Big Wood Wind Instrument

I must admit, the first time I unboxed the instrument, I was amazed at the build quality. It has some heft, the keys are properly and ergonomically placed and you know Akai really took their time to perfect this wind controller. But as a long time saxophone player, the first time I actually played some scales, I was quite disappointed - it didn't feel like a saxophone. I was beginning to regret my purchase and thought about exchanging it for the WX5. So I gave it a few more days. Days turned to weeks, and I am beginning to appreciate this instrument. Keep practicing those scales, breathing with the mouthpiece and you realize how this is such an amazing wind controller. I made a mistake thinking that this is a replacement for a saxophone in an apartment situation. In reality, you should think about how this instrument can be an extension to your musical endeavors. The possibilities you can do with the sounds and playability are endless. There are a few usable synths prebuilt, but I suggest using the Akai EWI 5000 Editor to really play and edit your sounds then save it to the user bank. Also there are synths out there that can be used if you plug the EWI as just a midi wind controller; unfortunately you can't upload other synth sounds into the controller. Definitely give it some time to get used to the instrument especially moving from one octave to another. Keep practicing and you'll appreciate that there's hardly any moving parts here. I was opposed at it first since horns have that tactile and key feedback. But with the touch sensitivity, it really felt I was playing an instrument from the future. Again, you just have to get used to it - think about when mobile phones shift from physical keyboards to the modern phones we have today. And here I am today still keeping my purchase and writing a review. I thank Akai for making a top-notch wind controller and continuing the support for the modern electronic wind musician.

Really fantastic big string sound in the VSL instrument family.

strong design and big wind. easy to use

and it is wood.

slides on very nice. im not sure its making a big difference on wind.

Crisp clear glass edge to edge and perfect all around Bino. From the Whitetail wood to big open country these have worked great for me. Great low in low light and 100% water proof. Great Vortex warranty if you should ever need it.

Worked. It's abit big but it does just barely fit in my instrument bag. Good solid build quality for the price, and the ac adapter is an added bonus.

This thing works great! I filmed a wedding in downtown Louisville, Ky on a rooftop without one of these and got horrible wind noise, etc... Since then, I purchased one of these for both of my PD170s and I can really tell a difference because it eliminates almost all wind noise on a calm day. On a very windy day you will still 'hear' the wind because of the trees, etc. but you will not get the dreaded wind thump on your video. I must say it works great! One note: This thing is HUGE!!! It is the same size as the body of my PD170. It looks like a big racoon setting up on top of my hotshoe. :) One more thing... Even though it is big, I am still able to fit a wireless receiver on my hotshoe and not get too crowded.

*knock on wood* so far so good.

This is a solid block of wood, does everything you'd want a block of wood to do.