MAudio (Midiman) Oxygen 8 (25 keys)

[Chuck Puckett]

For years I've owned this device. I really only ever wanted a small footprint keyboard I could use to enter MIDI chords and melodies when I was away from my main studio. I never really used it.

I recently tried to use it in just that way with Sonar Platinum. I plugged in the USB cable to my Win 10 laptop, but I get not even a hint of recognizing the device. Windows just doesn't see ANYTHING. Further, I can't find any drivers or other software to support it.

Is this device just not useable? Or can anyone offer any suggestions?

tnx

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I would think that Windows should at least be able to detect that some sort of USB device is plugged in, although it might not know that it's a MIDI device if there is no Windows 10 driver and the controller isn't MIDI class-compliant. As old as that controller is, I'm sure there's no Windows 10 driver for it.

Actually, it might not be a problem with Windows 10 per se, because if the computer has a 64-bit processor then that might be the real issue. I'm not sure which version you have, but the manual that I'm looking at indicates that the driver should work in Windows XP, hence you might try to set up a virtual machine running Windows XP on your computer and see if that works (after installing the driver on the virtual machine, of course).

On the other hand, the manual I'm looking at shows that the Oxygen 8 has MIDI ports, so another idea would be to buy a decent quality USB-MIDI interface and use it to connect the Oxygen 8 to your computer, rather than using the Oxygen 8's USB port. Avoid the dirt cheap USB-MIDI interfaces, because often they don't work very well.

But in the long run, it would probably be better to retire your Oxygen 8 and replace it with a newer keyboard controller, because today's controllers should have more updated specifications and better features than the Oxygen 8.

 

[Chuck Puckett]

Thanks for the info.
I actually do have a MIDI/USB interface. I'll drag that out and give that a try. If it doesn't work, I'll look into a replacement.
All I need is a nicely portable, small footprint keyboard for composition use when travelling. I'm sure there now exist many nicely suitable alternatives.

 

[happyrat1]

You'll also require a power supply for the Oxygen. The MIDI ports won't supply enough power to run the unit.

Like Michael said, your best bet is not to throw money at the antique but instead pick up a new 12 note controller for about $100 or so.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Only 12 notes? I wouldn't settle for anything less than 25!

 

[happyrat1]

Personally I'm not happy with anything less than 49 but typos do happen sometimes ya know.

Gary

 

[Fred Coulter]

At least 25 notes is enough to play all chords in all positions. Reasonable for sequencing, but not for performance.