I will be purchasing an Advance 49 soon unless there are any good reasons not to. I have read the other threads about them but would like to know what people think now that they have been out for a while. The obvious comparison to the NI Komplete Kontrol S keyboards would be welcome too. Hope to hear what people think after using them for a few months.

Wow. No one loves it? No one hates it? Or did no one buy it?

Been wondering about this as well. The word on the street is there are some incredible controllers that will be at NAMM this January so I've been holding off the Kontrol or Advance for now.

I bought the Advance 49 a few months ago replacing an Akai Max25. I am not really a keyboardist, I am using it as another midi controller. I have read some praise for the feel of the keys from experienced keyboard players- not so much negative in that respect from that group. The most negative comments I found were found at the NI forum- which seemed to me to comprise mostly of cheap shots at the people involved in programming the VIP software at AKAI. I have no issues with mine - the VIP is fairly handy and useful when browsing plugins presets (except NI stuff oddly enough). I don't use the plugins that came with the Advance-they require ilok Pace security stuff to be installed. 

I have no doubt that there are a lot of cheap shots by NI fanboys who want any competition for Kontrol to fail much like any other forum having to do with a specific product. Sad that it happens but it does.
 
I'm going to have to look around a little more and hope to see some solid stuff on comparing the two boards.

TerraSin
I have no doubt that there are a lot of cheap shots by NI fanboys who want any competition for Kontrol to fail much like any other forum having to do with a specific product. Sad that it happens but it does.

https://www.native-instru...s-akai-advance.258621/

Thanks for the link Dr A. I ordered an open box Akai Advance 49 for $398.00 which is $200.00 less than a new Komplete Kontrol 49. Even comparing apples to apples the Akai is $100.00 cheaper. Being cheaper was a factor. My current rig is a Edirol PCR with a Kore2 controller cleverly taped to it. Seeing that Kore sitting there didn't make me more likely to get the NI keyboard. I got to the point of forgiving NI for the Kore disaster but didn't want to give them $600.00 for a 49 key midi keyboard. Thanks for your replies and I will post my views on the Akai Advance. I hope to be able to authorize the included software instruments to the computer and not a dongle. My UVI stuff works ok that way.

I've been using the Akai Advance 49 for about 3 months and I'm happy with it so far. The VIP software is easy to use and is customizable. I was able to set up Komplete Ultimate with a little help from a Youtube video. I find the keys just a little stiff but more than usable. I use my Casio Privia PX-150 if I need a fully weighted 88 keyboard. There is some difficulty seting up the transport control (I believe I saw this addressed in another thread). My wish list for this would be support for more third party plugin presets, D-Pro comes to mind, but you can set them up and tag them with a little effort. You can licence the included software on the computer instead of using an iLok. Hope this helps.
 

Doktor Avalanchehttps://www.native-instru...s-akai-advance.258621/

Wow, the drama!
 
I think I will wait and see what is announced at NAMM. Seems both of them do a decent but not quite great job yet which is fine, they are both the first versions. If Akai fixes the VIP software and adds lights like the NI Kontrol has, it will be a home run for them. Maybe we'll see Novation come out of nowhere and release something that leaves them both in the dust. ;)

j/k, I love my Novation boards but they can't seem to get the software part right at all. I can't stand Automap so I don't even install it.

Thanks Ripwolf. Were you able to get the transport control to work with SONAR?