Akai Professional Max49

I so loved this keyboard,
- Looks good
- great quality feel keybed
- good functions and controllers

But unfortunately:
- I had my second gig with it, now in open air and the touch faders began to jump around (and so did my settings/sound). I guess the touch response system works with warmth? So the cold screwed it over.
- the quality of the pitch/mod wheel is very bad, a known problem all over the akai keyboards

Please Akai, upgrade your products or stop calling yourselves Professional ! :-(
It's with pain in the heart I have to let this keyboard go because it was very practical and an eyecandy

Some of the features that motivated my choice were the 49 semi-weighted keys with After touch for amazing musical expression, the real MPC pads with MPC Note Repeat and MPC swing and the great arp that comes with the product.

This product has a midi connection.

UTILIZATION

The general configuration and setup is quite simple , no additional effort and time needed to set up this product.

The manual that comes with this midi controller covers a lot of ground regarding the features and how to get the best results using this controller.

The patch selection is pretty simple , you get a screen that controls a lot of functions and features.

OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about this product are the 49 semi-weighted keys with Aftertouch , the built-in step sequencer , real MPC pads and eight backlit LED touch faders that look very fancy and feel amazing.

I like the fact that you get a lot of pads , around 80 assignable pads & faders and the you also get a free version of ableton which is a great deal.

The only thing that I don't really like is the color , somehow I would have wanted more of a classic color , like black or white , however the placement of faders and pads is extremely comfortable and pleasant to work with.

My opinion about the value for the price isn't so great , this product is very expensive , it costs around 500$ , for this amount of money you could probably get a bigger midi controller and maybe something better.

Precision and quality of the sound is great , the sensitivity , after touch , everything it feels like you're playing a real piano.

Knowing what I know, I would probably choose something that's cheaper , maybe a product from M-audio , so no , I wouldn't buy this product.

The Max49 is a USB MIDI controller. It can be used with almost any software that you use to make music with. I use it mostly in FL Studio and Cubase. The key to using it in your software is to use one of the presets for controllers that you software has. Then you can assign certain functions to the controls on the Max49. I know that when I used it in FL Studio there was not an option for the Max49, so I had to just use a different preset.

UTILIZATION

Getting the Max49 to work on your computer is very easy. Just install the drivers that come with it, and set it up in your DAW. That is it, it will work great every single time you want to use it.

OVERALL OPINION

The keys on the Max49 are decent. I would want them to have a little more expressiveness to them though because it cost over 500 dollars when I ordered it online. The keys are very light and plastic like. It would be so much better if the keys felt more like the 88 key model (black). But the Max49 is a lot more portable than that model is and that is the reason why I purchased it. This is the most recent MIDI keyboard purchase that I have made.
I am very happy with choosing this MIDI and USB keyboard. I have used over 10 different MIDI keyboards since I started making music in 2006. So far the Max 49 seems to be the best one. It is portable and easy to install and set up. I am looking forward to seeing how it will hold up over the years. The pads that it has on it are a great tool to have, I love using the pads for drums instead of playing drums with the actual keys. It gives a much more “MCP like” feel to it.

I have used a number of different Akai gear and MIDI keyboards but the MAX49 is one of the best ones they have come out with. It is a 49 key MIDI controller that connects to your computer via USB. The touch faders are really good and useful to have, its like having a real full workstation right in front of you because you can assign those touch faders to different VST options so you can easily move those faders right on the keyboard without having to touch the mouse. The MAX49 has a built in ARP on it with 12 MPC like pads. The pads can have a total of 4 separate banks which is really like having 48 total pads. All of your MIDI mapping and things that you have synced with your DAW can be saved right on the device so you don’t have to re-learn those MIDI controls every time that you open the program or VST up.

The look of this MIDI keyboard is much different that the other MIDI keyboards by AKAI , the red finish is very bright and fresh. It give the MAX49 a clean new look from the original black MIDI controllers they have come out with. Manual was easy to understand, it really helped with understand its basic functions.

UTILIZATION

The MAX49 was easy to hook up and use, just plug it in your USB drive and make sure you have the right driver loaded. Then in your DAW or computer program go to MIDI and USB options and sync it. It is that easy, I have not had any driver issues with either my Windows 7 machine or my MacBook.


OVERALL OPINION

This is a great MIDI controller and it has some really good features. If you are looking for a “real” keyboard feel then this is the way to go. It is not cheaply made and has a nice feel and weight to it. It is also pretty small which makes it portable and perfect for your laptop set up!