar) weighted controller which is respectable, but nothing compared to what Roland and Yamaha have on offer. Shame you can't try out the Akai MPK88, that's probably a great compromise for feel, price, and actual performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneblyth Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Well I took the plunge and grabbed the Keystation Pro 88. I have not had a chance to try it but I got a super deal and 3 year warranty. It cant be any worse than the cheap piece of crap I am using now and luckily I am not a piano player so I will just have to learn to adapt my playing style cause I just cant afford anything better. Maybe they have improved them? I got the guy at the shop to play the exact one they are sending me and to check for uneven velocities and sticky key issues and he quarenteed it was not like that so if it is I can throw it back at them. My wife will be pleased I managed to get something cheap but I suppose I will get what I paid for. Thanks I too was very interested in this keyboard when it first came out, but unfortunately, I did not like how it plays. The plunge is way to deep on the black keys. If you push a black key down, it drops below the surface of the white keys which simply feels odd to me. I have an older Studio Logic (Fatar) weighted controller which is respectable, but nothing compared to what Roland and Yamaha have on offer. Shame you can't try out the Akai MPK88, that's probably a great compromise for feel, price, and actual performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comma Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Piano player of 17 years here. I found the Keystation 88 More than acceptable for the price it was available. Whilst I'm not expecting a replica of a true piano (And every piano is different), it worked well enough for the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneblyth Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Piano player of 17 years here. I found the Keystation 88 More than acceptable for the price it was available. Whilst I'm not expecting a replica of a true piano (And every piano is different), it worked well enough for the price. good to here that from someone who plays piano soundonsound magazine gave it a good review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmm42 Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Novation has automap and axiom pro has it hyper controls but am i right in thinking compared to a straight DAW application these controls really dont work or are not necessary cause we can map within mainstage all we want. Automap is just horrible, it is Novation own hacky thing to hook into applications. Hyper Control is MIDI and with the Axiom Pros supported by MainStage 2. Same with Korg's Kontrol49 or MicroKontrol. That means: the displays display something meaningful, the feedback LEDs or displays show values, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Wilson Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Novation has automap and axiom pro has it hyper controls but am i right in thinking compared to a straight DAW application these controls really dont work or are not necessary cause we can map within mainstage all we want. Automap is just horrible, it is Novation own hacky thing to hook into applications. Indeed. It still shows up in my plugin lists within Logic, despite thinking I had removed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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