So im looking to buy my first midikeyboard for producing after learning basics of Ableton for about half year now and these two (as 49 key models) are what ive narrowed down my choices into.
Both have similar chassis (as owned by same mother company) with 16 drumpas on left and 49 keys on right with aftertouch and according to reviews fairly good keybed for the pricerange.
So it all comes to those extras on top between the two. VI has 12 rotary encoder knobs and 36 buttons, while M-Audio Code has 8 rotary encoder knobs, 9 buttons (with 4 banks so potentially 36) 9 faders and X/Y pad.
For producing M-Audio Code seems more versatile with 4 various functions (encoders, faders, x-y, buttons) to use vs Alesis VI just 2 (encoders, buttons). Price for M-Audio Code is only ~10% (199eur vs 219eur) higher so that's not an issue. M-Audio Code also seems to be more versatile as there are colors you can code for each button to help remembering what they were mapped to and ability to split keyboard in 4 parts (for 4 different instruments/VSTs). X/Y pad seems also potentially neat to use with Effector VST or assigning two different synth controls/macros on it.
Both are still way below price of Akai Mpk249 which also seems very tempting but too highly priced for my budget. Another option in this price range is also Novation Launchkey 49, but it lacks proper 4x4=16 drumpad in MPC style for practicing finger drumming which i wanna have go at.
Now only thing that makes me wonder about M-Audio Code is fairly bad reviews it has gotten, with many people returning em. But some reviews also state its because of faulty USB cables so changing that (just couple extra euros) would fix connectivity issues.
So what im seeking advice is from people who have used either of these (but especially M-Audio Code) and their experience and advice on choosing. Is M-Audio Code's bad reputation just related to something as simple as that USB cable or is there more to worry about? Because otherwise it seems like the one id rather pick out of the two.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Alesis VI49: https://www.thomann.de/intl/alesis_vi49.htm?ref=search_rslt_alesis+vi49_350996_0
M-Audio Code 49: https://www.thomann.de/fi/m_audio_code_49.htm
Submitted December 21, 2016 at 12:54PM by animistic https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/5jkm2f/maudio_code_vs_alesis_vi_49_keys/?utm_source=ifttt
Javier Rodriguez
Wednesday, December 21, 2016