Bluetooth and Midi Controller Problems With Reaper DAW

I recieved my M-Audio Midi Oxygen 49 MkV midi controller the other day and was having trouble connecting it to my DAW, I use Reaper, with any consistency. The sound would cut out, become garbled or just plain would not work every time.

I discovered that bluetooth was the problem. I was using bluetooth headphones and a bluetooth external speaker system. All I had to do was disable the bluetooth in windows, and reconnect my wired studio speakers and wired headset. All problems and inconsistent operation cleared up.

Not sure why this happened, and don’t really care, but I just wanted others to be aware that this could happen.

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Thanks for the tip Celticstar. I personally would never use bluetooth for anything DAI/DAW related. You get way too much latency and audio compression on older bluetooth connections.

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Actually it was my own fault because I got a great deal on a Sony external bluetooth speaker a few months ago and I never reverted back to my wired speakers.
Just lazy on my behalf :crazy_face: Oh well live and learn.

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Aside from the Bluetooth issue (which seem to have under control), how are you liking the Oxygen so far? I have one in my shopping cart, but haven’t yet pulled the trigger.
Is there a huge difference between the 49 key and the 25 key in terms of features and quality?

This midi controller more than meets my expectations.

Nope. Just make sure you get the MKV and not the MKIV version.
Here is a comparison video.

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The 49-key gets you two more octaves :slight_smile:

This is important to some of us.

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If I had the space I would buy a 49 key over 25.

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I purchased the 49 key so that I had 4 a octave range and do not have to worry about using the keyboard octave switch + and - keys so much. Just seemed more convenient to me. For my purposes the 61 key seemed overkill and the 25 key was too small a range.

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It’s important to me as well, but doesn’t it have a switch or button to switch it to the lower or higher part of the keyboard? I’m pretty sure it does.

yes, they will all have a +/- octave key. Which is a total PITA to need to use while playing.

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Yeah, I can imagine that would be a PITA if using it to play music like you do. For my purposes (transcribing), the 49 key should work fine, and possibly even the 25 key.

I tend to agree, and now I’m leaning toward the 49 key.

49 is totally fine even for playing; relatively few songs exceed a four octave range.

But as mentioned, I wouldn’t recommend to buy a keyboard controller unless you plan to play or add synthesizers to your arsenal. For transcribing alone for someone without a keyboard background, it seems like overkill to me.

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I agree 100%.

I purchased it primarily for adding virtual instruments to tracks I will be recording in Reaper but am already using it in MuseScore and it definitely saves time.

Hey @PamPurrs what happened? I thought you were happy with your mouse and computer keyboard :wink:

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I am as far as transcribing goes. It might be fun to noodle around on a piano though.

Understood but be aware that there are a lot more virtual instruments than a piano to noodle around with.

Speaking of pianos what recommendations for Piano VSTi’s can people recommend. Piano One is a recommended one but the site is under construction and it cannot be downloaded at this time.

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I’d recommend looking on PluginBoutique and searching for pianos, and look for ratings. All synths will have a piano patch as well, but generally there will be better quality focused piano plugins.

Also, never buy plugins unless they are on sale :slight_smile:

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Thank you.

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I watched that video, and honestly for what I would use it for, the IV is more than adequate. There are lots of used ones on the market.

Go for it.

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