Alesis Q25

Many MIDI controllers these days come with plenty of knobs and sliders. But the Alesis Q25 ($179.99 list) harkens back to a different era, one of simplicity of design?except updated for today's laptop and iPad-driven music studios. The Q25 ?is a 25-note, velocity-sensitive MIDI keyboard with a built-in USB interface. It promises accurate MIDI control, portability, and not much else. As long as your needs are modest, it's a solid controller at a bargain price.

Design, Controls, and Connections
The Q25 measures 19 by 7.25 by 2.38 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.6 pounds. It's made entirely of black matte plastic, with non-weighted synthesizer keys in white and black, and slightly tapered, rounded edges that lend the Q25 a feeling of solidity and comfort when transporting it. The controls really are simple: To the left of the 25-key key bed are old-style, plastic pitch bend and modulation wheels. The pitch bend has a center detent and returns to the center as soon as you lift your finger, while the modulation wheel has no detent and no spring-loaded return; it stays in position wherever you leave it.

Above the two wheels are Octave Down, MIDI/Select, and Octave Up buttons. Finally, there's a data entry slider that feels a little cheap and scratchy when moved in its recessed vertical slot. There are no other programmable knobs, sliders, pads, or transport controls?this should be obvious at a glance, but controllers like the M-Audio Oxygen 25 ($149.95 list) trade a little extra depth and a higher street price (more on that later) for much more in the way of MIDI control.

Alesis throws in a USB cable and a Quick Start guide, and also bundles a DVD copy of Ableton Live Lite Alesis edition, which gets you started recording and sequencing music. The Q25 is class-compliant, so you don't need to install a driver on the PC or Mac; just plug it in and start playing. There's no aftertouch, though. The Q25 works fine with an iPad as long as you buy the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit , which comes with two adapters, one of which mates a dock connector to a USB port. Unfortunately, the Q25 doesn't work with the IK Multimedia iRig MIDI , since that interface works with a MIDI cable only, and therefore requires some kind of external power for the controller; the Q25 doesn't come with a power adapter in the box.

Testing and Conclusions
I had no problem playing and recording MIDI data in Apple Logic Pro 9, Steinberg Cubase 6.5, and Cakewalk SONAR X1 using the Q25. The Octave Down and Octave Up buttons made it easy to jump around in the keyboard range, depending on the sound I wanted, and the velocity sensitivity was well tuned and felt natural to my fingers. Playing the keys resulted in no untoward vibrations or rattles, and the Q25 stayed put on my desk, thanks to its well-positioned rubber feet. One glitch: I noticed that after several weeks of testing, the lower B key began to rattle a tiny bit internally, although the rest of the key bed remained rattle-free.

You probably wouldn't want to knock the Q25 around in the back of a van on an extended live tour, at least without a (very) well-padded case of some kind. But as a small desktop controller, or as one you could throw in a bag and bring to a hotel or a friend's house, the Q25 does the job with aplomb. And at a street price hovering in the $70 range, it's tough to find something like it that's this inexpensive. The M-Audio Oxygen 25, now on its third generation, tends to cost $90 to $100 on the street, despite its lower list price. The Oxygen 25 offers much more in the way of real-time controls, thanks to its array of knobs, sliders, and transport buttons. The Oxygen 25 is also slightly thinner than the Q25, although it's deeper, and requires more of that crucial space between your desktop PC keyboard and monitor.

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