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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Tolerable issues, overall satisfied.
By Luke
My first keyboard controller. Took a couple minutes to get it working but it wasn't too hard. I see a lot of people saying it doesn't have documentation or it has bad documentation: complete crap. There is an extensive manual on the included disc. Like I said, it's been my first controller and I was programming the pads to play different drum sounds after just a couple minutes of reading the manual. I use Propellerhead Reason 6 and it works great. It actually shows the name of the instrument I have selected or the name of the parameter the knobs are affecting. Very intuitive (once you know what you're doing). You may have to go to M-Audio's website to install something based on what software you will be using with your controller. Pretty simple.The device:It's compact, actually just about the same length as my computer keyboard. That makes it portable, however, it's not exactly lightweight; it's about 7 pounds. Not really that bad but it was a bit heavier than I expected.The keys feel pretty good. They're advertised as "semi-weighted" and I guess that means, well a lot of keyboards just have plastic keys and it doesn't feel like a traditional piano with ivory keys, this feels better. I'm not much of a keyboard player (yet) but they seem good to me. The pitch and mod wheels feel good. The buttons feel alright...The knobs take a bit getting used to. If you rotate them slowly they increment slowly. If you do it fast it increments fast. They call this acceleration. You can edit the settings to make this less or more effective. Or even change it to linear (it changes at the same rate regardless of speed). As far as I can tell there isn't a simple "sensitivity" setting to just make the linear mode more sensitive... And that's a shame because it takes a few full turns to go from min to max. Probably 99% of the time this is simply going to be a minor annoyance.The trigger pads, oh the trigger pads.At first they didn't work. Then after reading the manual I found out they default to mixer mode, there is a small circular button with a P on it (presumably for Pads), that puts them into play mode, basically. *shrugs*So, now that I had them working, as I said previously, it was just a quick read to find out how to change the note that plays for each one.The feel of the pads is quite stiff. When you hit one it shows on the LCD how hard on a scale of 1-127. If I barely tap it, it doesn't register... If I keep tapping a tiny bit harder until it register, about the softest I can hit is like 30. And to get it to 127 I have to really wail on it. Usually it doesn't even go to 127, but I don't want to hit it any harder. Again, there are sensitivity options but it doesn't change the fact that it doesn't register until you're giving it a pretty decent tap, and doesn't get max unless you wail on it; it would be nice to have more dynamics. One more little quirk, sometimes when you try to play a note you hit it once, but it double hits (kinda like a flam if you know what that is). If you're just sequencing, of course you can delete extra notes and quantize the whole thing so it doesn't matter if you screw up... But it's annoying.--This next section was written when I first got it and should be taken as a noobie's experience--The big issue with the pads is the delay. There was a noticeable delay when trying to play a beat. Very annoying. If you know a bit about sound and computers and have an ASIO compliant soundcard, you'll be fine. But it took me a bit of research to figure out I needed something called ASIO4ALL and why. Basically, ASIO is kind of a way for your computer to bypass a lot of unnecessary system stuff, thus making stuff like MIDI more responsive. (No hit lag). If you have an ASIO soundcard, you're good to go. But there is also something for people who don't that, ASIO4ALL, which, as I understand it, basically fakes it or does some other way. So once I got that set up, I had no lag and could play a beat with ease.However, after that, my regular sound wouldn't work... Like for youtube. I'm still trying to figure out how to get this to work, there's got to be a way.--EDIT 4/28/13--I have since gotten more hardware. I have a Fast Track C400 audio interface and I don't experience any noticeable delays now. As a commenter on my review has stated: the delay wasn't the Axiom's fault; it was my computer's fault. The way sound is processed in Windows is laggy. If you use ASIO4ALL, it will help. But it will take over your sound card. Once you get an audio interface, you will be able to run your DAW through that, and hook up a second set of speakers to it. Then you will have full and separate control over your Windows sounds and DAW sounds.Also, there have been a couple of questions about the transport buttons. I've tested the device in Reason 6 (and now, 7 Beta), Ableton Live 7 Lite, and Pro Tools SE. Thus far I only really use Reason but everything seems to work fine in the other 2 programs. The transport buttons certainly work fine.--END EDIT--My biggest problem with it, unfortunately, is something I knew when I purchased it... It's short. Only 25 keys. Obviously, this isn't a flaw of the controller itself, rather, part of it's design. I would have loved the 49 key version but I didn't want to spend the extra $80 or whatever it is. It's fine for simple parts and just making sequencing easier but it's not really for playing normal keyboard or piano parts. I've been a drummer and a guitarist for probably 9 years now and I love music but at the moment I'm just a hobbyist. If I stick with it and make some cool stuff then I'll probably invest in a longer keyboard.Pros:-Keys feel nice-Easy set up (read the manual people, it's all there. also, google is your friend)-Looks great-Cheapest one I've seen with all of these features-CompactCons:-Lack of knob sensitivity setting (only acceleration)-A bit weighty at 7 pounds-Stiff pads//Retracted(read EDIT above)-Delay with the pads unless you use ASIO4ALL which can conflict with other stuff (I'm still trying to get to cooperate with my regular sounds [youtube, system sounds, etc])-Only 25 keysOverall, I'm happy. (or I will be once ASIO4ALL starts cooperating). I feel like, for me at least, it might have been better if I got a larger mid keyboard, like a 49 key, and then a separate MIDI pad thing. More keys, and probably better pads.... But if you want something compact, something with a bit of everything rolled into one, this is great.If you need any help, comment and I'll be happy to do what I can.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Impressive Unit
By samurA.I.
To preface, being a hardware nut (previous owner of a Korg Triton Studio, several Access Virus keyboards, etc.), the M-Audio Axiom 25 was actually the first pure midi-driven keyboard that I've ever owned.First impressions: the unit is light weight, compact, and stores easily in my computer desk. very easy to setup, and I can't tell you how wonderful it is having a keyboard that can be powered directly through the USB. the semi-weighted keys are a nice touch which allow for more expressive playing, but are still a far cry the feel of a real piano or high end keyboards. the touch pads have a little bounce to them, which provides great response for tapping in drum/percussion patterns. Knobs and mod wheels feel about the same as any other keyboard I've use, no surprises there. obviously with a 25 key range you are sacrificing playability for compactness, and to this effect you'll have to be creative when composing outside of that range (e.g. recording each hand independently, etc.). However, for most electronica producers, it is perfectly suitable working within a 2 octave range.Preliminary Review: The main feature that drew me to the Axiom was directlink, but as of today (to the best of my knowledge) this feature is broken in Ableton Live 8.2 and 8.2.1 (though it may be fixed when the next patch is released). For those using 8.1.4, you should be fine. However, the unit still works in Ableton for playing midi and tweaking parameters...it just lacks the instant mapping that is achieved through directlink. The pads work great with Battery, and the 8 knobs has made playing Massive and some other soft synths much easier. Overall I've been about 15x more productive since I'm not bogged down with my mouse for tweaking parameters. I'm very happy with this purchase, and I'm looking forward to seeing how well directlink works once the patch is out.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Transport alone makes it worth it
By AmazonAudiophile89
First let me start by saying this, the transport controls alone are worth the price! The transport controls have expedited my songwriting process and has actually motivated me to write more music. Works well with Protools 8 and Native Instruments Komplete. Semi-Weighted keys are nice and the pads are almost as responsive as my Korg PadKontrol, which is saying alot. Easy to setup via midi cable to my audio interface(profire 2626). Did not want to spend the extra money on an adapter and did not want to use USB, so I grabbed an old 1Spot (by visual sound) adapter I had lying around and it works perfectly. Adapter with needed rating is very difficult to find at any store such as target, walmart, radioshack, best buy so just go with the maudio one or the 1spot.
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Terrible Support.
