I have had my Hammer88 for about a month. I'm thrilled. I'm 61...I've been playing piano since I was a toddler, literally...running to our big upright grand and banging out the song i just heard on the radio. I'm a piano player. I've played many. If you need an incredibly life-like keyboard, this is it. And the 88Ensemble is a killer plugin to use.To address all the one-star and other negative reviews...they all seem to complain about heaviness, slowness, etc.If you leave all the settings to default, yes, it can "feel" sluggish. However, go to the lower right hand corner of the Ensemble88 screen, and adjust the velocity to "HARDEST"....voila...it's light as a feather once you do that. You must understand this keyboard is truly the best weighted controller I've played.My roommate bought a used (mostly used-up) Nord HP4...there was absolutely NO padding in the thing...every time you struck a key, no matter how gently, you heard a loud bonk...hammer on metal, echoing. It was loud enough that even playing with headphones, the downstairs neighbors still banged on the ceiling! the knocking was that loud!With that in mind, this thing is QUIET AS A MOUSE! Had a friend listen to me play it with just headphones on and he said you can hear some light noises, but nothing like that Nord. So I'm happy with that...I can put the phones on and play at 3am, neighbors or no.There is a caveat with one aspect of how it performs, but for me it's mostly inconsequential. It is sometime subject to, if you are not hitting the key properly, the key not triggering the sound. However, if your finger positions are in good form, and you hit each key squarely, this isn't an issue. It's the "sideways hits" that make this happen, from what I've noticed in this first month.This thing is solid and built like a tank, and I'm very glad of that. It don't feel like I'm banging on a piece of plastic that's about to break. It feels like a piano.And one other thing about the software: on the 88Ensemble, you will run into some oddness with the pedal, unless you choose one of the "COMPLETE" pianos (A, B, etc)...these contain all the 45-second fades and ambient sounds when you hold the pedal down...it's actually quite good! I've hit ten note chords and quickly run up and down, pedal pressed, and every note sounded. Each of the "COMPLETE" pianos with "SOLO" in the name are amped up and sound killer for rock piano. "B Complete Solo" is my favorite so far.So, if you're a life-long piano player and you need a controller, this is it. The software is good. I'm using it on both my older MacBookPro and MacPro Cheezegrater tower. Runs beautifully. There is a bit of a pain-in-the-ass where the "authorization" mess is concerned. I hate that kinda stuff to begin with, and this "iLok" thing isn't that intuitive. BUT: you're allowed TWO activations with each plugin, so put 'em on a studio Mac and a portable Mac with the iLok thing, and yer set.Ableton is the quickest and easiest thing to get going with. ProTools is as obtuse as ever.And I gotta say the VELVET electronic piano plugin RULES! EVERY make/model of significant electric piano from the '60s and '70s. All very well done. Nice graphics, too.And Hammond emulator with LESLIE emulation also???? WOWOWOWOW!!!!! IT sounds real. I've played a real B3. I've been around and used REAL Leslies...this is VERY cool and easy to use.SO: Get to know your software. Dig for help videos, because AIR "support" is totally non-existant!BUT BUY THIS THING BEFORE THEY "UPDATE" IT AND SCREW IT UP!!!!!!UPDDATE 05-16-21: TO EVERYBODY COMPLAINING OF LOOSE USB JACKS, THROW AWAY THE ORIGINAL CABLE AND GET A FRESH NEW CABLE WITHOUT THE STUPID FERRITE COIL KNOB IN IT!!!!!!!! VOILA !!!!!! PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!! NOW, GO GET A NEW CABLE AND STOP TRASHING THIS BEAUTIFUL KEYBOARD ON THE WEB!

Ok, there aren't any reviews of this keyboard as yet. It hits a new price point for M-Audio - in fact for any true weighted-key keyboard. The alternate I looked at was the Roland Juno DS-88, which is 150% more at $1000. There is no equivalent keyboard at $400. And there were no reviews for this keyboard, nor does M-Audio have an exceptional reputation as a pro instrument. I have an Oxygen 49 MKIV keyboard I have been learning on. I play guitar by ear, started learning music notation and for me a keyboard has been the epiphany connecting those notes on the page with the sounds I play.The Oxy 49 is a velocity key, but not a weighted key and it feels completely NOT like a piano. I wanted to learn with the expressiveness I could feel in a piano keyboard that was completely missing on the Oxy, plus have the full 88 keys of a piano available to make learning more seamless.This keyboard is heavy. It is big. I bought a Gator gig bag for it, you definitely need something to safely store it in. It weighs almost 40 pounds. Light for a full size weighted and velocity sensitive keyboard, but way heavier than the Oxygen 49. The keys are slightly stiff out of the box, but they loosen up as either they adjust or I adjust - these have a true piano keyboard feel. The sound is expressive, the keys respond to pressure and movement in a natural way. The keyboard is made of plastic and metal, and while I would be careful moving it around to not knock into things, with any care at all it should do well. The key mechanism seems solid and consistent. I'll update this in six months once I've had use of it for a bit, and let you know how it goes. It seems very well-made after a couple of days use. If it holds up, this is an amazing value. It really has a mechanical key feel, and for me that translates into a feel.

I was in the market for a great stage keyboard but didn't want to spend several thousand dollars for a Nord. This keyboard feels on par, honestly even BETTER than the Nords I've played. The hammer action is just right and has exactly everything I needed.I use this keyboard with Kontakt and Keyscape and have been elated with the quality, feel, and sound.This keyboard does not have any drums pads/buttons besides the octave control, however, the one slider (and any of the keys) can be MIDI mapped to anything you'd like, which for me was the master volume of my DAW. You could also just use another piece of equipment. In my case, I ordered laptops stands to hold my laptop and a launch control XL.The pitch wheel feels incredibly sturdy and the mod wheel very firm yet durable and have gentle red backlighting --perfect.I was very apprehensive of ordering a keyboard online without trying it in person in real life and felt overjoyed and blessed by the quality of this keyboard.

I had an entry-level Roland FP-10 before this and the keys themselves had a somewhat realistic piano-like feel. The keys are this thing are just your standard, plastic MIDI controller keys.That said, the hammer weighting works well. I'm able to play very expressively on this thing... I just wish the keys didn't feel so cheap.

I love this keyboard! I was looking for a full range controller and discovered this one at a very fair price. The quality of the keys are top notch and the response is nicely balanced-not too heavy or light.Amazon delivered it to me in 4 days and I've had the keyboard for a year now and it's never let me down.I would recommend getting a sturdy heavy duty piano stand as it is heavy -like 70lbs!One thing to remember if considering this controller is it's a controller, i.e. there are no built-in sounds, so you'll need to access your sample library on your computer through a digital workstation-M-Audio provides very decent sounding samples in their software package which is included in the purchase.All in all it's an awesome controller for someone who's primarily a piano player (there are better options for synth players) and the controller integrates seamlessly with all popular workstations Protools, Cubase, Nuendo, Studio One etc.

Questa keyboard mi ha proprio soddisfatta, cercavo una tastiera professionale con un prezzo ragionevole per iniziare a studiare e a comporre i miei brani al pianoforte e devo dire che sono soldi ben spesi. Come prima tastiera da home studio la consiglio al 100%.

He notado mucho el cambio de tocar teclas semi-pesadas a estas que son como los pianos.Muy satisfactorio de tocar y fácil de hacer funcionar con Reaper

Die Funktionsvielfalt ist schon beachtlicht, es funktioniert vieles auf Anhieb "Out of the Box". Man sollte aber bei allen Midi Sachen, wissen was man tut, das ist kein Plug and Play. Dafür braucht man dann nicht die Pro Variante. Die Transportfunktionen sind ein Segen, kein Mausgeschubse mehr, Record drücken und los geht es die freien Tasten belege ich mit unterschiedlichen Sounds und der Spaß nimmt kein Ende. Alles ist sehr wertig gebaut, Tastatur macht Geräusche, ja ist ja auch ne Hammermechanik.Für die Leute die Ihren Workflow verbessern wollen eine lohnenswerte Anschaffung.

Most wonderful equipment.....it works well with presonus studio 26c...thanks to M-Audio and Amazon.....and if u got more money just wait for M-Audio hammer 88 pro....