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I just started out and I bought an Akai MPK Mini. It works great from my experiences so far, but I had a lot of issues with the editor (mainly my fault, but its far from perfect anyways).

Having said that, there is better. My friend who also just got into this just bought an M-Audio Oxygen 49 ( http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Oxygen49.html ). He let me use it for a few days and I love it a lot more. I bought the MPK Mini thinking I would use the drum pads and I'd be killing two birds with one stone by getting it. I rarely touch them. I found having the pitch bend, mod wheel, buttons, faders and the display that read out the value of the last control I used very useful. I also found the piano keys to have a better, lighter, less spongey feel to them.

Only draw back really is the lack of a drum pad (which really isn't a big deal in my eyes) and the size of it, but if you want to do it right, then that also shouldn't be an issue. The price for the Oxygen 49 is just a like $40 or so more then the MPK Mini, which is worth every penny.

Thanks alot for the replys. Those links that everyone provided were informative but irrelevant as I live in New Zealand. I think alot of hardware tends to be a bit more expensive out here, which is a shame. The MPK Mini comes out at $199 NZD and the Oxygen 25 comes out at $259 NZD. At that rate what would you suggest getting?

The keys are simply too small. They might br ok for triggering stuff in ableton but playing chords and melodies is a pain in the arse. Unless you have the hands of a dwarf.

I think alesis makes a normal size midi keyboard for around the same price as the mini. I wish I had got that instead tbh.

Archetype wrote:Thanks alot for the replys. Those links that everyone provided were informative but irrelevant as I live in New Zealand. I think alot of hardware tends to be a bit more expensive out here, which is a shame. The MPK Mini comes out at $199 NZD and the Oxygen 25 comes out at $259 NZD. At that rate what would you suggest getting?

dude use google shopping, amazon, or ebay. you can definitely get any of the keyboards we have listed for cheaper. even if you got a used keyboard from ebay, it would still be fine. just contact the seller and see if he would ship to your country if you paid shipping.

your not going to want to skimp out on a keyboard, because your just going to end up buying a better one and spending nearly twice the money you could have if you just bought a decent one from the get go.

your best options are....(not in any specific order, that is up to the user)
MPK25
Axiom 25
Nocturn 25
Oxygen 25

any of these will be great. the keys are semi weighted and don't feel cheap and toyish, and they are just overall quality controllers. have fun.

Fuck I'd completely forgotten about Novation products... I've been meaning to get a nocturn for a long while.

When you choose whatever you do, try and get something with lots of knobs and some faders ideally. Buttons too. The reason I am suggesting this, is because you'll find them endlessly convenient for setting filters and different parameters of the wobble bass to them. I just bought a Korg nanoKontrol just for this reason.

DJ 7 wrote:When you choose whatever you do, try and get something with lots of knobs and some faders ideally. Buttons too. The reason I am suggesting this, is because you'll find them endlessly convenient for setting filters and different parameters of the wobble bass to them. I just bought a Korg nanoKontrol just for this reason.

Agreed. MIDI is super dope 'cause you can custom assign almost everything. Endless possibilities.

DJ Crackle wrote:Fuck I'd completely forgotten about Novation products... I've been meaning to get a nocturn for a long while.

im looking at buying a novation remote sl25. but for the op this will probably be too pricey...

the remote sl25 has loads of knobs buttons and faders

I`ve been using the ESI-Neon for 4 years.
No issues what so-ever with it.
Nice feeling keys, soft nobs, pitch, mod, sliders, etc.

http://www.esi-audiotechnik.com/press/E ... ON-Top.jpg

At the time it was about R1500 ZAR