Korg microKEY-25 USB MIDI Controller

Hey Guys.

I recently dropped my M-Audio Oxygen 25 Midi Controller and it is basically dead. I was going to purchase the Korg microKEY-25 USB MIDI Controller and was just wondering if anyone knows of any compatibility issues?. It would serve my purpose as I rarely use keyboard as I tend to draw most of my music patterns.

Btw I am running

Studio One Pro 2.6.2.25590 Win7 x64
8 core athlon
8gb ddr3 ram

Simple keyboard only controllers are usually pretty problem free once configured. Its when you introduce faders, pads, and knobs that things get wonky.

My keyboard needs are pretty light as well. The one thing I did notice from the pic, you can switch octaves for the keys, but I can't see any indicator lights to tell you what octave is selected. Don't know if that will be a problem for you.

In the budget range, I have the M Audio Keystation, which works as expected.

matthewgorman wrote:
The one thing I did notice from the pic, you can switch octaves for the keys, but I can't see any indicator lights to tell you what octave is selected. Don't know if that will be a problem for you.

It has LED lights that change color and blink to let you know how many octaves up/down you are. Green is one octave.. then yellow.. then red.. then blinking red.

I have the 25key. I love it. The built in arp on it is very fun... and pretty easy to setup in S1. I forgot if it sets the arp to the project on its own, or if i added a 2nd device into S1 to make sure it's receiving the information correctly.. if you wanna know ask and I will check. Playing the arp w/ the joystick is really really fun, and it syncs surprisingly well.

The keys are fun to play. They are not traditional feeling keys. They are softer.... but soft in a good way. They are very responsive surprisingly.

Love mine... I just wish they put the joystock on the 37key or 61 key

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 20/06/2014 07:49:13

I just got an M-Audio Oxygen 25 today. I've only messed with it for an hour, but I like it so far. Anyway, I read a bunch of reviews before buying the unit (Amazon giftcard). Several models by other brands got reviews saying either: 1. Keys and pads didn't work well/took a lot of force to sound, and 2. USB input came loose/other stuff came lose/stopped responding. I think the micro keys got some complaints about this. I would read some reviews...there are many on Amazon, along with responses to the reviews. Even if you don't buy from Amazon, it still seems like a decent place to get many opinions.

Let me know how you liked the Oxygen 25-key. Sorry to hear it got broken! But I'm wondering how you liked it up to that point. Is there a compelling reason you might get something else? Or just want to try something different?

Screen Shot 2014-06-21 at 2.46.28 am.png

In case you are interested. There is also the Masterkey range of keyboards.. There are various sizes.
http://www.acorn-instruments.com/usb-keyboards

They must be fairly reasonable as they are the same keyboard as used in the Presonus Music Creation Suite...
(look at the images of both you will see a strong similarity)
And they have to be compatible with Studio One as they provide Studio One Artist in the box!!

Amazon sells them for US$59 but they might be cheaper elsewhere

Thanks to all you guys for your responses. They were all very helpful. I actually selected the Korg because I have a very small workstation due to lack of space. The M-Audio got busted when it fell off the back of the unit!!. I rarely used the gadgets and knobs on the Oxygen 25 as my knowledge of synths is limited. This of course made the Korg a winner as the controls are few and simple. I will check out the other keyboard suggestion too as I am busy gigging at the moment so have very little time to work on new stuff. Thanks again.

Peace. Roy