Those knobs work fine, but they also feel slightly wobbly, and the moulding of the plastic caps is a little uneven. It's in no danger of breaking, but it is disconcerting nonetheless, and not the kind of thing you'd find on a more expensive controller.

The top panel above the keyboard, for example, flexes quite noticeably, especially when the drum pads or knobs are in use. The QX49 manages to look more expensive than it is, but there are practical limits to the build quality achievable on a product in this price bracket.

The pleasing look of the keyboard is perhaps slightly let down by its hands-on 'feel'. The QX49's back panel features a quarter-inch input for a sustain pedal, two MIDI Out sockets, a USB port, a power switch, and an input for an optional 9V power supply. Fortunately, it worked on the second attempt. My first attempt failed, however, ending in an error dialogue advising me to 'consult with your device manufacturer for assistance'. The QX49 is a 'class compliant' USB device, so installation ought to be as simple as plugging and playing. The MIDI and mains adaptor sockets allow the QX49 to be used alongside hardware sound sources in a computerless setup, or to serve as a basic MIDI interface for a computer-based studio. The back panel provides a pair of five-pin MIDI sockets ( for Keyboard MIDI Out and Computer MIDI Out), a standard USB socket for connecting to a host computer, a socket for connecting a mains adaptor (9V DC, 500mA, not supplied), a three-position power switch (the three positions being USB, Off and Power), and a quarter-inch jack socket for connecting a sustain pedal (also not supplied). At the left-hand end are pitch-bend and modulation wheels, Octave/Transpose buttons that shift the keyboard's range up or down, in octave or semitone increments, buttons to control various other keyboard functions, and a large and brightly backlit LCD screen.Īlong the top of the keyboard are, from left to right, eight assignable sliders, four assignable drum/percussion pads, eight assignable knobs, and a set of six sequencer transport buttons (loop on/off, rewind, fast forward, stop, play and record). Reasonably compact (32 x 9 x 3 inches) and lightweight, due to its all-plastic construction, it has a four-octave, 49-note keyboard.

Visually, the QX49 makes a good first impression, managing to look clean and functional. It's cheap, but is it cheerful? We examine the latest controller keyboard from Alesis.

Alesis keyboard drivers q49