3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Was mediocre even when it worked., February 17, 2009
This review is from: Edirol PCR50 49-Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller
The keyboard itself is an aesthetically nice silver faced economy keyboard controller. It's keys are average and usable, but can be a bit cheap plastic and toyish feeling. These keys feel as they are, spring loaded, with a slightly fragile feeling resistance. The build quality is slightly below what I'd expect, even at this price point, but are sufficient at best. If I could go back, I'd have gone CME, Novation, or even M-Audio if I had to go for this level of controllers.
The features of the keyboard are pretty good and work as they're supposed to. The display is a simple alphanumerical type, so don't expect a GUI or such. The faders are almost an insult to the buyer, and the knobs/pots will inevitably fall off. The transport never quite worked for the DAWs I used this unit with (Nuendo, Logic, and Pro Tools), so I just simply stopped trying. The controller did work fairly good with Reason 2.5, and 3. It was dead by the time version 3 set in, and long gone before version 4 of Reason.
There are no features on this device that other competing products lack. For what it's worth, when the unit worked, it worked. Regardless there design decisions on the PCR-50 that were questionable from boot. I'm definitely not a fan of the joystick combo that is used for both mod wheel and pitch bend, as I prefer two separate wheels, but I knew this going in.
I bought this item new and used it maybe a few months before I had to put it in storage for a move. The storage was an indoor storage facility, so the likelihood of the unit being damaged while stored was very unlikely. However, once I got the unit home, plugged in, and started up my DAW - nothing. For the first two octaves no keys worked. The remaining keys thereafter where odd intervals of seemingly functional and defunct keys. The unit was never dropped, never spilled upon, around smoke or even mishandled...it just simply stopped working coincidentally shortly after the warranty was out. To my dismay I later found out through various sites like Harmony Central and SonicState.com that this was a widespread issue, not one just isolated to me.
Let's just say, that though I own lots of Roland gear (Edirol is a subsidiary), I will never buy another Edirol product again.
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