Edirol tries a budget controller keyboard

Advantages: About 50 controllers, comes with Sonar LE and Dimension LE
Disadvantages: DJ controller flimsy, some driver issues

...and you shouldn't normally need it if it is plugged into a USB port). A USB connection socket. MIDI In and Out sockets (you can use this as a MIDI interface to connect to another keyboard as well as using this as a controller at the same time. It does this by telling your computer that it is two MIDI interfaces). Sustain and expression pedal sockets. I have a Yamaha sustain pedal and this or an Edirol will work. Roland should work as well since Edirol are made by Roland, but I haven't tested this. IN USE Using the keyboard is very simple. The main drawback is the small screen. It only has four characters to display and with so many things that you can adjust, it just isn't enough and you may get confused. I recommend keeping the manual to hand or use the software to edit controls. All the buttons feel fairly solid...

NegativeG 15.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Edirol PCR-500

Canal du Midi

Advantages: architectural wonder
Disadvantages: cost many human lives to build

...The Canal du Midi, is a man dug canal, situated in the south of France, and joins the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean sea, via the Canal Garonne. The water sources which allow the canal to be constantly navigable, come from the Montagne Noire, (situated in the south west of the Massif Central, near Mazamet, in the Tarn area), by three lakes, and the Saint Ferréol dam. This technical challenge, first imagined in 1539, stayed a project on paper for almost a century, until 1636. ¤ø,¸¸,◊,¸¸ ,ø It was Paul Riquet, an ingenious engineer, born in Béziers in 1604, who started the first portion of the Canal in 1636, under the reign of Louis XIV. The Saint Ferréol dam was built in 1667, and in 1680, the locks at Béziers, called "Les écluses de Fonseranne" were built. Pierre Paul Riquet died that year, and the very first navigation...

bodsquidge 25.06.2007 (09.06.2007) · Read review
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Review of Canal du Midi, Languedoc

Edirol Pcr 300

Advantages: Great control and options!
Disadvantages: Not many mostly down to software!

...Ok so i got my pcr300 on my last trip to the states in a samash store for a steal at $200! I got it home and of course had to download vista drivers but not much of a problem! I got it hooked up via its usb cable and i was set! I hooked it up and it just took off! i didnt need to set or program it! Although the keyboard does have an editor in which you can edit and set all of the controls on the controller to do whatever you want. The keyboard itself has 32 velocity-sensitive keys, which have aftertouch, 50 fully assignable controls, 18 velocity pads, Keyboard split and layering unique crossfader feature, as well as nine fully assignable faders! All connections are on the left side - USB, MIDI IN/OUT plus separate Hold and Expression pedal ports. The PCR keyboard works with USB bus power. so you dont need an ac adapter. It also...

robshields 20.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Edirol PCR-300

Edirol pcr m50 keyboard

Advantages: 27 fully assignable midi controls, high quality keyboard mechanism, v-link (for visuals)
Disadvantages: quite complex to set up assignable controls.

...My experience I have been dabbling in music since the age of fifteen ( ten years) starting off deejaying with a view to producing my own music, over the last year i have found myself with more time to enjoy this part of my life and therefore borrowed some hardware from a friend, step up the "edirol pcr m50". Its a midi controller/ synthesizer with 49 keys, 12 velocity curves 27 assignable controlls ranging from roatrys, sliders switches and even 2 pedal ports. The keyboard is also fitted with a pitch bend / modulation lever 15 memory set locations and midi input and output ports . Setting up and installing was easy although i didnt have the original driver disk the website was easy to manouvre and find the drivers i required. I linked the product up with my software of choice and although i struggled to set up the faders and rotary...

Gerryatrix 24.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Edirol PCR-M50

A good enough device for sure

Advantages: solid build, stable, quiet, easy to install, no problems so far
Disadvantages: mic preamps need more gain - but not a major issue

...I've had the Edirol FA-101 for over eighteen months and it's been performing well. So I can recommend it as a good buy. But you may like to note the following: 1. The mic preamps could do with a bit more gain on them. I use AKG C1000S condenser mics for recording into Adobe Audition and I keep having to 'Normalize' my recordings because the mic preamps aren't providing enough poke. It's not a big deal. But you should know about it. 2. You cannot power this device from a 4-pin Firewire cable. Bus power is only available from a 6-pin Firewire cable. So laptop users with only a 4-pin interface will have to use the supplied power transformer. I would recommend mains power anyway because in my experience many of the problems that people have with bus-powered units (Firewire or USB) are caused by not enough power being available from...

jasonford 02.01.2009 (03.01.2009) · Read review
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Review of Edirol FA-101

Midi's the kiddy

Advantages: Cheap and fun
Disadvantages: None that I can think of

...notes onto a staff, again using the mouse. Either way you can build your own tunes depending upon how musical you are. There is even a special piece of equipment you can buy that you sing into and it will generate the midi notes automatically. I don't know how good it is but it certainly exists. Once you have your music in place you can fool around changing the instruments, changing the key and generally having fun. In addition, many sequencers will let you hook up a microphone to your sound card and record a vocal track or additional instruments alongside the midi. Your computer can become a very sophisticated Karaoke machine when you use it like this and every one can have fun pretending to be a Rock Star, or whatever. There are literally millions of midi files on the web just waiting to be downloaded and messed about with. Some...

tagheur 05.01.2003 (06.01.2003) · Read review
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Review of Everything that starts with M ...

Midi Madness

Advantages: Too many to list.
Disadvantages: None

..., so all together there's enough for just about any type of music. Aside from the voice banks the 5700 is equipped with a built in floppy drive for read and write use that enables the use of prerecorded midi discs or even discs copied from PC midi software. It can even load in a variety of extra voices, drum sequences and orchestrated patterns obtainable from Yamaha. One of the other many features is the built in 8 track midi sequencer, you don't need software or a computer with this. It is a fully functional track editor allowing the movement of tracks or even part tracks thus enabling 16, 32, 64 track equivalent. Still along the lines of features, it has an orchestrated single finger - bass and standard chord player that accompanies you with a multiple choice of rhythms and patterns to choose from or modify, and even has a solo...

Trev1000 30.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Yamaha PSR5700

Hedge trimming is a breeze with this

Advantages: Safe, effective and it even tidies up for you!
Disadvantages: Not ideal for trimming flimsy shrubs

...My old hedge trimmer has finally bitten the dust, it was no longer safe any more as it refused to switch off straight away when I took my finger off the trigger. Mind you I must have had it for about 20 years so it hasn't done badly! So, time to look for something to replace it and a catalogue fell out of my Saturday paper showing the Garden Groom which is said to be safer and more effective than a traditional hedge trimmer. I was intrigued, I did some research on the internet, watched a brief video of it working and decided it was the product for me. Product Choice It comes in two sizes, the Midi, which I bought and the Pro. I decided to buy the Midi because it was smaller and lighter which is important to me as I felt carrying the heavier version would be tiring for me and also because the shrubs and hedges I...

laramax 18.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Garden Groom MIDI 300W

great piece of equipment

Advantages: passes the time
Disadvantages: expensive, dont use it much anymore

...made 5 hours seem like nothing. The battery life on its pretty good too, it'll last around 5 hours for video and 30 hours for music which is great. However I also bought off eBay, a battery charger which runs of 4 AA batteries and plugs into the mp4 player to charge it, this Is really useful and I have used it so many times. All in all this is a great piece of equipment, although I must say I don't use it much anymore, as I haven't been on any journeys on a train or plane recently. Also I now have a laptop, so if I go anywhere id probably take this instead, so now I am really undecided to whether or not to sell it and try get some money back. But all together, if you did buy on of these you will probably get your use out of it, because I have....

techno_man_37 17.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Archos AV 700

Korg padKONTROL

Advantages: Light, Portable, Compact, User Friendly, Easy setup, works on all platforms Mac/PC
Disadvantages: collects dust very easily, so keep cleaning, doesnt work well with vista

...The Korg padKontrol provides a powerful array of hands-on MIDI control and includes professional drum software. In my opinion the Korg padKONTROL adds another dimension beyond traditional keyboard control for incredibly expressive and versatile pad control. In addition to accessing drum sounds and samples the padKONTROL can also control soft synths, effects, and digital audio workstation transport controls as well as trigger loops and video clips. I use the padKontrol with Ableton Live which from my point of view is the best combination of software and hardware for all your producing needs. The assignable X-Y touchpad provides real-time, natural-sounding flam?s and rolls while 16 great-feeling illuminated trigger pads and assignable knobs give all the control you need. Each of the 16 pads on the Korg padKONTROL Controller can be...

danicw 26.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Korg padKontrol Midi Studio Controller