cheap midi controlr w/great midi ability for mpc1000,72+keys

i'm looking for a cheap (under $300) midi controller to control my mpc1000, with preferably 72+ keys (although i'll take suggestions of 61+ key controllers), non-weighted (but a good solid feel.. as i'd like to sorta have the feel of a piano, sort of, but i'd still like to be able to play the keys real fast once in a while.. so no weighted or semi-weighted, but as far from a "cheap" feel as possible (i'll list what i plan on doing below). i would definately like sliders, knobs, and one-touch buttons for midi use.. no need for xy pad, or any other pads really (i don't think), but there's no need to NOT have them, heh, so if i can get them in my price range, i'll take'em. a pitch wheel for Sure would be nice though.. not sure if i'll need a screen of some sort.. though i doubt it.. i just don't know how well the mpc's screen will let me know what's going on with the keyboard.. so maybe i'd want a screen? actually, now that i think about it, i don't think i will, since i DID just buy a core2duo laptop (with windows xp), so i could hook it up to that if needed. which reminds me, a usb port would be nice as well. as far as the keyboard feel, i'd like to be able to play beautiful piano pieces with it, but i'll be using it for much more than just that. i play dark rock grunge music that i plan on throwing in some wicked break-through stuff into via mpc1000.. and i also play passionate trance which i'll be needing a good piano feel for (though like i said, no weights.. but solid-built keys would be nice), and i'll be laying down rap tracks as well.. so a wide range of genre hopping ability will need to be able to be done. i'd love to go back and forth with some people about their opinions on this.. anyone of ANY skill level, i'd love your input. thanks

Well, why don't you just look around the usual online shops, I guess you wont find many choices for that anyway.

thanks for responding to my post. yeah, i'll probably be spending another long day online today looking for info on midi controllers, heh.. i seem to get a lot of facts on midi controllers, but very little opinions. and really, so far, none of those shops really tell you how in-depth the midi control ability is.. they just say that is HAS midi ability. i was hoping some seasoned pros, who knew what problems/road blocks arose with which midi players, would be able to suggest a couple of things that are close to what i'm looking for. i'll even take suggestions for anything CLOSE to what i'm looking for, since i'm looking for something rather specific.. like if it's a few hundred dollars more for what i'm looking for, so be it.. i'll save up. those specs for that price would be my dream machine.. but i'll take anything close, as well. thanks

You can usually download all the manuals to the machines from the manufacturer, there you will find everything about MIDI capabilities that you need to know.

the amount of time it would take to download every midi controller's manual and read through them all, would be unreal.. plus, it wouldn't give me anyone's non-biased opinions who have actually used the product. for example, the m-audio axiom 61 key looks great, it appears to have everything that i'm looking for, but i've heard a lot of people say that certain keys stopped working after about 12 months or so, and that that was a known problem with them... and other things like that that won't be in the manual. i'm more interested in what the seasoned experts, who have the same needs as i do, are using.. and why. so that way, hopefully, i can learn from their experiences, and not have to get fooled by the same marketing techniques that they got pulled into. i saw a good thread on here today about "how would you redo your setup if you could do it all over" which seemed pretty cool, i'll go check that out after this.. i just don't want to buy a product based soley on the company's specs, i want one with good playability and reliability that a lot of people actually feel comfortable playing. i'd love to add more to this list, but so far i've only got these as potential midi controllers that might be perfect:
1. Edirol PCR-80 (doesn't have as much controllers as the m-audio (strips, pads, etc), but i hear a lot of good things about it)
2. M-Audio Axiom 61(LOOKS perfect, has everything i'm looking for, even a little screen, but i hear the feel of the keyboard is a little weird and takes some getting used to.. still need more info and opinions before i buy it.)
3. E-MU X-Board 61 (doesn't have the sliders i'm looking for, but i'm told it's an excellent midi controller..)
and i've been kind of glancing at fatar and cme's uf series, but cme's uf series is a bit out of my price range and a little bit more piano-like that i think i want.. though i'd love to hear opinions on that, as well. harmony central is helpful sometimes, if i have an idea what model i'm looking for, so i'll be checking that out as well, but would love any opinions that anyone could offer me. thanks

although, i will download a few select manuals and read through them... good idea. thanks

opinions are not allowed to be shared on this forum, we are the borg resistance is futile.......

what's your local?

heh, then i imagine i will soon be assimilated. as for my locale; right now, i live on the other side of the country from you.. i'm in PA, about 2 hours north of certain parts of Philly.. though i head there pretty often since i grew up in that area. never been to cali, but i've been close to taking off to that area a few times.. you been there long? don't know why it doesn't list my location when i make a post.. i'll have to check my settings. i found 2 more potential controllers to add to my list, the novation remote 61 and korg kontrol 49. so that makes this the new list:
1. novation remote 61
2. korg kontrol 49
3. m-audio axiom 61
4. roland's edirol pcr 80
5. e-mu x-board 61
6. cme uf 80
7. fatar ??
to anyone who has played with more than one of these, any idea what the feel of the keyboards are like in comparison to any other on the list? i managed to find a store near me that actually had a few controllers.. (4 of the music stores near me stopped carrying "dj equipment" since they "weren't big sellers".. i just moved up here recently, since it was cheaper to live up here.. and now i see WHY it's cheaper to live up here: there are more cows and chickens than there are keyboards, heh. but anyway, i tried out the m-audio axiom 61, and it has "semi-weighted keys" with keyboard action, and it turns out that semi-weighted keys were Nothing like i thought they'd be. they were more like "barely weighted" keys. they did feel a little more resistant.. a little maybe.. but the kickback was quick enough that i didn't notice it much. atleast not as much as i thought i would. i thought they'd be a lot more piano-like, and heavier. so to update my earlier desires; semi-weighted is ok with me, since i can still play really fast. and speaking of the m-audio axiom 61 (which was 1/2 of their stock.. the other half was the m-audio keystation.), it seems like a really nice, popular piece.. and the guy was willing to give me a 2 year warranty on it when i mentioned the problem some of them have within 6-12 months of purchase: every a and d# key goes dead on the whole board, and also someone said something about it not working with vista (64-bit) since m-audio has yet to update the drivers? any truth to those statements? here's where i saw them, just scroll down and read the 3rd and 4th reviews at this link:
M-Audio Axiom 61 possible problems
otherwise, that axiom seems pretty cool. i'm a little worried it might be one of those things that look great, but has hidden problems or doesn't last long.. i haven't seen many posts on problems with the thing, though. anyone have any problems with theirs before? even if it's not a malfunction.. for example; if it doesn't have certain abilities that one might assume that it had.. or something along those lines. oh, here's another good possible problem, from that same page i just gave you a link for: this one person says that the pitch bend's center position is so strong, that when you bend the pitch from all the way up to all the way down, the center position interferes with a smooth transition from high to low, or low to high.. even if just a little. he says it's not too bad, but i'd love someone else's opinion on that.

reason I asked is because I'm selling a fatar studio 900, I have two of them, the fatars are the sweetest controllers period out of your whole list, they don't have the bells and whistles as the others as they are older so no usb or drum pads and tons of faders or knobs only pitch and bend wheel. but they don't make controllers that feel like these anymore bar none. if you'd like to buy mine it'll cost ya $200 but I'd just as well keep it as a matter of fact check the craigslist in your area or ebay in your area, any of the fatar studio series, 800, 800, 1100, or studiologic series are very nice.

on the other side of the pond the novation controllers would be the better than the rest on your list from the novation 25 on up they are very nice and novation is still innovating with their automap technology, next would be the akai, there are bugs but it feels nice. it's heavy and feels substantial.

yeah thanks, i just finished reading about the Amazing feel of fatar's keyboards.. i'll be needing those bells and whistles though, so thanks for the novation suggestion. i just downloaded the novation remote manual, and it looks pretty nice. if it had 72+ keys, i'd be sold for sure.. but it atleast has keyboard octave switch keys.. plus it has Everything else i'm looking for, AND the xy pad and a screen. i wonder how that combined modulation/pitch bend joystick works with that "static and sprung" setting, though? could probably do some pretty cool stuff with it, but i wonder if it's hard to get used to.. like if i wanted to just control pitch bending without effecting modulation, i.e: go "left and right" and not have the "up and down" be affected, and visa versa. anyway, it's definately up there on my list. i'll be comparing the others to the novation in more depth for a little while. thanks