Need Help Deciding Midi!

[uanaka]

Hey guys,

Anyways I wanted to get started with DJ'ing and just writing my own music. Anyways, I've come down to three choices of midi keyboards. I only want a 25 key, portable (Occasional drag from school to home and vice versa) and is pretty good.

I've come down to the
Korg NanoKey2
M-Audio Axiom 25
Akai MPK 25

If you can, please rate the keyboards and if possible, please suggest which one I should go with and why?

[alexfells]

How about an m-audio oxegen? There cheep and have 8 rotaries that you can assign. There is also a sweet djtt mapping for use with traktor. It'd be able to do both and you can pick them up off ebay for under £40. Much better build quality than any of the mico controlers and a hell of allot cheeper than the mpk so you wont have to worry about smashing it up

[uanaka]

What's the difference between the oxygen and axiom series? I'm looking for a midi controller that has keys, a few rotaries, octave up and down, modulators, faders, appregiators and at leasy 6 drum pads.

So please help me decide.

Korg nanokey2 , axiom 25 and akai mpk mini.
What's the difference between the axiom 25.v1 and v2?

[DJ_dB]

Oxygen doesn't have pads. :/

[uanaka]

Any suggestions though? Id really like the pads.. only reason why I'm including nanokey2 is because of its portability

[jezalenko]

Check out this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Oq1G-IUNfg

That should give you a good idea og what you might need.

[Bassline Brine]

Honestly, think about being modular with your setup.

Get a keyboard to be a keyboard, a thing for drum pads to be that thing, and then get something with buttons/faders/knobs for doing that, at least from a production standpoint IMO.

While I can appreciate the all-in-ones I feel like something is lacking in one aspect or another from all of them.

Unless size is the big issue, but even then.

[DJ_dB]

Honestly, think about being modular with your setup.

Get a keyboard to be a keyboard, a thing for drum pads to be that thing, and then get something with buttons/faders/knobs for doing that, at least from a production standpoint IMO.

While I can appreciate the all-in-ones I feel like something is lacking in one aspect or another from all of them.

Unless size is the big issue, but even then.

Agreed. Definitely from a production standpoint, and even still, for DJing. From my experience, all-in-one units are lacking in at least one department (usually the pads). I'd suggest spending a little more just to get a dedicated pad controller (if that's definitely something you would like), a keyboard with a small set of knobs or encoders (oxygen 25 has worked phenomenally for me, both DJing and producing), and then something simple for faders and more knobs/encoders (similar a nanokontrol, but probably a little more robust if you're going to be travelling with it at all).

[uanaka]

In that case, I don't think I'll be using faders alot.

I'm looking for a keyboard with the octaves, modulations, arpregiators.
And a controller for dedicated pads.

[DJ_dB]

In that case, I don't think I'll be using faders alot.

I'm looking for a keyboard with the octaves, modulations, arpregiators.
And a controller for dedicated pads.

Arpeggiators are not something you'll find in the MIDI controller world. Pretty sure you'd be looking into a workstation for that, or software controls.