M Audio Oxygen 49 V3 VS AKAI MPK 49

M AUDIO OXYGEN 49 OR AKAI MPK49 MIDI

  • M AUDIO OXYGEN 49

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • AKAI MPK49

    Votes: 7 100.0%
  • Total voters
    7
  • Poll closed .
D

drage21

New member
Hey guys,

Im looking at buying my first Midi keyboard, i have looked at lots and have narrowed it down to these two, but i am now struggling to decide, i want a decent one that will last and have seen a lot of good reviews about both,

I have been looking at these two and i think they look the best and sound rather good, i love the way the MPK 49 looks and i wanna get it only thing that puts me off is the fact that over her (UK) its £290 GBP where as the M audio is only £130 GBP

was wondering which one you guys would go for and why, whether you have any experience with one of them or even both, all information is appreciated of course

Drage Two One
 
The oxygen will get the job done if you just need keys. I have a Radium which is just a gen 1 oxygen and it works but I prefer my MPK but I used that Radium for like 6 or 7 years I got my MPK in October of last year
 
I had uh Oxygen 49, always wanted the MPK49, I just grabbed uh Korg nanoPAD instead. I got neither now though, been goin hardware, got the MPC1k.
 
I tested out the MPK at the store... don't like the pads. I would say get the MPK only if you're going to buy over the counter pad upgrades for it... you have to press down on it almost to the point where it "clicks" to trigger the sound. Why the hell would they do that...
 
Funny I sold my MPK 25 last week and got a Oxygen 49. The Oxygen is solid but the MPK is still a better controller. I like the Oxygen though and would make the switch again
 
If the two controllers were getting report cards at school:

Akai MPK
Pads: C
Keys: B+
Controls: B

M-Audio Oxygen
Pads: N/A
Keys: C
Controls: C-

Comparison with some others:

E-MU Xboard
Pads: N/A
Keys: A
Controls: C

Novation SL mkII
Pads: F
Keys: A+
Controls: A+

M-Audio Axiom
Pads: B
Keys: B
Controls: B-

M-Audio Axiom Pro
Pads: B
Keys: B+
Controls: A-

Cakewalk A(#) Pro
Pads: F
Keys: B
Controls: B+

M-Audio Keystation
Pads: N/A
Keys: C
Controls: N/A

Novation Nocturn
Pads: F
Keys: A+
Controls: A

Studiologic SL990XP
Pads: N/A
Keys: A (piano-feel weighted keys)
Controls: N/A

KORG padKONTROL
Pads: A+
Keys: N/A
Controls D (for lack of quantity rather than lack of quality)
 
Last edited:
what did you base these grades on? I personally felt the MPK boards to be very deep and loved the keys. I don't even dislike the Oxygen keys or controls to be honest the down grade has been better for me.
 
Xabiton said:
what did you base these grades on? I personally felt the MPK boards to be very deep and loved the keys. I don't even dislike the Oxygen keys or controls to be honest the down grade has been better for me.
Click to expand...

I based the grades on my personal experience with the different MIDI controllers. MIDI controllers excite me and I've jumped at the opportunity to try or buy almost all of the popular models available right now.

The MPK got good average marks: the third-best pads of any keyboard I rated and the second best non-fatar keybed only slightly below the keybed of the Xboard. Like the Axiom, the MPK is a good well-rounded board for people who want only one MIDI controller. In contrast, you'll need to have a pad controller if you buy a Novation, a Cakewalk, a Studiologic, etc., if you're planning to use pads.

The Novation controllers get high scores for controls (A and A+) because Automap makes things so smooth. They have some of the best keybeds as well.

The simplicity of the Oxygen controllers is nice, but the keybed doesn't really lend itself to "expressive" playing. To me, that's important. If you're going in and heavily quantizing and altering velocities by hand, it doesn't make much of a difference. The faders are really "meh" -- basically the exact opposite of nice console-style faders with the recessed middle. You need to pinch the Oxygen faders with two fingers to get any semblance of precision. Minus a bit as well for having pots but no encoders (same as the Xboard, but the Xboard gets slightly higher marks for having more of them).

I didn't rate any boards that I have no/limited experience using.
 
I really love the Novation SL 49 MK2....

The keys are so much better.. so does the controls do.. the pads suck btw.
But the best of all is that this machine has AUTOMAP... it just does the trick :)

If you want to take it for live/stage use.. than go with the Akai.. it's more heavy duted... but if it's for home/studio use i prefer the novation.
 
dacide said:
I really love the Novation SL 49 MK2....

The keys are so much better.. so does the controls do.. the pads suck btw.
But the best of all is that this machine has AUTOMAP... it just does the trick :)

If you want to take it for live/stage use.. than go with the Akai.. it's more heavy duted... but if it's for home/studio use i prefer the novation.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the pads suck. The mkI pads sucked less, believe it or not.
 
I want to get the Axiom 49 but have no money atm. But I think the MKII and the NI Maschine would be an excellent combination if one has more money to fork out. I might get that setup in the future.
 
CPhoenix said:
I'm going to be buying this board's big brother VMK188. Have you had any issues w/ hanging notes by any chance? This is the only thing i'm a little worried about... i hear this can be a common issue.
Click to expand...

Occasional problems with a dead middle C -- it never had problems before my brother hooked up an overpowered wall adapter though, so this could be basic user error combined with no "idiot protection" built into the unit (most units will refuse to power up with the wrong adapter). After a couple hours of being left on, the middle C starts working again.
 
Sounds good to me. Thanks for the tip. I'll make sure to treat it right lol

Can't wait to grab it. I tested the key action a few months back and it's the best i've played around w/ in my price range. I'm gettin that excited feelin again haha
 
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