Akai debuted the Max25 at NAMM 2013 and it looks great. One of the best features is the built in Control Voltage. If you don’t know what CV(Control Voltage)is, I will explain. CV was the old school way to sync electronic instruments up before midi. With CV, you can do some pretty amazing tricks with your sound. Years ago back in the eighties, Chicago House Music producers innovated a technique with CV that is used today in modern dance music. It’s call Acid House. They used a drum machine and a Roland TB-303 to create that sound. The drum machine would be connected to the Roland TB-303 using CV and would cause this modulation.
If you looking for a new controller that can let you experiment with outboard gear, you should seriously look at the Akai MAX25. These should be shipping out spring 2013. To find out more go to
Specs
Number of Keys 25
Type of Keys Semi-weighted
Aftertouch Yes
Number of Performance Pads 8
Number of Encoders/Pots No encoders
Number of Sliders/Faders 4 x touch faders
Dedicated Transport Control Yes
Other Controllers Pitchbend, Mod Wheel
System Requirements Mac 1.25 GHz G4/G5 or faster, 1 GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later
System Requirements PC 1.5 GHz Pentium 4 or Celeron compatible CPU or faster, 1 GB RAM, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP
MIDI I/O In, Out, and USB
USB Yes
More info @ http://www.akaipro.com/
2 Responses
@jason thanks. In the 80s I had buddies that made house music and they use to run cv from a drum machine into a synth and create different modulations to get that acid sound. TB 303s are famous for it but people in Chicago use to use other synths too. Sequential Circuits Max was another one guys used.
This controller is pretty dope! It’s got just about everything you need in a tiny package!
Cool info about CV, that’s probably the simplest and easiest way I’ve heard it explained before 🙂