Rating

M-Audio’s name is popular for a reason.

That being said, my only complaints are:

1. A couple of the plastic keys stick (slightly) after a few minuets of rest. This is no big deal. If I wanted fully weighted keys I would get ‘em.

2. The knobs don’t terminate. They don’t have a start or stop point. They just rotate 360 and keep going and they click into place with each turn rather than rotate smoothly. I now only use the sliders. I’d say I only need 30% of this controller (61 semi-weighted keys and some knobs and sliders).

My biggest complaint is my ignorance. I thought I needed to upgrade my PC’s sound card to include MIDI connectivity. I then thought that I would need a USB to MIDI converter… Although programing can be fun I’d prefer making music.

I only needed a USB port.

I don’t need the display. I don’t need the any of the funky buttons under the display. I don’t need the numeric keypad that is to the left of the display or the ability of the controller to save anything. I only needed 61 keys, a pitch bend and mod wheel and a few sliders and knobs. The software I use takes care of everything else.

Granted, clicking and dragging a mouse on stage is no fun when playing live so all of the features that the M-Audio Axiom 61 offers would be more than enough for the professional musician who sees no need in spending $2k+ on a dedicated/ limited/ physical workstation.

My set up is this:

An HP laptop with 3 Gigs o’ ram, Windows 7, FL Studio 9 and now an Axiom 61. This is more than enough for the student/hobbyist/studio/musician.

I would not recommend the Axiom to myself.

My next USB DAW slave keyboard will be a 61 key stick with 8 knobs, 8 sliders and an on off switch. I know their out there.

I purchased this thing out of ignorance.

I give it *****5 stars for the learning experience.

Rating

I bought this so I could use it for controlling midi in a sequencer, which I have never done before getting this, and also for learning to play the keyboard. It works as advertised with ableton live lite 7, it is pretty easy to figure out how to setup the controls. The velocity sensitive keys work good, the sliders that people say feel cheap do in fact feel cheap but it doesnt really affect their performance, they work just fine. The knobs work well for controlling the pan of the channel, and the drum pads work for controlling drums, although I dont find them to be necessary as this can also be done using the velocity sensitive keys. Overall the keyboard feels pretty solid, I am glad I went with this one instead of a cheaper one.

Rating

I first had the Axiom 25 and loved it when I used Garageband. When I got ProTools (all of them Mini 2, LE, and M-Powered) I moved up to another brand. When I got Logic Pro and Logic Pro Express I got the Axiom 61 and never looked back. I have a double rack and the Axiom 61 gets used constantly and I think that says it for me.

P.S. I didn’t know there was a”lead” issue with the paint on the Axiom, but again I don’t play on the paint, or have small children, or dogs or cats, et al.