M-Audio Oxygen keyboard action is total crap. I own an Oxygen 49 so I know whereof I speak. Also it's a voiceless MIDI controller so it won't produce any sound unless it's hooked up to a computer running a VSTi plugin (Google it)
Voiceless MIDI controllers are not a bad idea for a beginner. With a properly quick CPU with enough RAM you can produce some fantastic voices. VSTis like Pianoteq give a $5000 Korg Kronos a run for its money.
But a good 88 key controller will run you between $600 and $1000 new.
One really good controller out there these days is the Arturia Keylab 88 which comes bundled with a massive collection of really good VSTis. It sells for about $1000 new.
Anyway, avoid anything by M-Audio.
Controllers I WOULD consider owning: The Arturia, Akai, Novation, Korg, Roland or Studiologic.
Bear in mind you still need to buy the VSTis or use some pretty crappy freeware ones and your hardware needs to be fast enough and powerful enough to use them effectively without jitter or latency.
OR
Consider a used Yamaha or Casio low end CDP or CP or PX home electronic piano.
Some models sell under $600 new. Some older ones can be had used on craigslist or ebay for about 60% of that price.
Just bear in mind when you buy a used instrument, bring along someone who knows how to play.
Check if every single key, switch, knob and button works as intended.
Check if it's been sitting under a dust cover or if it's been left out in the open air and played with greasy fingers and a ham sandwich in one hand.
Check the original bill of sale to make sure nobody's pulling your leg about how much they paid or when they bought it.
Don't buy an electronic instrument older than 7 years old unless you want to start shelling out for big repairs in a year or two.
Ideally you want to buy something that daddy shelled out $800 for his pride and joy, who plunked at it for two weeks, then gave up and it ended up gathering dust for the next two years until they got disgusted and listed it in the classifieds.
Those should be enough tips to get you started.
If in doubt about used prices here's a link to a site that gives the value of used keyboards.
http://www.prepal.com/
Hope this helps.
I'm going to bed. If ya have any other questions I'll try and answer them tomorrow.
Gary
