m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guesses?

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otalgia-2000
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m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guesses?

Post by otalgia-2000 »

apologies, everyone -

i realize this is not the ideal forum for a specific cry for help about some other piece of hardware, but the m-audio message board is proving unresponsive and i am now posting here to see whether any of you, simply based on general experience, might hazard a guess as to what has happened to this piece of gear.

what's going wrong:
adjacent keys trigger identical notes; one key (F2) does not sound at all; other keys sometimes do not generate note-off (e.g. "stuck note").

hitting each key once in half-steps from E1-E3, MIDI monitor confirms that many of the same notes are being generated in a row, even though each key is only being pressed once. the pattern of error is inconsistent:

i strike the E1 key and MIDI monitor reports me as having starting on D#1 (for some reason, although i played the E1 key??!?). from there, half steps in order yield the following MIDI note output:

F1,F1,G1,G1,A1,B1,B1,C#2,C#2 ...

background info:

- unit is always set up, plugged into my mac pro via USB and ready to go
but powered down unless it's actually being used
- externally unit is in perfect physical condition -- rarely ever is it
moved even by inches from its location
- as noted, running under OSX -- so driver not an issue
- swapping out one USB cable for another does not resolve condition
- problem occurs on MIDI / external power as well as USB-MIDI / USB power
- changing plugins does not resolve condition
- have tried factory re-set 3 times
- using a different controller solves problem (so it's the 88es for sure).
- this 88es gets very light use and has been kept covered, in a smoke-free environment.

any ideas what might cause something like this to occur all of a sudden?

i'm at a loss to guess what might be done to fix / correct this problem (being reluctant to put very much dough into into repairing a $199 controller), at this point i'm just wondering what the heck happened.

thanks everyone
o-2k

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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by bayswater »

Well at least it's not MachFive that's doing this.

Does the manual for this keyboard describe a hard reset process?
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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

I hate to be the fly in your ointment, but I have both the 88 and 66 note es series and they have sat in a closet for years. Problems just like the ones you describe have prevented me from using them (they've long since been replaced). The reason: they suck as controllers. M-Audio is the worst company in terms of quality. Great customer service, but once the es series goes down it's time to start looking for a new controller. I gotta get mine up on Craig's list... interesting trades considered.

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otalgia-2000
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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by otalgia-2000 »

bayswater wrote:Well at least it's not MachFive that's doing this.

Does the manual for this keyboard describe a hard reset process?
it does, and i tried it... three times.

that not working led has inspired me to assume the worst...

thanks!
o-2k

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otalgia-2000
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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by otalgia-2000 »

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I hate to be the fly in your ointment, but I have both the 88 and 66 note es series and they have sat in a closet for years. Problems just like the ones you describe have prevented me from using them (they've long since been replaced). The reason: they suck as controllers. M-Audio is the worst company in terms of quality. Great customer service, but once the es series goes down it's time to start looking for a new controller. I gotta get mine up on Craig's list... interesting trades considered.
no fly, no ointment: you've simply confirmed my suspicions completely.

not that i'm happy about it at all, but i just needed to make sure there wasn't some alchemy either obvious or arcane that needed trying first (and really, after 3 factory resets what's left? burning the sage?)

but thanks for taking the time to weigh in, though, because it does help me to feel ok about feeling really p.o.'d about the whole thing!

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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

If it makes you feel better, I struggled with mine for about 6 months. Worked fine for a while, so I bought the 66 note version. Now both are gone. Love my Editrol PCR-800 for desktop. Not for my 88 controller, however. I'm a performing pianist so need weighted keys. I'm using a dying Kurzweil PC-88 for my MIDI piano input. The es series is very light weight, so if that doesn't bother you you should be able to get a nice controller for a few hundred bucks. Good luck!

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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by kgdrum »

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I hate to be the fly in your ointment, but I have both the 88 and 66 note es series and they have sat in a closet for years. Problems just like the ones you describe have prevented me from using them (they've long since been replaced). The reason: they suck as controllers. M-Audio is the worst company in terms of quality. Great customer service, but once the es series goes down it's time to start looking for a new controller. I gotta get mine up on Craig's list... interesting trades considered.

Image

+1


I had the 88 for a couple of painful years,got rid of it and replaced it with a Yamaha KX8 which i :love:

i found the MIDI implementation and m-audio support to be simply awful imho.
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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by James Steele »

I still have my old school Oberheim Xk. :) You'll pry it from my cold dead hands. :)
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otalgia-2000
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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by otalgia-2000 »

thanks everyone -

i should have thought to ask for replacement recommendations, so keep those cards and letters coming in.

weighted might be nice but i don't really require a performance board / ton of additional controls, as i also i have an MPK-49.

i would just like to be able to spread out out a bit, and have enough keyboard range to do some M5 key switching.

was actually looking at used yamaha KX-88's the other evening, talk about a walk down the time tunnel.

formal thank-you to bayswater for the MIDI monitor steer, very helpful!

o-2k

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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by Guitar Gaz »

I've been using my Keystation 61es model for years and it seems okay to me - apart from the on/off switch which is a bit dodgy. There are advanced functions which program some of the keys - never used them but it may be you have triggered something with the programmable keys. So although some have had problems with M-Audio gear it is still pretty good - but it is fairly cheap so depending on the pounding it gets it may not be as long lasting.
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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by James Steele »

Yeah... to be fair I have an M Audio Axiom 49 key that sits in my mix position that I use all the time and it's been holding up just dandy. YMMV. I also had good support from M Audio (at least years ago). I bought mine used and it was missing a fader cap. I called tech support and they guy just asked me for my address, threw a few extra in a padded envelope and mailed replacements to me at no charge. That impressed me.
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Re: m-audio keystation 88es: sudden malfunction -- any guess

Post by mikehalloran »

I'm not enough of a keyboardist to make a replacement recommendation.

I am enough of an electrician to recommend something that may help - and certainly won't hurt.

Remove the back. Look for any undocumented "keep alive" batteries. If you find any, they should be replaced.

Even if you don't, remove every connector and reattach three times. If there is even the smallest bit of corrosion or oxidation in the circuit, burnishing all the connectors may restore it. If this works, get a can of De-Ox-It from Radio Shack and do it again with a little cleaner on them.

You'd be surprised how often this works on old equipment.
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