Edirol PCR-M1 review

The PCR-1 has proved a popular choice for those seeking MIDI control plus audio I/O - the PCR-M1 is the MIDI-only version.

It has the sleek lines of its stablemate and Edirol seem to have had portability in mind - there's even a padded neoprene gig bag in the box.

Its 25 keys have a short-stroke, low-profile impact mechanism (SLIM) and, while they're standard width, the keyboard feels a little clunky.

The overall build quality is excellent, although the unusual design of the pitch-bend and modulation controls takes some getting used to.

Its eight knobs and six buttons (all assignable) are reassuringly positive and a Shift function means that all knobs and three of the buttons can be remapped instantly, making for 27 controllable parameters per map.

For all its extensive functionality, including both MIDI In and Out and sockets for Roland expression pedals, populating the 16 control-map save locations could result in some head-scratching for folk who don't like reading manuals.

A three-character LCD offers a limited view of what's going on and there's a fair few button-press combinations to master.

That said, PCR Editor software is bundled, and you can download pre-authored control surface templates from edirol.com.

For portable and flexible MIDI control from an attractively designed unit, the PCRM1 is worth considering.