Midiman's undeniably cute Oxygen8 combines both approaches it's a neat, two-octave keyboard with velocity-sensitive full-sized keys, pitch-bend and mod wheels, along with eight assignable rotary MIDI controller knobs, and an additional socket to plug in a sustain pedal. Evolution have also released their MK249C USB, which has a very similar specification. This has a four-octave keyboard and a dozen assignable rotary controls. Miditech were the first to meet the obvious demand for a low-cost keyboard with built-in MIDI controllers with their Midicontrol (reviewed in SOS December 2001).
#MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 DRIVER PATCH#
Photo: Mike CameronThe first of these limitations was removed with the introduction of Evolution's MK125 (reviewed in SOS July 2000), a keyboard with just two octaves' worth of full-sized velocity-sensitive keys, along with pitch and mod wheels, and a clutch of other features including octave switching, patch changing, and transposition. Meanwhile, anyone who wanted more hands-on control of their various hardware and software synths would look at a dedicated controller featuring either sliders or rotary knobs. Until recently, however, keyboard-oriented MIDI studio owners with limited space often had to resort to using keyboard controllers with miniature keys. Especially recommended to the mobile musician, the Oxygen 8 v2 is a great buy.For applications where space or portability are at a premium, it is hard to beat this compact, two-octave MIDI master keyboard, which also incorporates eight assignable real-time MIDI controllers.ĭedicated master keyboard controllers have been available for years, with spans ranging from four to seven octaves, and with a variety of feels from lightweight synth to weighted hammer action.
The build quality of the hardware is brilliant, it's great fun to play with and offers a depth belied by its simple appearance. While this new Oxygen 8 isn't quite as revolutionary as its predecessor, there can be no denying it offers a lot of bang for your buck. The package hangs together well despite the slight learning curve issue, and the Lite version of Ableton Live 4 is included so you can get tweaking right away.
#MIDIMAN OXYGEN 8 DRIVER MANUAL#
The manual doesn't go out of its way to ease the beginner - a few tutorials would be more useful - and Enigma could do with a 'basic' mode for one-click bank loading, though it's still fairly simple. The only downside is that the package isn't as user-friendly as it could be. Once a preset is complete it is transferred via SysEx to the v2, which is a painless process.
The downloadable Enigma software - which isn't included on the CD and only receives passing mention in the manual - comes with controller values for a variety of other instruments, though each parameter has to be dragged individually onto a graphic representation of the controller. The unit has ten memory positions that come preloaded with set-ups for various instruments and a couple of Reason set-ups. For such a simple looking machine, the v2 is rather deep and offers the ability to switch between different velocity response curves, assign CC values to each knob and send out bank change messages - handy for the live musician. At the centre of the controller is the simple LED that is used in conjunction with the buttons below to switch between different modes.
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