M Audio Oxygen 49 Midi Keyboard - can it be played without a PC?

Question

Hi there :) Ive just bought an Oxygen 49 Midi Keyboard to use with FL studio on my PC. I'm very happy with it and think its a great keyboard for a beginner like myself. Im just wondering if it can be played when it is not connected to the PC and is connected to a mains device instead. It only came with 1 wire - the USB cable to use with a PC, and it has a "sustain" and "MIDI Out" slot - and I know what they are for. But i've noticed that there is another hole in the back which says above it "12V DC". Is this the connection where a cable can be put in to the keyboard and plugged into a socket so it can be switched on and played without being connected to a PC?

Thanks :)

Answer 1

Yes, you can.



You will need an external sound source. Maybe a MIDI sound module or another keyboard.



The 12V DC is for an adapter. When you use the keyboard as USB, it draws power from the computer, eliminating the need for DC power. If you want to use it as a non-USB controller, you'll need external power. i.e., the 12V DC.



Of course, you'll also need a MIDI cable to go from your MIDI out to another device's MIDI in.

Answer 2

MIDI is a hardware + software global standard for encoding musical performance for storage, reproduction, and remote control of other MIDI devices (including nonmusical machines e.g. light show controllers). A MIDI device need not be a sound source or processor, but often is as well as a controller. A MIDI keyboard may or may not be a sound generator (or "synth"), but merely a "controller" that generates &/or processes MIDI digital code (serial strings of digital code I/O).



Silent MIDI controllers (or processors) that contain no audio, rely on their code output being acted on by other remote connected devices, e.g. sound generator hardware (synths, etc.) or musical software (PC based), or printed score transcription software, etc. etc. If one has no PC+softsynth wares, no worry. A MIDI controller is designed to control ANY MIDI instrument or sound generator module that has a MIDI IN port on it, and their have been countless thousands of models since the birth of MIDI around 1984-85. Some MIDI sound generators are light, compact, palm sized devices; some old devices are large, bulky, and were almost too heavy for 1 person to lift and carry.



See the M-Audio Web site below for specific specs on your MIDI keyboard. I'll bet you can ascertain whether it's an instrument or just a controller intended to be connected to a PC either by MIDI port+cables, or USB interface, or firewire, or whatever.



Otherwise, you can just look on the hardware's back and side panels for some audio out jack, which would be a pretty good clue. ;-)

Answer 3

You can't really play this outside of it being plugged into the computer. The power input that you are seeing is an optional input for external power. The device draws its notes from whatever program you are running it with.