Evolution Mk-149

i bought this unit from a reputable music store in uk, it cost me £95.00 and was a real pain to get a cable for. As i dont have midi ports on my pc i had to settle for the gameport cable, trying to get it working was a nightmare!!! the keyboard only worked under mpu401 and i spent days making the thing make a sound. When i did eventual

small compact and cheap

it was a real pain to get a cable for. As i dont have midi ports on my pc i had to settle for the gameport cable, trying to get it working was a nightmare!!! the keyboard only worked under mpu401 and i spent days making the thing make a sound. When i did eventually get it running i used cakewalk audio 6 as anything else more powerful (home studio) made it delay as i was recording/playing back. I m looking for another keyboard!!!

sticky keys, tacky buttons

next time i have £100 i'll buy a synth or something that does the job, i'm on a budget and dont have the money to waste on the products that cheap advertising have to offer. has technology really got this tacky?????

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

- Which technical specifications motivated your choice?
It's a piano! 8-|
- Type of connections? (MIDI, pedals, etc.)?
1 midi out, one pedal input and one DC 9-12V power input...

It has a 6-battery compartment if yo don't want an AC power supply.

There's also a function to transpose notes up to +/- 12 half steps, you can send program changes, lsb and msb banks...
Further, it features 9 velocity curves you can choose at will, an assignable wheel, a pitch bend and a volume fader. And a nice bonus: It is self-powered via the joystick port (you can use, among other things, a 12V 300mA adapter, which some stores include as an extra).

Since it is powered via the joystick port, the USB doesn't provide may advantages (in terms of latency, you can hear a very slight delay).

UTILIZATION

The keyboard is light, but very pleasant. Even compared with a piano it is quite all right. It's better to have a good light keyboard than a lousy weighted one (like the clavinova, for example).
On the other hand, managing the velocity is a bit bizarre...It's impossible to play mezzo piano nuances, it is either piano or forte.

All functions are easily accessible with the clearly labeled buttons on the front. The "+" and "-" keys or those numbered 0 through 9 allow you to adjust the settings and 3 7-segment displays allow you to see the result or the existing values. You can choose any of the 16 channels to send messages.

The manual is very clear, but it is almost useless, I read it five minutes and that was enough.

OVERALL OPINION

I've had it for two days. While the finish is correct, the sturdiness borders flabbiness. It's not annoying when you are at home, but I wouldn't recommend it for onstage.

I didn't try any other models before this one, it's my first amp. It's an excellent value for money when you know USB combos with two faders cost an extra $100!

It will be hard to find anything better for this price. So, under the same circumstances, I'd buy it again.

++ Self-powered
++ 1 assignable wheel (the volume fader can be used as the assignable wheel, if the software allows it, like Fruity, for example.)

-- Sturdiness of the keys, which feel like a Playskool!!!
-- One more octave wouldn't do any harm
-- Poor velocity management