- MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 V1 MIDI CONTROLLER MAC OS X
- MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 V1 MIDI CONTROLLER PORTABLE
- MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 V1 MIDI CONTROLLER PRO
- MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 V1 MIDI CONTROLLER WINDOWS
You should however make sure that your laptop's power supply is plugged in, as the Keystation, like many peripherals for portable computers, drains the laptop battery much faster than the computer does on its own. As soon as I plugged the Keystation into my Powerbook, the backlit LCD display sprang to life. Small MIDI keyboards which take their power from their USB connection have become quite common of late, but it is quite something to play an 88-note weighted mother keyboard that doesn't need to be plugged into the mains. I strongly recommend programming all Zone stuff this way and then transmitting it across to the keyboard.
MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 V1 MIDI CONTROLLER WINDOWS
The two windows interact in real time, so if you drag the upper limit of a zone on the graphic display, the box in the parameter display updates. It's great to be able to see the Zones at a glance on screen, and similarly, the Zone Editor window allows you to see all the parameters for each zone instead of having to dial them up one at a time in the Keystation's LCD. There are now a couple of extra windows (see screenshot) to display the many additional parameters and the new zones which the Keystation implements.
MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 V1 MIDI CONTROLLER PRO
M‑Audio's existing Enigma editing/librarian software has now been updated to work with the Keystation Pro 88.
MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 V1 MIDI CONTROLLER MAC OS X
The supplied CD-ROM comes with a PC librarian only, but I was delighted to discover that M‑Audio have now posted a v1.1 update for the Enigma Mac OS X librarian on their web site, and this allows the software to be used with the Keystation Pro 88. The Keystation's 10 programs (see the 'Factory Presets' box at the end of this article) may seem a little limited for a keyboard of this size and flexibility, but if you have a computer, you can use it to increase the number of sets you have available. It has five rubber feet (two at each end and one in the centre of the base), so if you don't have a keyboard stand available, you can still put the Keystation on a table without fear of the screw heads in its base causing damage to the tabletop. The same cannot be said for the Keystation Pro 88, which has a very sturdy construction and looks as though it should stand up well to the rigours of life on the road. In the past, many keyboards designed for use with a computer have had a rather cheap plastic look which belies their excellent feature set.
Housed in a smart silver casing, with a large blue LCD screen to keep you informed of everything that is going on as well as a forest of knobs, buttons and faders, it really looks the part, too. However, I am happy to report that M‑Audio, the US outfit which recently acquired UK company Evolution, is bucking this trend by releasing the Keystation Pro 88, a fully weighted 88-note master keyboard with USB MIDI class-compliance as well as traditional MIDI hardware connectivity.
In contrast, the majority of manufacturers seem to be steering away from larger, weighted-action master keyboards. Manufacturers like Midiman, Edirol and Evolution have built much of their recent success on the back of products like the Oxygen 8 and the MK249C, which combine a limited-size non-weighted keyboard with octave-transpose buttons and a bunch of assignable knobs, sliders and buttons. Perhaps the number of classically trained piano players out there is diminishing, or perhaps there are more younger musicians who have not trained on acoustic pianos, but whatever the cause, the small MIDI keyboard with a host of assignable knobs which allow you to twiddle and edit your synth parameters has become one of the strongest-selling items in most music stores over the last 10 years. In recent years, the main focus for makers of master keyboards has been on smaller controllers with between 1.5 and three octaves. We investigate the 88-note keyboard that runs off USB power. The price of compact MIDI controller keyboards has come tumbling down in the past few years, but weighted-action full-length keyboards have remained relatively expensive - until now.
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