Roland A-500PRO-R 49-key MIDI Keyboard Controller, Black

I'm not sure why this isn't more popular. Inexpensive, reliable, sturdy, and just the right amount of keys for portability. I'm extremely picky with what I spend my money on, and I return about twice as many things as I keep, but I'm beyond happy with this.This keyboard came with me on a 3-month, 8 country tour of Europe and Africa in my (soft) checked bag, protected by nothing more than the 2 styrofoam end-pieces from the packaging, one layer of cheap bubble wrap, and some clothes (see pictures). After being thoroughly used for 3 months, and after dozens and dozens of plane, train, and automobile rides, most likely being thrown quite a bit, it's still in 100% perfect condition (and so is the styrofoam).The combination pitch/mod stick is awesome. After playing this, I can't imagine using separate pitch/mod wheels. The keys feel great, the pads are excellent, the knobs and sliders feel good and offer just enough resistance, and the inputs are all on the left side so you can push it right up to your laptop. The rubber pads on the bottom keep the keyboard in place. I had no trouble programming the buttons in my DAW, and it works great with the Yamaha FC5 sustain pedal. One note on that - sustain works, but doesn't seem to be recording live-sustain into my DAW. Could be user error. Haven't investigated this issue deeply. It's not a huge concern.I had previously tested Akai, Arturia, and M-Audio, and I wasn't satisfied.The Arturia Keylab 49 is a nice unit, but it's too big and heavy for my use. Plus the Roland has MUCH better pads. The Roland pads are more responsive. The Arturia pads need to be hit REALLY hard to get them to work.Akai doesn't offer anything between a 25-key (too small to really play) and a 49-key (not portable), plus I wasn't impressed with the feel of the units I tried. The keys, the pads; it all felt cheap and spongy.M-audio seemed decent, but the only offerings between 25 and 49 keys have hardly any features. I will say the Axiom Air Mini 32 was pretty good for the price ($100), and is ultra-portable, but I returned it and got this Roland.Other than sustain-pedal recording, the only complaint I have is Roland customer service (eager to help, but not very knowledgeable), and the instruction manual.I'm generally an instruction-follower, but I tried to change the settings/programming to work with my DAW (Ableton Live 9) exactly as instructed, and nothing would work. An hour on the phone with Roland didn't help anything either. They suggested I take it to a music store with my computer and have someone figure it out for me. The solution? Ignore the manual. Just plug it in and play it. It's that simple. At least with my DAW.

Perfect midi controller for desktop music production! Things I like:1) Solid Roland quality and great keyboard feel - not made in Japan like the keyboards back in the days, but it's still ok. In all fairness, I don't think Roland ever made a 49 key midi controller in Japan, only the bigger 76 and 88 key ones, so this is the best Roland 49 keyboard controller you can buy. The playing feel is great, feels like my Roland XP synth from 1999 made in Japan.2) Actual 5 pin midi in/out - as well as USB, this keyboard still has good old midi ports, unlike most of the new keyboard controllers out there, so you can control external synths, etc3) Lots of keyboard playability settings - it has aftertouch (yes!), which is not common on a lot of other controllers. Also, adjustable velocity sensitivity to accommodate different playing styles, and fully customizable settings for pretty much all functions3) Slider and knobs are assignable to control whatever midi cc messages you want, so you can control software or hardware synths parameters like filters, volumes, etc4) can be powered by usb or power adapter (adapter sold separately)5) other cool things - keyboard can transmit midi tempo (set up in menu), adjustable LCD display, auto power off if not used after a long timePerfect size for a desktop...see the pics. Just use an under the desk tray for your PC keyboard, and you could even use the mouse next to the keyboard.

The main reason I selected this controller board over another brand such as M-Audio or Novation is brand loyalty. I've been using Roland synths since the Roland D-20 / MT-32 days and I have loved every one I own. The other reason is that I use Sonar X2, which is Roland's DAW. The controller also works great in FL Studio, which is my other DAW. I also selected the A-800 because I am used to and wanted a board with 61 keys. (5 octaves +1 key)This controller is packed with tons of controls! 9 pots, 9 sliders, 8 touch pads, a basic control surface, a nice smooth pitch bend / modulation control, velocity sensitive keys with after touch control, and some other stuff. The after touch is a nice feature in a board at this price point.The keys are light plastic, and have a very similar feel to the light plastic keys of my D-20, and other boards I've used in the past like the Roland W-30, JV-80, and the Yamaha DX-7. These light, responsive keys allow for rapid glissando and arpeggio playing. The keys are not semi-weighted or weighted, so this board would not be a good choice for people who are used to playing on keyboards with heavier keys such as digital pianos or real pianos.This board feels a little soft compared to my D-20. The plastic housing actually causes the entire board to bend ever so slightly when I apply pressure to the keys to activate the after touch control. It isn't a major problem, and I'm sure any other competitively priced board is going to have the same issue. They just don't make things with the rigid quality of metal these days.Edit: Just an additional note.The drivers install 2 MIDI devices on the computer. One is the keyboard and pitch bend / mod wheel controller. The other is to control all the sliders, knobs, touch pads, etc. I had to tell my DAW software packages to use 1 as the MIDI keyboard, and 2 as a control surface.