I got the 49 key one. The pads are cool i guess, i don't use them. Same with the knobs and sliders. I'm lazy, i don't find them useful. What's nice is if you have a sound module, you can control it off the board. So for me, it's nice to not have to move around. Second, transport is all there, again, helpful. So it keeps your hands off the mouse. The main thing is the keys. Very good for the money. I had a cheapo 49e before which lasted me like 4 years, still works. I knew the keys sucked but didn't realize how much until i bought this. Night and day difference. It's pretty big for a controller though, i'd rather drop $50, some size and skip the knobs, sliders and pads.