Samson Carbon 49 USB MIDI Controller

MIDI controllers for the iPad are springing up all over the place. Samson has entered the fray with the Carbon 49 ($89 list), a stylish controller keyboard that doubles as an iPad dock. Well, sort of. The Samson Carbon 49 isn't quite what it seems at first glance?the "dock," such as it is, is merely a place to rest the iPad, as there's no actual dock connector of any kind. But the Carbon 49 is still worth a look, particularly for any musician that needs a USB-powered controller for a desktop machine as well as an iPad.

Design, Controls, and Setup
The pearl-white metallic Carbon 49 looks sharp. It's made entirely of plastic, but that's the norm for low-cost, portable MIDI controllers these days. Samson bundles the Carbon 49 with a three-foot USB cable, an instruction manual, and a DVD that includes a copy of Native Instruments' Komplete Elements, which includes more than 3GB of samples, effects, three instrument players, 1,000 sounds, and other tools for PC-based composition (not with the iPad).

To the left of the keybed are a pair of plastic wheels. The pitch wheel features a center detent and is spring-loaded, as is typical for pitch controls; release the wheel and it returns to the center. The modulation wheel, on the other hand, stops wherever you leave it. Above the two wheels, there are Up and Down buttons for both Octave and Transpose (the latter meaning one half-step at a time, in this case). The three-digit red LED readout on the top changes to show controller messages, half-step detents, or octave detents, depending on what you're doing. To the right of the LED readout is a horizontal volume slider, a data wheel that clicks as you turn it, and an Edit button.

Across the top of the left half of the keybed are labels indicating various modes and controls you can access with the Edit button, such as altering the keyboard's velocity response curve, sending Notes Off commands, and changing the function of the various keyboard controls. There are no hardware transport controls. And with just one knob and one slider, you won't be doing much real-time parameter adjusting, at least when using the Carbon 49 as a controller on a PC or Mac. With the iPad it's a different story, since it's always docked and right there in front of you.

For this review, I tested with an Apple iPad 2. Unfortunately, since the Carbon 49 isn't actually an iPad dock, you'll still need to purchase the Apple Camera Connection Kit ($29) in order to connect an iPad. That said, once you do it, it works fine, and you don't need to install a driver on the iPad. You do need to tell each application that an external MIDI controller is connected, though; the procedure varies by app.

Testing, a Few Quirks, and Conclusions
I fired up a number of apps on the iPad 2, including Apple GarageBand 1.2 ($4.99, 4 stars) and Moog Music Animoog ($29.99, 4 stars). The Carbon 49's response time is excellent. I couldn't detect any perceptible lag between when I pressed the keys and when I heard music on the iPad. I also tested the Carbon 49 on a Mac Pro when recording with Avid Pro Tools 10 ($699, 4.5 stars); it also functioned perfectly in that role as well. The Carbon 490's key bed itself feels good to play. Samson has struck a reasonable balance between springiness, feel, and key release. It's no weighted keyboard, but the semi-weighted keys offer just the right level of responsiveness.

Samson includes a pair of rubberized bumpers you can use to fit the thinner, rounded-edge iPad 2 or the New iPad into the dock more securely, although you don't necessarily need them. I found the bumpers to be more of an annoyance. The way Samson shows the Carbon 49 and docked iPad in the photo is with the dock port to the left, so that the USB cable can be as short as possible. It turns out in practice that setup is basically impossible: Dock the iPad in this manner with the bumpers installed, and you'll trigger the Power switch on the bottom right edge of the iPad, which turns off the screen, turns it back on, asks you if you want to power off the unit entirely, and so on until you give up in frustration. Docking the iPad this way also presses the Volume buttons on the bottom edge, making them impossible to adjust.

Solution: Just flip it the other way and extend the USB cable further and you'll be fine, although it's a bit messier. It looks like the slot will block the headphone jack, but it just makes it with about a quarter of an inch to spare?assuming you leave the bumpers out. One other minor quirk: The Carbon 49 shows a white cable in the photo, but my test unit came with a black one. Given that the Camera Connection Kit is white, and the keyboard is also white, it looks like an afterthought.

Otherwise, the Samson Carbon 49 is a good value and a fine choice if you need a USB-powered MIDI controller that doubles as an iPad dock for playing keyboard sounds in apps. It's unfortunate that you still have to buy the Camera Connection Kit, though. If you've already got a MIDI controller, and it has an AC power adapter, check out the IK Multimedia iRig MIDI ($69.99, 3.5 stars). It's equally responsive and works just as well otherwise, although you'll still need a way to prop up the iPad. There's also the Korg MicroKey, which comes in 25-, 49-, and 61-key versions, and has a built-in, two-port USB hub.

Moving up the line in price, the Griffin StudioConnect ($149.99, 3 stars) offers a built-in MIDI interface, and props up and charges your iPad, though you'll have to provide your own existing MIDI controller. Finally, the Alesis iO Dock ($399, 4 stars) costs considerably more, but it's like a super StudioConnect; it's still the best iPad recording interface out there, although it's far from perfect, and lacks the Carbon 49's MIDI keyboard. In the meantime, the Carbon 49 does exactly what it's supposed to do?and at just $89, it's a little less expensive than competing controllers that lack an iPad dock.

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