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I have a controller that I love for piano type stuff - a Yamaha KX8. Weighted waterfall keys, suits my needs perfectly for real-feeling piano/organ type stuff.

I'm in need, however, of a more synth-oriented controller. I used to have a M-Audio Radium 49, but it was pretty shitty, ultimately ended up getting rid of it or giving it away in a move. I've been looking at the Akai MPK249 and it seems to really fit the bill in term of what I'm looking for. I'm a bit of a noob to this sort of thing though, so I figured I'd double check to get some opinions. Anyone recommend it? Or maybe something else in the same price range?

Finally, I wanted to see if there might be rumors of any new ones in the pipeline... I'd hate to pull the noob move of buying a piece of equipment right before a new release.

Halp!

Oh and I'll be mainly using this with Logic, sometimes Live. I use Maschine a lot of the times for beats, but it'll be nice to have the pads on the MPK to quickly dial up Logic's drums if I don't feel like dealing with the Maschine hassle (which it often is).

I have an mpk261. I kind of wish I went with the older generation MPK88. Basically you get some nicer pads and more pretty lights with the upgrade, not sure if it justified the price increase. It is however, a reliable easy to use controller. Easy setup, and an alright feel to it. Nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary, just a good application of a standard feature set.

Cool man, thank you! That's kinda what I gathered based on a lot of the reviews I've seen... nothing insanely new, but usable and solid.

The Novation SL MKII and the Arturia Keylab both caught my eye too, mainly the latter. Haven't heard a whole ton about it though... wonder how the pads are.

Side note: that Arturia Minilab is obv less complex, but pretty damn tempting for 100 bux.

Actually, just came across quite a bit of complaints about QC with the Arturias. Sounds bad, will avoid...

I indeed ended up pickup up the MPK249, and it's pretty damn sweet. I haven't really worked with it in depth yet, but I'm very happy with the general feel. It seems solid/heavy and the keys have a really nice feeling action, although I could hardly call myself a key action connoisseur. Regardless, doesn't feel cheap (which is a good thing, because it wasn't).

The default Ableton mapping sets up the faders and knobs as individual track faders and pans—I'm sure this will be pretty damn nice in the mix phase. Haven't mapped anything with MIDI learn for synths, etc, but I imagine it'll be a cinch. Will add to this vital, edge-of-your-seat review if not...

Oh yeah, it's definitely a well built cheaper controller with great integration. Key-feel is not great for me, but that's just because I was spoiled learning piano growing up, so everything just feels way too light in comparison.

I've been using an MPK49 for years and I love it. I've tried a lot of others too and this has been one of the better controllers I've owned.