I'm curious about the EWI-USB controller also.  I have a Yamaha breath control on the Kurz so I will give it a try with The Saxophones Monday to see how it works out.
 
I would have never bought it if Bapu had not reminded me about my CC. Actually, I forgot I had put it in my wallet...

Rick, are you one of the few that have the Yamaha BC3a breath controller, that are highly sought after still to this day?
Is that what helped your decision to 'swipe the CC' for the Saxes?

jimusic
Rick, are you one of the few that have the Yamaha BC3a breath controller, that are highly sought after still to this day?
Is that what helped your decision to 'swipe the CC' for the Saxes?

It just says Yamaha breath controller BC3, I don't see the 'a' on it. Bought it years ago when the Kurz K2661 was first released along with the 300mm ribbon controller. I rarely use the breath controller so it did kinda help but I really blame it all on Bapu...

rtucker55
...I rarely use the breath controller so it did kinda help but I really blame it all on Bapu...

Uh-huh! I'll do the same then, if I decide to purchase it. 
 
Meanwhile do you think that you're gonna be tempted to get the EWI eventually?

I've been researching the EWI USB for a few hours now and I keep seeing complaints that it may not work well with Windows 7 so I'm not sure yet if it is in my future or not. There will always be a few people that have issues with anything but I just keep seeing more than a few. It's really hard to make a judgement based on on-line reviews.
 
It would really be interesting to actually play with the EWI just to see how it works/feels as a controller on Win 7 and how the octave switching rollers work and the pitch bend plate, etc... I think if it would function properly on Win 7 a guy would just have to practice some scales and eventually get the hang of it.
 
I wish MarioD could shed a little more light on the subject as it looks like he is using his EWI with Win 7 Pro.

I will try to answer your questions the best I can.  There are others who frequent these forums who are real wind controller players.  I am still just a hacker on it.  I bought it, as I wanted more realistic MIDI horns in my music and the EWI-USB certainly fit that bill for me.  Note I’ve been playing guitar and bass for 54 years; those are my main instruments.

Jimusic – I played a trumpet way back when.  I purchased the EWI-USB as it has a trumpet/brass like fingering system, see here for the fingering chart: http://www.patchmanmusic....4000sEVIFingering.html
Just scroll down until you see it.  It does take quite a while to figure it out so don’t buy it thinking that you can jump in and play it.  It takes awhile to get use to using the left hand and the fingering techniques.  The biggest problem I have is with those octave controllers.  If I practiced more I would be more efficient at it!  But don’t let this bother you.  With a little practice and X3d’s MIDI editing you can put down some very realistic horn parts. 

You can set up the EWI-USB to fit your playing style.  That is there are adjustments for volume, vibrato,  CC assignments etc.  Be forewarned that the instrument has quite a bit of wind resistance, i.e. it takes some breath power to play it.  Again not a show stopper, at least not for this old timer. 

Rtrucker55- I had absolutely no problem installing and using the EWI-USB on my 64 bit Win 7 Pro system. This is the first time I have ever heard of those kinds of problems however I don’t frequent many wind controller sites.

If you played a sax or clarinet you would be right at home with the fingering.  EWIs have a few different fingering combinations that can be set up.  My guess is that the brass like fingering is the hardest transition, as it appears the woodwind transitions are identical to the actual instrument.  However not having played those instruments I can only go by what I’m told.

As I stated about those octave rollers are a challenge, at least they are to me.  The vibrato is very good.  The pitch bend plates are also very good and you can assign different CCs to them.

You are correct that with practice you will get the hang of it.  I can play it just enough to put down parts and with a little editing come up with some great sounding horns, saxes, oboes etc with it.  Plus the more I play it the less editing I have to do.

You can hear what I am doing with it here: https://soundcloud.com/mario_guitar/tracks

I hope this helps.

Thank You for the in-depth review MarioD. perhaps the issues I was reading about was software related vs. controler related. Regardless, looks like I'll be shopping around for a good price. It looks like JRR has it for around $255, + shipping, if you use the GROUP coupon code.
 
Again, Thanks to all for this thread and the help. (that includes Bapu)

rtucker55
I've been researching the EWI USB for a few hours now and I keep seeing complaints that it may not work well with Windows 7 so I'm not sure yet if it is in my future or not. There will always be a few people that have issues with anything but I just keep seeing more than a few. It's really hard to make a judgement based on on-line reviews.
 
It would really be interesting to actually play with the EWI just to see how it works/feels as a controller on Win 7 and how the octave switching rollers work and the pitch bend plate, etc... I think if it would function properly on Win 7 a guy would just have to practice some scales and eventually get the hang of it.
 
I wish MarioD could shed a little more light on the subject as it looks like he is using his EWI with Win 7 Pro.

Yup - I've been doing the exact thing same Rick.
We're probably reading many of the same reviews. The main ones that concern me are found on pages 3-4 on Amazon. 
 
My main music store gives a 30 day return window but I'm not totally sure if that would apply in this case - maybe I'd have to take a bit if a hit on the refund and swallow the cost of them putting in a new mouthpiece, which I'd be totally ok with.
 
But then at least I could try it out for a month.
I can call tomorrow & see what they'll say about that.
 
I too am on Win 7 - 64.

Yes - thank you for chiming in and answering our questions Mario.
 
I read your detailed post with interest, and appreciate the time it must have taken you to do so.  
 

I'm definitely not writing it off at this point but I just read a couple more reviews at Sweetwater and both guys that used windows said they had some issues with hung notes and such. I notice the Akai web site specifies XP or vista but I was hoping that was for the Aria software.
 
As long as it is not a Driver problem it should be ok...  Going to download the install/user manual and give it a quick read.
 
This may be an interesting quick read:  http://www.ewiusb.com/howTo_PCSetup