can anyone tell me please how is the key feel of m-audio keystation 61es compared with roland exr 3s.
i need to hear some oppinions, i didn t get the chance to actually play both of them to compare.
my intention is to get a midi controller, but i don t like the idea of having a no-sound keyboard. and exr is also arranger, so, i can find more use for it.
thanks!

...i could use anybody's experience!

The M=Audio model you mentioned, feels too light and lacks quality to me.. The EXR is a better feel than the Keystation..

Are your plans to use the EXR for a controller?

yeap. i need a controller rather than an arranger - i don t do much playing live - but i prefer the keyboard i use is not only the keys, but has also some other features.

the soft synths are a better choice anyway for working in the studio, right?!

but is good to have an arranger around...
and i believe exr series, not being the best, still is a pretty decent instrument.

thanks fran!

I am an avid user of softsynths. I won't claim they are better than hardware in a studio, because that's an individual judgement, and I think both have their place. I really like hardware boards btw.

I will say that using softsynths gives me many more options for upgrading sounds and effects inexpesively, while taking up much less space vs using and acquiring hardware modules.

I agree with Fran. I had an M Audio controller. It was very useful feature wise, but the keys felt awful to me. I am currently using my Motif ES6 as a controller.

The Es does have a ribbon controller along with 4 controllable knobs and 4 sliders. Each each knob can control up to 3 parameters via switching. Without using any add on pedals, I can adjust and control 18 parameters, including using the mod wheel but not including use of the pitch wheel. Normally that's more than enough, but with some of the Virtual Analogs, I actually could use a few more.

AJ

Some time ago I was browsing around the keyboard section of Sound Control in Glasgow.

I had been playing some digital pianos, which probably wasn't a good idea, but they had a number of "computer controller" keyboards on display all of which, except for the 88 key weighted model, felt absolutely awful, much worse than my PSR3k. They might be OK for entering data into a PC but I couldn't contemplate using them live.

I think (but am not totally certain) that the M-Audio products were some of those on display.

The Roland A-37 is about as good as it gets at the budget end. You could do worse than use one of the Casio WK keyboards, to be honest, but I'm not sure this makes too much sense when you've got the exr!