Akai Advance 61

Hi,
 
I am in the market for my first keyboard controller and quite liked the look of the Akai Advance 61. Has anyone got experience of using this with Cakewalk Sonar? How easy is it to setup? What alternatives to the Akai would you recommend?
 
I predominantly use cakewalk just for editing my recordings so I am not an advanced user. Can anyone recommend a good way of improving my skills with the software (books, videos, etc).
 
Thanks guys!
 
Terra

A further thought. Go for at least a 61 note board. You will eventually find shorter boards frustratingly limiting.

There is a thread in the Hardware forum in the studio section. There is quite a bit of discussion on pros and cons.

A VSTi (VST instrument) is a software instrument that communicates with a DAW (like SONAR) using the VST protocol developed by Steinberg. I tend to use the VI (virtual instrument) acronym instead, because it also includes the standalone version of virtual instruments (like Addictive Drums 2) in addition to the plugin (VST) version.
 
You don't mention which version of SONAR you have (Artist, Producer or Platinum?), so I don't know what VIs and FX (effects) you have. Take a look at my post in this thread (re SONAR training):
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3358449
 
I don't want to complicate things too much, but you will find many VIs require NI's Kontakt application. NI has a number of other applications upon which vendors build VIs. Each of those NI applicaitons has a stupid single license price. That's why many people wind up buying Komplete or Komplete Ultimate (I have K9U; K10 is the currently shipping version). Plus, Ultimate comes on a USB hard drive, which saves a LOT of downloading.
 
If you don't see yourself acquiring K10 or K10U (or K11, whenever that ships), then the NI keyboard controller may not be the best choice. Since you're a piano player, you may want to focus on the keyboard itself (its action). I have a Nektar Panorama P6 (61 keys) and really like it. I use the controller parts of it from time to time, but I play it every day. My recommendation would be to make sure that you get a keyboard with semi-weighted action. Otherwise, you'll wind up with something much more organ-like.
 
SONAR is not the most hospitable host (pun intended) when it comes to dealing with MIDI controllers, and you're not going to be doing any sound design, so I don't think the controller component of the keyboard will be as important to you as the keyboard action itself (and the quality of the driver, of course!).

TerraTkai
 
I think the s61 has really caught my eye, but I will try both and see how they feel first. I think I favour the text under the controls rather than on a separate screen. It will be parked in front of a huge computer screen anyway. I also like the light colour on the keys matching to the screen interfaces, seems very intuitive for it to work that way.
 

The text under the control encoders is a great idea. A seperate screen would be useful for browsing but I think the lables are more useful.
 
If you are a piano player you may prefer a hammer action board. The S88 has piano style keys. I would have gone for the 88 but I wanted "synth" style keys.
 
Komplete is a beast and contains a mass of stuff, great value for money even if you will only use half of it. It contains the full version of Kontakt which opens up a world of sampled instruments. There are many good free and cheap libraries available, as well as ones costing megabucks.
 
The instruments included in Komplete Select may be enough to get you going with a view to upgrading to Komplet at a later date. 

I own the Akai MPK261 and I'm very happy with my purchase. The controls were a little difficult to figure out in act cause it breaks them into 3 separate midi devices in Sonar but I can get most of the controls to work without a hitch.
I've never touched or owned the Akai Advance but the main selling point is just the touch screen and plugin integration software.
 
As far as getting better at Sonar, there's videos for sale in the Cakewalk shop they helped me a lot. For further education you can check out Groove3 and Lynda (Lynda teaches in pro tools but it translates to Sonar well)
 
Lynda has been a big help in getting my audio software skills up to par and I was happy with my subscription, you have to actually use it though and the information will take time to sink in. You'll probably go at it for 3 months and then not touch it for a while, from my experience.
 
Hope that answers your questions.

Whilst any controller can be configured with some effort to work with Sonar, if you are looking for a controller that has plug and play deep integration with Sonar, the Roland A-Pro series is a great choice. Comes in all sizes, and for the money has quite a nice action.
I bought the smallest version to use when travelling and have been very happy with it.
 
http://www.roland.com/products/a-500pro/
 

I have ben updating the thread in the hardware forum on my progress with my S61.
I have discovered how to set up the light guide to map zones in EastWest play and other instruments that do not do it automatically in Komplete Kontrol.

There is also miss information circulating that arpeggios and chords cannot be captured as MIDI in a DAW. This is not the case, you just have to route the MIDI out from the KK plugin (not the keyboard) to a MIDI track.

BassDaddy
Have fun making your decision, you won't make a mistake which ever one you get.

Very true.
 
I have collated my findings since getting my NI S61 here. http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3368341
 
Most of the reviews and tutorials concentrate almost entirly on integration with Komplete and I had to dig deep to answer some of my questions related to third party non NKS stuff so I put it all down in one place.