The M-Audio Oxygen Pro series provides the reliability and efficiency expected of an M-Audio product but also hosts a wealth of game-changing features which allow anyone, with any DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), to make music.
It’s a new endeavour that takes M-Audio’s MIDI keyboards to new heights, offering access to professional features that aren’t found anywhere else.
A new era for MIDI keyboards
OK, to immediately address the elephant in the proverbial room, MIDI controllers and keyboards aren’t exactly the most exciting products in the world.
As we’ve seen over the past few decades, they’re workhorse tools for music production, designed to be no-frills and efficient… until now.
The Oxygen series has been a staple in studios and homes around the world since the launch of the M-Audio Oxygen8 in 2002.
M-Audio followed up with another five generations of Oxygen series, namely the current incarnation the Oxygen MKV series.
And alongside the launch of MKV came Oxygen Pro.
So, let’s talk about the unique features of this MIDI keyboard controller… it could well be the best MIDI keyboard available right now.
Putting the pro in Oxygen Pro
When looking at the Oxygen Pro feature list, there’s one thing that immediately jumps out, and that’s Smart Chord and Smart Scale Technology. These innovative features make creating music easy, practical, and fun for anyone, whatever your level of musical theory.
Smart Chord
Smart Chord allows you to trigger a chord from just a single key press. With multiple chord property options built into an Oxygen Pro MIDI keyboard, you’re not limited to basic shapes.
Not only do you have a wealth of chord voicings to choose from, but you also have the option to program your own custom chord voicings into the Oxygen Pro!
Smart Scale
Smart Scale mode is simple. It lets you set a scale on the keybed and disable keys outside of said scale. This means you can play a perfect scale without the risk of any “incorrect” notes (great, right?).
As well as being a fantastic learning tool, it’s ideal for songwriters who may not have the musical theory.
DAW auto-mapping
Just because MIDI is universal doesn’t mean that MIDI keyboard assignment is.
There’s a wealth of DAWs available to the consumer in 2022, all with their own MIDI mapping.
M-Audio have taken the liberty to pre-map their Oxygen Pro MIDI keyboards to all major DAWs.
Whether you’re using MPC Beats, ProTools, Ableton, Cubase, Logic, or any other mainstream DAW, you’ll be able to effortlessly map your Oxygen to it.
You can customise this even further via Preset Editor software, which gives you further function knob amendments, pad and fader controls, modulation wheel controls, and DAW shortcuts that are pad-assignable.
Up to 16 presets are achievable, all assignable to the keybed.
It’s all tactile!
There’s nothing more annoying than getting into the flow, really feeling a beat or a melody, and then having to look up and scour through a hundred settings on a screen with a mouse and keyboard.
The Oxygen Pro pulls you away from the screen and gives you access to all the transport controls you need, right at your fingertips.
Each M-Audio keyboard in the Oxygen Pro series features a huge wealth of recording, playback, and assignable controls. Standard transport controls, such as start, record, loop, and stop, are all easily accessible on the front panel.
A brilliant little feature for live use is the stop button that doubles up as a ‘PANIC’ button, sending an ‘All Notes Off’ command to all 16 MIDI channels in case of emergency!
Beyond this, there are more unique features, such as the mini-LED screen which allows you to clearly see controls you’re navigating through using the scroll encoder.
You can also experiment with a built-in arpeggiator, accessible via the top panel, alongside a note repeat button which can be assigned to latch to pads!
Find out more
M-Audio have seriously changed the game with the innovative Oxygen Pro series – why not check it out for yourself?
Plus, the Mini MIDI Controller features in our Top 5 MIDI controllers under £100 list!
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