Well, one of my main reasons for getting a new controller was to finally get my hands on aftertouch functionality. The Akai is great in that respect.

Gonna check out the Cakewalks, though.

Agreed. The after touch on the MPK61 works well.

I got the PCR-800 and the aftertouch is pretty dire. It wasn't so bad when I got the thing four years ago, but now it needs a momentous force to get it to work. It won't even go to full scale unless I pinch down on the key with my thumb on the underside of the unit.

I'm going to have a nosey inside and see if I can increase the sensitivity somewhat. I did this with my old D-50 and that worked well.

The thing is that none of these new controllers seem to be as good as my old D-50 or DX-7 in terms of playability. As an example of that the black notes on the PCR-800 are much stiffer than the naturals which means quite often the sharps/flats end up too quiet or not sounding. My wife, a trained piano player, struggles to play the PCR-800 properly.

I've got an original Remote 61SL too. That's much better with the aftertouch although after using my Edirol I tend to then overdo it on the Novation.

Tony

Ah, I sorted the aftertouch, partially at least.

The PCR allows some degree of user control over the force required. It seems that when set to its most sensitive I can now use it without denting my fingers. Not exactly perfect, but it'll do for now.

Tony

I think alll the midi controllers have pros and cons. Novation has better keys but not so good build quality, aka has good build quality but terrible keybed and so on.

Right, thanks for the input and the opinions. I went with the Novation SL MkII and am just tickled pink with it. Delving into the Automap software right now, not exactly plug'n'play, but still pretty simple. Love the feedback on the little screen.

The keys play wonderfully. Really solid, lots of nuance possible. Aftertouch works great (although the Akai was just a bit better in that respect, but I haven't gotten into the fine tuning yet). Yes, the faders and knobs are made of light plastic, but they have that nifty touch-response: touch em and the screen shows the mapping. Really a great idea.

The guy at the store (not the one who sold the Akai to me) turned out to be pretty funny. At first, he tried to talk me out of trading in the Akai. "Maybe you need more time, get used to it..." All the while he had this little smile on his face. When I finally decided on the Novation, he told me that he went through the exact same thing: got enthralled by the robust, totally cool Akai MPK, got home, played it, was appalled at the terrible velocity response, exchanged it for the slightly less flashy Novation, never looked back.

I might miss those pads, but in light of all the things the SL MkII has to offer, I really don't think it'll hurt for long. Really a great keyboard, best I've tried in that category. More expensive than the rest, but I think it's really worth it.

I might add that I tried the Arturia keyboard (because of the tempting offer that's on right now) and the M-Audio Axiom as well. Erm... no. No contest. Granted, these are in a different price range, but the M-Audio's keys were really, really cheap by comparison. You could move the black keys from side to side until they touched the white ones, f.e.

Off to play.

The cakewalk keyboards and MIDI interfaces,etc have all been rebranded as Roland.If your still finding Cakewalk keyboards that means it's old stock. (not that there's anything wrong with that).

I've had 2 Novation keyboards . The first(remote) felt great at first but was a bit mushy feeling after a year or so.Well, except I a;ways didnt like the knobs/sliders and buttons but the keys were good at first.

The Nocturn felt like a toy and had the worst pitch and mod wheels I've ever had the displeasure of playing.

I heard good things about the Cakewalk A 800Pro, but I'm a bit concerned because of the shortened keys. Why the hell did they do this?? Otherwise it seems perfect.

Are the short keys a problem for playing? Has anyone an experience based opinion regarding this?

Well, I'd say that the shortened keys on the Akai were a real problem, were it not for the fact that almost everything else about those keys was problematical, as well.

If you've got a pianist's technique (meaning you hold your hands so that your fingers slide in between the black keys), then shortened keys will likely not play like you're used to, due to the different sense of leverage. But it really depends on the overall playability of the keyboard, so test it first.

Ok thanks. Does anyone actually own the A800pro and can comment about it?

As said, I really can't understand why companies implement shortened keys. What benefit should that bring? Lower costs because of less platic used? C'mon... it's a joke imho

Anyone? Any A-800Pro owners here? Are its shortened keys a problem for serious playing?

controllers are such a personal thing...... I have a roland a-90, a korg t-2 and an emu xboard 49 for my controllers.... need all three cause they feel differently and depending on what type of part I am playing determines which one I play...... I recently needed another xboard for a pre-production room and just ended up buying a used emu xboard 49 on ebay..... BUT I spent quite a few trips to music stores to come to a decision and I tried almost all mentioned above, Edirol, Novation, Korg, Alesis, Akai........and the only one that I even liked remotely was the Akai 49 keys........and if my Roland A-90 breaks down and I can't fix it, the only weighted action that I played and liked was the Akai 88....

I just ended up buying the 2nd xboard cause it was 69 on ebay vs. 300 plus for the akai.....but if I had to buy based on feel alone for me it was the akai by miles.. I didn't look at features... as I dont' really use much features on my keyboard controllers..

my two cents...

rsp

Maybe you'll get more replies if you start your own thread with your query in the title?

AKAI just announced a new MAX49 controller - one of the selling points is a "improved keybed"...and it's red

http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/namm-2012-akai-max49-off ers-midi-and-cv-control-525005

I've got an MPK49 and am happy with it - have noticed the poor velocity curve though. I wonder if the MAX overcomes this. My biggest issue with the 49 is that I often run out of keys. I'll wait for the MAX61, if the keys turn out to really be improved.