# 'vaxmidi' midi controller thoughts/ reviews?



## FrankIV (Sep 7, 2016)

i just came across this midi controller series VAXMIDI. very interesting. comes in 4, 6, and 8 octave key layout. only $1,500 for a 96, yea, full 8 octave 96 key controller. the catch is you build it yourself, which doesn't look very hard at all. supposedly it has a new way of reading velocity that creates a much more fine tuned response for the user "14-bit velocity". ill be honest i don't know what that means. has polyphonic aftertouch etc. What gets scary is if you look at the websites forum, a bunch of people are asking why the forum is dead, why there hasn't been a single review post from even one buyer (though it was delayed a bit from its original may release). it is a new company, but the site is so vague and void of detailed info. not a single video showcasing it in any way.

http://www.vaxmidi.com/index.html

My only real concern is that they claim it is designed for years of abuse, but if you look on the features page or the assembly video on youtube, you'll see that the keys work off of little rubber tubes that basically get stretched when you push on a key. unless i missed something in the way that functions, i'm thinking those rubber tubes will quickly lose tension unequally depending on which keys you're hitting more often. it just seems like a terrible idea for something that has such a promising future. plus i love the simple thin flat design and non interfering controls. thoughts? has anyone bought one of these yet?

By the way, this is the same company that made the VAX77 folding midi board a couple years ago, but discontinued it because it was supposedly too expensive. So they're not that old of a company.


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## synthpunk (Sep 8, 2016)

My friends VX77 is still playing great if that is of any help. The Vax Midi is also made so that you can easily replace parts and sections of keys if need be (lets hope a good inventory of key mechanisms is built up after order fulfillment) which is music to a tech's ears. Ask Van directly about your question and let us know how he replies.


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## FrankIV (Sep 8, 2016)

synthpunk said:


> My friends VX77 is still playing great if that is of any help. The Vax Midi is also made so that you can easily replace parts and sections of keys if need be (lets hope a good inventory of key mechanisms is built up and order fulfillment) which is music to a tech's ears. Ask Van directly about your question and let us know how he replies.



thats where my suspicion stems from, the VAX77. ive heard nothing but great things about it, it says on the 'about us' in the website that they stopped selling it because it was too expensive. im curious if this newly designed board will have the same amount of quality/ functionality. though i do agree, the ease of replacing faulty parts sounds very nice


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## Zookes (Sep 11, 2016)

Have been watching the VAXMIDI. I am unsure if the key action can be trusted using such a design.

Was advertised as having modular design, but cannot fit a custom keybed? Disappointing, because there is nowhere to test this custom key action, and no resellers or ability for refunds if it is not comfortable.

Must wait for reviews that may never come.


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