Oxygen8 - USB MIDI Keyboard
reviewed by cambler, 13 March 2002, Add/view comments (54 comments)


Rating: 8/10, Company: Midiman, Price: $180 list, $140 street, View large picture


Software synths are here to stay - that's a fact of life. Unfortunately, there are precious few controllers available that provide the fully-assignable MIDI control that we all need to make the most efficient use of this fantastic software to which we've all become addicted. The Oxygen8 is MidiMan's attempt at a low- cost entry into this young market.

Key Features

  • Eight MIDI assignable knobs and one assignable slider
  • Pitch bend and modulation wheels
  • 25-key MIDI keyboard capable of sending all MIDI messages
  • Keyboard is velocity sensitive
  • Full 16 channels of MIDI via USB
  • Fully-programmable
  • Sends and receives sixteen channels of MIDI via USB port
  • USB MIDI supports both In and Out
  • Can be powered by USB port, included power supply, or by six AA batteries
  • Jack for optional sustain footswitch

Oxygen8 Out Of The Box

Out of the box, the Oxygen8 was simple to install. Unlike most other USB devices that require drivers be installed before the device is connected, the Oxygen8 uses the more normal method of searching for drivers upon initial connection. Note that I said drivers. Plural. There are three drivers that are installed when the Oxygen8 is first detected. My guess is that a lot of driver problems are caused by users who presume that the second or third detected device is an error, and cancel the driver installation.

Once the Oxygen8 was installed, I routed the standard MIDI output to my Novation A-Station to see how it functioned without any tweaking. Sure enough, pitch and modulation wheels, as well as octave select were active, and the data entry slider acted as volume control. Naturally, knobs 1-8, while transmitting MIDI, modified random settings on the A-Station. The default configuration for the 8 knobs had no resemblance to anything useful on a random piece of equipment.

The display is a 3-character LED, and tracks the value of whatever control is being manipulated. This is the value that is sent down the line, regardless of the actual setting in whatever you're controlling. Data entry is accomplished via the keyboard, which acts as a keypad when in edit mode. Each key specifies a function, and the numeric values are available as well as an "enter" key. It's also to note that the USB MIDI implementation supports 16 channels, and also has a pair of MIDI outs.

Oxygen8 and Reason

Now that I'd confirmed that the keyboard actually worked, it was time to check out Reason. I changed the setting on my MIDI patch bay to route the MIDI from the Oxygen8 to the Audiophile 2496 MIDI in. I started up Reason, loaded a random song, picked a Subtractor, and hit a power chord: sound! Fantastic. I then opened up the MIDI settings in Reason and changed the input source to the "In USB KeyStation" option, and kept playing, with no difference. Just for grins, I reset the patch bay to route the standard MIDI out to the A-Station, and kept Reason connected to the USB MIDI. Sure enough, both devices sounded.

Morbid curiousity got to me, and I checked to see what the default settings would do to Reason's Subtractor. The results:

  • knob 1: nothing
  • knob 2: nothing
  • knob 3: amp envelope sustain
  • knob 4: nothing
  • knob 5: filter envelope attack
  • knob 6: filter envelope delay
  • knob 7: filter envelope sustain
  • knob 8: filter envelope release

The knobs run the full range of the sliders, as expected, from 0 to 100. I decided to change knob 1 randomly, and, following the instructions (everyone reads the manual, right?), I changed knob 1 to channel 1 and parameter 23. Sure enough, it started controlling the cent value of oscillator 1. So one way of configuring the Oxygen8 would be to assign the knobs to the appropriate values to control the different variables. This is the hard way, of course.

Configuring for Reason

The easiest way to configure for Reason has to be the MIDI remote mapping feature of Reason. In the options menu, select edit MIDI remote mapping. This puts you into a mode to assign controls. Click on a control, and an options dialog comes up. Check the learn from MIDI input box, and then fiddle a knob or slider until you see some activity in the MIDI received area of the dialog. Click ok, and you'll notice a channel:controller overlay that tells you which channel and controller now work this control. Clear the edit midi remote mapping (back in the options menu) and enable enable midi remote mapping to instruct Reason to listen for the MIDI maps you set up. That's all there is to it.

You can even set it up so that the same knob affects more than one control. Setting the mod wheel to affect both filters' frequency made for some dramatic sweeps with smooth and easy control. I recorded some of them and then took a look at the curves in Reason's editor. The curves were smooth - at least as smooth as I could make them by changing the mod wheel in real time. Even turning 2 or 3 knobs at the same time exhibited no problems. Note, though, the origin position of the knob and the default origin in Reason - make sure they match, or you'll get a jump when the first control message hits! This is a common issue with any controller, however.

Okay, what wasn't so hot?

I'll say, right off, that the keys are a bit mushy, and there are only 25 of them. They're not the best feel, and that might be an understatement. To be fair, this isn't a performance keyboard. I doubt I'd want to use it live, except for, perhaps, the most basic lines. The knobs also took some getting used to. They're not the best feel, are not weighted very well, and tend to slip a little bit between the fingers. I would have liked to have seen knobs that provided relative change data rather than absolute values.

The verdict...


Overall, I have to say that I like this little controller for editing and input. As I said above, it's not a live performance instrument, nor was it meant to be. The fact that it will take its power from batteries or parasitically off of the USB line is a definite plus in being able to recommend it as an excellent mobile keyboard. I anticipate a lot of mobile use with my laptop. And, of course, the price can't be beat, especially with street prices around $130 even considering that the first run has reportedly completely sold out.

For a final rating, I'm going to give the Oxygen8 an 8 out of 10, with a caveat that, had this keyboard come out a year from now, I suspect that the rating would be lower. The Oxygen8 gives access to editing that is clearly better than the old play-with-one-hand and mouse-with-the-other method, but it is surely to be one of the first in a whole new market for software synth controllers. It's a given that future offerings (from Midiman as well as other manufacturers) will build upon the strengths and weaknesses of the Oxygen8. As they should.

Test Machine Configuration

AMD Athlon 1200 MHz, 512M DDR RAM, 80 gigabyte HD, Matrox G400 Dual Head & 2 monitors, Audiophile 2496 used as standard MIDI input, Gina used for sound output (using digital channels 1 & 2)

? 2002, Christopher Ambler, all rights reserved. License granted for publication by ReasonStation.