Review of a USB "Shortcut Hint" keyboard by Logickeyboard

For users who frequently jump back and forth between several complicated editing suite programs (audio, video, photo, etc.) it can be really hard to memorize all of the hundreds of short-cuts that can really speed up your workflow.  Logickeyboard makes "shortcut hint" keyboards that list all the shortcuts for a specific program right on your keyboard.

 

 

The type of keyboard that I got was a "Nero Slim Line" keyboard, US style, for Adobe Premiere Pro.  US style has the full-size shift key on the right.  European style only has a small shift key on the right.  Here's the video about this keyboard:

A couple of the key points that I love about this keyboard are:
- You can plug a USB light into it, to illuminate the keyboard.
- It has TWO each of the four main modifier keys:  Alt, Ctrl, Flying Windows, and full-size Shift.

One thing I didn't like about this keyboard was:
- The price.  This is designed and priced for professionals.  Mine was $135 base price, but with shipping and customs (from Britain) it cost me almost $200.  Too much.

Logickeyboard has keyboards for the following long list of programs in a variety of styles, for Mac and/or Windows depending on the program, various colours, various keyboard profiles, and so on:

Apple Final Cut
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Apple Color
Autodesk SMOKE
Avid Media Composer
Avid NewsCutter
DaVinci Resolve
Editshare Lightworks
Grass Valley Aurora
Grass Valley EDIUS
Pinnacle Liquid
Quantel
Sony Vegas Pro
Sony Sonaps XPRI NS
Ableton Live
Adobe Audition
Apple Logic Extended
Apple Logic Preset
Avid Pro Tools
Avid Sibelius
Cakewalk Sonar
MakeMusic Finale
MOTU Digital Performer
Steinberg Cubase & Nuendo
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Photoshop
Apple Aperture
Maxon Cinema 4D Studio
Apple Boot Camp
Apple Parallels
and other specialty keyboards

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Review of M-Audio's Oxygen 25 MIDI Keyboard Controller

I'm about to hit the road for another eight or nine months, away from my home and studio, so I just picked up a small portable MIDI controller to use when I'm doing production work on the road. I bought the Oxygen 25 controller that is produced by M-Audio. It's very similar to the Oxygen 49 and Oxygen 61 controllers, but more portable.

 

M-Audio Oxygen 25 MIDI Keyboard Controller Review

In this video, I talked a bit about the controller specs that I researched online before I bought it, then I opened up the package to see what the Oxygen 25 looks and feels like. I played with it for a bit and gave a final opinion, which was positive.





Learning the Basics about MIDI Controllers

If you aren't already aware of what a MIDI controller is, or what it is used for, this basic video will give you the background that you need. For instance, you need to know that a keyboard controller does NOT produce sounds! A synth produces sounds. A MIDI controller can produce sounds if you route its MIDI output through some sort of module (or a computer program) that produces sounds (ie. through a hardware synth module or through a virtual instrument).





Some of the key points that I noted in the Oxygen 25 review video were:

- This unit is "class compliant," which means that you can use it directly on your Mac or Windows computer without having to install drivers.
- Having said that, there are more advanced windows drivers available on the M-Audio website that are necessary if you want to use this device simultaneously on multiple DAW's or apps, or if you want to hook up more than one class-compliant device to your computer simultaneously.
- This has non-volatile memory, which means that it saves presets and controller/channel assignments when powering down. To reset to the factory defaults, hold the "-" and the "+" keys simultaneously.
- M-Audio has software patches that you can download for free which let you use the Oxygen controllers with pre-determined patches that interface well with certain DAW's, specifically with versions available for Cubase, Pro Tools, Reason, Record, Ableton, Garageband, and Logic.
- You can use a standard sustain pedal with this. I tried using my Roland pedal with it, and it worked well.
- There's a spot for a Kensington security cable, if you're worried about using one of those.
- You can set your own velocity curves for key responsiveness. There are four curves available in the menu for touch-responsiveness, and three curves which actually output fixed velocities of 64, 100, or 127.
- If you have a good understanding of MIDI and want to dig further, you should check out the manual (which you can find online pretty easily). There are about twenty pages of very useful and detailed MIDI information in the manual.
- The 25 and 49 and 61 are all quite similar, although the 25 has a couple minor deficiencies compared to the two longer controllers. For instance, the 25 only has one control fader, whereas the other two models have nine each.
- The 25 is currently priced at $99 in Canada from Amazon, while the 49 is $149 and the 61 is $199. Those are probably the same approximate prices that you'd find in the US, since our dollar is pretty close to parity.
- You can use a Device ID function on the 49 and 61 only. So for example, if you want to own three of these keyboards and use them simultaneously in a live performance, that's possible with the 49 and 61, but the 25 cannot have a unique identified in the MIDI system.
- This unit is USB 2.0 compatible, and backwards compatible to 1.1. I presume it works on USB 3.0 ports, but you won't see any performance improvements by using a 3.0 port. However, none are needed.


Here are the basic specs on the Oxygen 25:

- MIDI data from variable controllers
- MIDI control number
- RPN/NRPN
- Program, bank LSB, bank MSB
- Pitch bend
- GM/GM2/XG SysEx messages
- MIDI Data from buttons/switches
- Note on
- Note on/off toggle
- MIDI CC on/Off toggle
- Program, Bank LSB, Bank MSB presets
- MIDI Machine Control functions
- GM/GM2/XG SysEx messages
- 3.7" H x 9.4" W x 16.2" D
- Weight: 3.8 lb.

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca