Keyboards

The Virus TI promises to bridge the divide between hardware and software instruments, and create a world of Total Integration, while still offering the classic Virus sound. Is it a hard reality, or have Access gone totally soft?

We finish our in-depth examination of Korg's new mega-workstation, taking in the remaining synth engines, the sampler, the KARMA algorithms and the onboard sequencer, and draw our conclusions about it...

Kawai's last few digital pianos have been finely wrought things of beauty: solidly built keyboards with an amazingly realistic playing action and beautifully sampled piano timbres. But their latest claims to surpass all of those. Can it possibly be true?

For over 15 years, Korg have produced the world's most successful workstation synths, and the OASYS is their new £5400 flagship, their attempt to take the concept to the next level. In the first instalment of our two-part in-depth test, we assess how they have fared...

Note: this is a genuine product, not an April Fool hoax!

The price of controller keyboards has fallen sharply over the past few years, but whoever thought that we would see an 88-note weighted-action keyboard with aftertouch for under £500? Enter CME's UF8...

M-Audio have been producing impressive, inexpensive controller keyboards for some time, and have recently moved seriously into Firewire interfacing. The new Ozonic seeks to combine both capabilities in one product — and all for less money than you'd think...

Hammond's 'New B3' was the best-ever digital emulation of an electro-mechanical organ, but at over £15,000 it didn't come cheap. Fortunately, the XK3 puts the New B3's sound engine into a much more affordable package...

Korg's Microkontrol was a highly versatile, yet compact MIDI controller — but perhaps, with its three octaves of miniature keys, it was too compact. The Kontrol 49 looks set to put that right with its four-octave, full-size keyboard.

At £1099, the Xa is the most affordable keyboard in the Fantom range. But, inevitably, features have been removed to make it such a bargain. Have Roland thrown out the works from the workstation?

No-one can doubt Fatar's long-established record for making quality MIDI controller keyboards, but that market has become highly competitive over the past couple of years. Can the VMK188 hold its own against all the budget alternatives?

Long before its debut this Spring, the new keyboard workstation from Korg was already the subject of much speculation. We find out what's really going on inside the OASYS's sleek metal case.

Even the best weighted keyboards and sample libraries offer only an approximation to the feel and sound of an old-fashioned piano. So what if you just can't do without the real thing, but need to have your notes output as MIDI? Enter the Piano Bar from synth pioneers Bob Moog and Don Buchla...

Giving a modern instrument the same name as a line of vintage analogues that have an assured place in the synth hall of fame invites comparisons. So is the Juno-D the rightful heir to the Juno throne or more of a young pretender?

Thin is clearly 'in' amongst manufacturers of keyboard controllers. Mere months after the arrival of Edirol's slender PCR1, M-Audio weigh in with the equally waif-like O2. But is it slim and trim, or just a lightweight?

Less really is more — the 'smaller' name suggests a cut-down follow-up to 2003's Ion synth, but in fact the Micron includes most of the spec of its predecessor, and has added effects and a built-in sequencer too.

It's a great concept — a keyboard synth that can run computer plug-ins. Open Labs have created one by putting an entire PC inside a keyboard. But is it a recording revolution, or an overpriced processor in a fancy case?