need opinion on this

i'm looking to get a new midi controller what do you guys recomend, i was lookin at an Edirol30 or 50 are these any good , they run around $150-$180 bones , i was think about an oxgen8 whats your guys opinion or recomendation for a new controller that' will run me around 200-300 bone,oh yeah it has to be fairly small board cause i dont have much space to keep it in my apartment, just got rid of my djx which was a 61 key that was to big no space for it .
thanks your opinions are highly appreicated
e.d.e


***oh yeah this is to controll the mpc2kxl and other sound modules

oxygen 8 is pretty nice - 25 full size keys, rotaries, pitch, mod and 1 fader. small and sweet. everything is programmable (but cannot send sysex (maybe it can, but I've only had it a week and haven't found it yet).

reasonable keyboard for inputting, obviously no piano solos are gonna be done on it, but it works a charm.

connects via usb and/or midi and can be powered by the usb bus.

anyone know if this is any good,http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PCR30/

actually what should i look for,remeber this is mostly to control my mpc
dont use much software

Most of the controllers you mention have a bucketload of buttons on them. While this will certainly come in handy when controlling software they won't do you much good when connected straight to an mpc. You see, just to program all of those buttons on the keyboard itself is a real nightmare. Software has a "learn" function where you can just wiggle the knob and it assigns it to a parameter.
If you never see yourself using a computer in the future, i'd get a keyboard without all those buttons, but with good keys (you'll feel this when you test a few different keyboards, weighted keys play more like a real piano).

I have the oxygen 8 myself, but it doesn't really make me feel like i'm Herbie Hancock

i like the controller keyboard idea as just keys, no knobs or sliders. it be nice to do all that in the rack. a fat rack w/ a long controller or two might make m efeel like herbie hancock w/o the moog...