I fancy getting one, as the nanokey one I have is cr@p
So,
weighted or semi-weighted keys.
At least two octaves
pads
panpots, etc
poss even a basic synth if I’m feeling flush.
Any suggestions?
I had had a 2 oct but changed it for a 4, better to bash out melodies I think.
A good compact one, semi weight and everything else is the CME U keys, its very slim and compact as I say.
only about £100 bucks too so good if your on a budget.
Thanks Wayne. I’ll take a look at that.
Though I can probably go to £400.
get a synth then, a waldorf blofeld comes to mind, you’ll get one for about that on ebay.
If your gonna spend that much dig around for something good imo
I bought the M-audio Axiom 49 Recently and LOVE it.
I’ve had a few synths/midi keyboards prior to this one and it’s by far the best, it makes the whole process go way faster.
The keys are weighted, it includes a 8 pad drum pad which is really helpful for trying out beats before I program them in as well as a bunch of programmable buttons to sync to your daw to control your volume, synth effects etc… which makes the mixdown process go a lot faster from what I was doing.
Just go to the music store and try out some locally, i’d definitely look into the Axiom series, they come in several sizes, my friend has the 25 and loves his
This is all I use and is perfect for coming up melodies.
If you can play the piano, you could opt for one with 49 or more keys. If you are crap at it like most dj/producers, 25 keys is more then enough 
Still got the old Oxygen 61 from M-Audio. But if you wanna spend a lot on it, you might consider the Axiom Pro line. Quite a nifty piece of craftmanship
[quote]jonsloan (20/04/2011)[hr]I fancy getting one, as the nanokey one I have is cr@p
So,
weighted or semi-weighted keys.
At least two octaves
pads
panpots, etc
poss even a basic synth if I’m feeling flush.
Any suggestions?
[/quote]
Nanokey is crap? Damn.
I wanted to get a small travel one to take with me to America, not sure what to get now! There was a review of another travel type mini midi that also came with knobs that was reviewed in Future Music, think last months issue or possibly issue before, without looking i can’t remember what it was, had good reviews though.
[quote]gofunk (20/04/2011)[hr]I had had a 2 oct but changed it for a 4, better to bash out melodies I think.
A good compact one, semi weight and everything else is the CME U keys, its very slim and compact as I say.
only about £100 bucks too so good if your on a budget.[/quote]
That doesn’t look too bad actually, i’ve got the CME VX6 and it’s quite nice.
[quote]howiegroove (20/04/2011)[hr]This is all I use and is perfect for coming up melodies.
[/quote]
An old classic that one 
think we have a few of those at the college i teach at, must say it does the job.
Hey Rob
I have the old nanokey and the keys are a stiff as boards. Literally have to hammer them to get any real velocity. I’ve heard the new version is better but I’d seriously give it a go before buying it.
Anyway, I rushed out and bought an Axiom Pro 49 yesterday as I’d been thinking about that one and was in London and wanted it for the long weekend. Got to hook it up now.