After two weeks of using this with the kids, I am compelled to write a glowing review. I was looking for a medium size keyboard that would serve as a teaching tool for the kids. I wanted something that worked out of the box with an older Mac laptop (a G4 running an old version of Garageband). I wanted something compact and easy to move about the house, but nothing so small that you quickly ran of out room while performing. I also wanted something simple with as few controls as possible; we have a professional synth in the house and all of those knobs and buttons just distract the kids.

The Q49 fits the bill. It is terribly simple and has worked perfectly. I unpacked it, plugged it in to the USB port, started Garageband, and we went straight to having fun. I’m very delighted with this product. Bravo Alesis.

Now let’s be honest, this is a budget product. While I find the Q49 to be solid (and sharp looking), the keys are very light and have a little left-right wiggle (nothing to worry about). But for the price, you’re not going to do much better. You’ll have to pay many times the amount to really start to see dramatic improvement in the feel of the keyboard.

Please note!!! Invariably there is someone who buys a keyboard controller thinking it is a synthesizer. The Q49 does not make sound on its own; it needs a computer with music software or a synthesizer. It is an input device, just like a computer mouse. If you are considering a budget synthesizer (e.g., for your kids), the nice thing about the budget synths is that they can have everything in one device (e.g., no cable running to a computer, no computer hooked up to speakers). There are multiple downsides: cheap synths usually have a demo button that, with some kids, becomes the primary method of playing; all the buttons on the synths distract kids from actually spending time playing; the keyboard action (i.e. velocity sensitivity) and instrument sounds will not be as good as a similarly priced controller hooked up to a laptop running something like Garageband.

Alesis, if you’ve never heard of them, is a U.S. company that has been making budget, yet innovative, audio products for professionals for about three decades. They’ve had some category defining products and provided interesting competition for Roland, Korg and Yamaha. After a turn in bankruptcy a few years ago, they were bought out and are now owned by inMusic of Rhode Island that owns a number of brands, including Ion Audio, Numark, M-Audio, and Akai Professional.

Additional notes: I have the laptop hooked up to a Logitech Z515; this makes a nice, compact budget music workstation. With Garageband, the keyboard slider defaults to volume control. I am not using the enclosed software (Ableton Live Lite) nor do I take full advantage of the MIDI controls. Again, my goal was to keep things simple for the kids. Finally, this is available at below MSRP and, cost-wise, the main competitor is the M-Audio Keyrig 49. The Keyrig came out in 2008, I believe, and the Q49 in 2010.

I took a look at a bunch of keyboard controllers before settling on this one. This keyboard is to just sit on my desk so that I can bang things out when the mood strikes. I compared it against several other inexpensive keyboards like the Keystation and KeyRig and thought this one felt the least flimsy. It is also black instead of some lame silver color which looks better on my desk.

I was considering a semi-weighted keyboard like the M-Audio AXIOM 49 Advanced 49-Key Semi-Weighted USB MIDI Controller, but frankly, I have a piano at home and was really underwhelmed at the feel of all the semi-weighted keyboards. There was just not enough improvement over a non-weighted keyboard to justify the weight or expense. So I decided to go with something cheap.

The other benefit of cheap is that there are a minimum of knobs and sliders on this thing, so the depth is minimal. It sits right between my monitor and typing keyboard very nicely.

The fun part is that it comes with Ableton Live Lite, which I’ve been having tremendous fun with. It is very easy to learn, with its on-screen help and tutorials, and has a kind of unique user interface compared to programs like GarageBand, Logic, or Cubase. I’m really happy with the sounds and creative options. And it runs great on my Mac with Snow Leopard.

The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5, is that I think there is still room on the case for at least some LED indicators for midi modes above the keyboard. If I was designing this, I would ditch the pitch and mod wheels on the left for additional controls including a small LED screen and some transport controls. I might invest in some kind of outboard control surface.

But, overall, for I’m very satisfied with this small keyboard and Ableton Live Lite.

This unit has some wonderful features, including easy controller assignments, and it is very competetively priced. But, until Alesis addresses a major problem, this model will be fairly useless to many of us. I owned one of these for about a month. At first i used it to control VST’s that didn’t need a sustain pedal. Then I plugged in a sustain pedal and found that once used, the sustain continued until the unit was re-started. I searched for a fix online, only to learn that the problem was very common, and was caused by an internal design flaw that I could never repair. Fortunately, the vender with whom I deal treated me well and gave me a full refund. Do your research before you buy this. Alesis is a good company, but this is a troubled product. Once they get the fix in place, it should be fine.