looking for basic 49 key controller.

[byllsong]

After talking to my wife about this whole daw/controller thing,
she suggested I donate my old Kross to the Salvation Army School for the Blind.
You can still play, just not record. I'm sure they can make use of it.

Sooo...I will be looking to purchase a 49 key controller.
Something basic. Don't need bells and whistles
I am used to playing drums on keys.
Any thoughts or ideas.
Thanks.

[Len911]

Billy, if you are giving it away only because the record button is broke, you don't need that button to work when recording into a daw, you hit record inside the daw. If it takes you 2 minutes to go from the daw to the keyboard to play, you just delete those 2 minutes. I believe the record button is only for recording within the Kross.

[byllsong]

No, it's not. I want to embrace the new technology.
My wife and I were the parents of a special needs child.
His hearing and sight were affected.
It was a joy watching him put on headphones and
turn the volume right and bang away.
I want to donate the keyboard the School for the Blind.
It'll make someone's Christmas better.
I'll start my new journey
with what is available to me now.

[fuzzbox]

You might be able to get this in the US https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Lg_JHXAGk Build quality is fantastic, and has weighted keys and the price (in the UK) was equal to $180 of your US dollars. I use this for Superior Drummer 2.0 and 3.0 sometimes. It works very well.

But I'm sure there are lots of other equivalents.

[hummingbird]

I have an M-Audio Keystation that comes in 49 (I have the 61). It works very well. It has a mod wheel and other things you can program if wished. It's well recommended and I like it because the mod wheel is on the left and out of the way.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Keystation49

It's not a keyboard. It's a controller. You plug it into a USB port. Open your DAW, on a track choose the M-Audio as the input device. Then place an instrument (VST) on that track - like piano. Play the controller, you'll hear the piano. The controller at Sweetwater comes with some VSTs too. Pretty good deal for $99. Check out the reviews.

[byllsong]

Thank you Vikki,
I was looking at the Keystation hoping someone would say something positive about it.
Do you latency issues with it?

[hummingbird]

Hi, no I have no latency issues at all.

[funsongs]

...she suggested I donate my old Kross to the Salvation Army School for the Blind.

Who knows? You may have just opened the door for the next Stevie Wonder/prodigy!

Thanks for posting all these searches you are doing - because I'm on the same path... but way behind you.
Cheers - and good luck. Please also post your results, if you don't mind.

[byllsong]

Thank you everyone.

[jdstamper]

You might want to check with your DAW provider to see if they have better inter-operation with a particular one.

Otherwise, another vote here for M-Audio controller. I also have the 61 key, I believe 49 key is similar. I've had mine several years (already! time flies) and I really like it. it can be basic like my usage, or you can go pretty deep with programming if you want, at a reasonable cost. I believe a lot of DAWs have templates built for it.

Jim