Haunting Wind Instrument With Dissonant Sounds

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.

Minimizes wind sounds on the rode mic go pretty well!

Need I say any more? It works!! Excellent reproduction of Brass Instrument Sounds! How can this be possible at sub $100??

The Theremini is a very nice little instrument. With it's 32 presets you get a variety of sounds out of this little instrument unlike a regular Theramin. I'm not a musician but learning how to play this is a challenge but it's also a lot of fun !

I'm gonna put it to you straight: I love this thing.Great things about it? Multiple fingering modes, two banks, rechargeable, wireless with ridiculously low latency (even when battery gets low) and a sound editor software that delivers. Having higher quality sounds compared to EWI4000s is great and being able to layer or octave those sounds without being hooked up to a computer is great for random creativity. For starters, it has a good sound that is actually adaptive to your style of play. I went through the whole of the sound bank and was pleased as I believe it's a true update. There will be uninformed haters out there that will say the sounds are not realistic or sound kazoo-like after listing to samples through a YouTube video, but what they're failing to realize is that it is an EWI, not a reed instrument; and, YouTube sound quality considering the source material and player isn't always that great. The EWI accomplishes everything it set out to and does not misrepresent what it can do in its instruction manual or marketing. I find that if I do a forceful brass hit or a strong blow using the saxophone sounds that there is a distinct difference in how the sound is presented and how it is carried. I find this ability built into the vast majority of sounds I use. These are the great things about the instrument.Areas in need of improvement? Let's see.. some thought that having a wireless MIDI ability would be useful, but honestly, I don't find this that important. Use a cord or acquire a wireless setup that you trust and believe in. Being able to load your own sounds? Get an iPad or a computer, VST library and software and use a cord. Again, I don't find this to be a hang-up. I owned the EWI4000s and did just fine with cords. I did fine then and I'll do fine now.All in all a great buy. Highly recommended. Highly responsive. Highly customizable. And a highly prized member of my instrument collection.

The depth of the sounds in this virtual instrument is staggering. It's like going from an SD TV to an OLED 8k HDTV. Very pleased with my purchase especially from B&H. Super fast shipping and the best price I could find online anywhere. Cheers! W. Oliver

Great, powerful instrument at a great package price on B&H. I'm a guitar player and I was just looking for something to give me some new sounds and inspiration - the XD definitely did. The presets are great right out of the box, but the journey into designing my own analog synth sounds has been even better due to the intuitive layout of the XD. The built in effects are great, and then I downloaded a few 3rd party effects and oscillators to make this versatile synth even more versatile. It's a great starter if you're looking to go down the synth rabbit hole. I can also see it taking a good bit of time to outgrow the XD too. It really has it all in there.

Mine came in perfect condition. The snare is far from weak. The amp/speaker is not weak either - it is at least as loud as the regular acoustic instrument, and mine is certainly louder, so that full volume is a bit too much. Besides, you can plug it into an amp or mic it if you need to - like any other cajon. The velocity sensitivity works great, and is completely adjustable. The only sounds that sound electronic are the few sounds that are supposed to sound electronic. The 20 settings that are acoustic sound great, and the 10 electronic sounds are so much fun to play with. You don't have to hit it so precisely. You certainly want the triggers localized, because you don't want to always hit the triggered sounds. That way, instead of the basically two sounds you normally get from a cajon, you can get many more varieties. I bought this for use in my professional band, and I'm glad I did. I would do it again. My drummer can now accompany me when I play what used to be solo gigs, when schlepping drums would not be appropriate. We can fit into more venues with this thing. That was the original reason for my purchase. Now - I am not saying that this is the best cajon on the market - that's a personal choice. I am saying that the instrument I received is of high quality, is very useful, and I have no regrets. I look forward to hearing what the future iterations of this great idea will sound like.

There are some awesome sounds that can be created with this instrument.  I even laid a few tracks over some Hip Hop beats and it sounded great.  Like any instrument, it takes a bit of practice to get some good sounds out of it.  You can play simple songs with it too.

This program was a long time coming. I had been an owner of one of the original mid 1960s Compact Combos for many years, until things started to break down. And of course, next to impossible to find parts. Or people that are able and willing to repair them. Some of the modern keyboards do have some of the Farfisa sounds, but in reality, only a small amount of them(like maybe 2 or 3 of them). In reality, there is more of a diverse amount of tones that the Farfisa produced. Even resorted to buying one of the Electro-Harmonix C9 organ emulator pedals, but that still wasn't enough of these particular kinds of tone for me. Then Arturia started coming out with these new virtual instrument programs. The dealers that I normally buy from carried the similar type of Vox Continental program(which would have probably worked fine, and would have settled for it) but knowing that the Farfisa program was also being made, I had to search to see who carried it. No regrets here. All the sounds that I was familiar with, and where they were situated on the virtual keyboard screen. What was interesting that they had the option of effects pedals in this program......and I would always run my Farfisa through a Phase Shifter and/or a Flanger when I had it. Also learned a few things that I did not know about my original instrument. There used to be this one controller that stuck out of the bottom, that you controlled with your knee. When I bought my original Farfisa(used, back in the mid-70s), that knee controller was missing, and it was something I never noticed. So, a bit more historical and technical information on the instrument you played regularly---but didn't know about. It's easy to get a keyboard that has the piano, Rhodes, and Hammond sounds, to name a few......but nobody seemed to get the Farfisa sounds right. Until now. Great timing, on the part of Arturia!