![]() ![]() Since the units I got to play on belonged to E-mu, I erred on the side of caution and kept my duct tape and electric screwdriver safely in the toolbox, so I can’t report first-hand on how the Xboards would hold up under West Coast Chopper treatment. The point is, the Xboards are inexpensive, light, sturdy, and they get the job done, making them ideal candidates for whatever crazy MIDI customizations you can dream of. ![]() What if I were to bolt a pair of them back to back, attach a neck and a strap, and use it like a dual manual keytar? Or what if I could fix one upside-down to some sort of boom stand? Or better yet, get five of them, link them to Cycling ’74’s Jitter software, put them in a circle hanging from the mast of a yacht. With the help of labeled keys and a well-writtenĬREATE AND CUSTOMIZE As inexpensive, light, and easy to play as they are, the Xboards sparked my creativity in an unexpected way. The attractive blue LED screen gives useful prompts - telling you to select a parameter or indicating what MIDI channel you’re currently working on, for example - and the blinking Enter button is also useful, indicating when it’s time to select and execute an edit value. MIDI experts will have this down in seconds, and newbies won’t be far behind them. The Edit button gets you into Edit mode, pressing the appropriately-labeled key gives you access to the corresponding parameter, and both the master slider and keys assigned to digits 0-9 help you set that parameter’s new value. It’s a simple matter to find your way around the user-friendly interface and use it to send program changes, adjust velocity curves, set parameters for Latch mode, and so on. INTERFACE AND EDITING E-mu built their Xboards with easy-to-learn, comprehensive editing capabilities. I was impressed by the battery life as of publication, a fresh set of Duracell AAs has given my Xboard 49 well over a week of juice, and it’s still going strong. “They float around.” A useful controller in a number of settings, the Xboard can receive power from a number of sources - USB from your computer, an optional 6-Volt adapter, or three AA batteries. The knobs are sturdy enough and provide good resistance, though Matt said, “I prefer the feel of the knobs on the M-Audio Oxygen 8.” Matt and I agreed that the buttons on the Xboards didn’t feel as robust and well-put-together as the keyboard action, and they rattled slightly with heavier playing. “And it’s got aftertouch, which is very cool.” Sixteen control knobs give you lots of tweaking power, and each knob can either be assigned to its own MIDI channel and controller number, or set to affect the same parameter on 16 separate channels via the aptly-titled 16 Channel mode. “The action feels good and smooth,” commented Matt Moldover, New York producer/electronic artist/mash-up specialist and my guest set of fingers for this review. HARDWARE The Xboards’ synth keyboard action is surprisingly solid and satisfying, especially given the lightness of the controllers. ![]() And with street prices well under $200, both axes offer an intriguing amount of production power for the dollar. Along with an impressive keyboard action and intuitive editing capabilities, the Xboards also come with three pieces of software - a programming interface, Ableton Live 4 Lite (full version reviewed November ’04), and E-mu’s Proteus X LE, a scaled-down version of their excellent soft synth (reviewed July ’05). OVERVIEW Two of the newest - and least expensive - entries in the featherweight keyboard controller category are the internally-identical E-mu Xboards 25 and 49, super-totable tools that can just as easily be USB’d to your DJ set in Ableton Live or MIDI cabled to your Roland V-Synth XT. Multiple power source options, including AA batteries. Editing/programming is fast and intuitive. PROS Keyboard action is arguably the best in its class. Pitch and mod wheels have a textured grip and provide good resistance.Ģ5- and 49-key USB/MIDI controller keyboards with editing, recording, and virtual instrument software. Latch mode lets you define a zone and toggle notes on and off, leaving your hands free to do other things. Sixteen control knobs let you do deep tweaking in real-time.Įdit buttons make for fast, intuitive programming of the Xboards 16 available patches. Keys are labeled with different programmable parameters, so you can quickly customize in Edit mode. Keyboard action is impressive, especially given how little the Xboards weigh. E-MU XBOARD 25 AND 49 25- AND 49-KEY USB/MIDI CONTROLLERS by Michael Gallant ![]()
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