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M-Audio Axiom AIR 25 Midi Controller
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      M-Audio Axiom AIR 25 Midi Controller (H88543)

Was $299.99

Innovative 25-key MIDI controller and software combo simplifies your music creation process.

The Axiom AIR 25 is the 25-key version of M-Audio's AIR series of highly evolved keyboard controllers which feature exclusive Hypercontrol automatic-mapping technology and groundbreaking Ignite software from Avid to provide you with an instant, fully immersive music creation experience. Everything, from their ultra-responsive keys and pads to their multi-color buttons and built-in cradle for an iPad, has been crafted to provide a seamless evolution for your ideas, from conception to expression.

Ignite is a unique music creation software built from the ground up for one purpose: to energize your creative process. It’s not another DAW with complicated controls and menu after menu of features to learn. In fact, it’s not a DAW. Ignite works along side whatever music software you’re already using, unlocking your creative energy with a musician-centric workflow, so you can capture your musical ideas, develop songs, and collaborate with other musicians. It’s a simple and seamless creative partner that empowers your ideas and brings them to life.

M-Audio Axiom AIR 25 Midi Controller Features:

  • 25 synth-action keys with aftertouch; plus pitch and mod wheels
    16 velocity- and pressure-sensitive trigger pads
    Assignable controls include 8 knobs and 1 slider
    Dedicated transport and navigation buttons
    Ignite music creation software

Product Reviews
(Based on 4 reviews)
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  • Defective out-of-box, firmware upgrade solved the problems, good device once fixed

    As reviewed by John on 11/21/2014

    My unit was new and in factory condition; unfortunately, it seems many or all of these controllers are shipped from the factory with broken firmware. The first half of my review will focus on the issues caused by the firmware and how I fixed them. The second half will be my actual review of the controller. I had two main issues with the controller. First, if you hit a trigger pad hard enough to max the velocity, the pad would get stuck and continue sending a "Note On" message for another half a second, during which you couldn't trigger the pad again. Second, the knobs were extremely sensitive; turning one slowly would increment its value slowly, but turning one with any speed would toggle between 0 and 127 with nothing in between. M-Audio's support forums were filled with people having this same issue, and M-Audio never offered a definitive solution. HOWEVER! I fixed both of these issues by downloading and applying the Axiom AIR 1.0.2 driver and the 1.2.0 firmware upgrade. If you are on Windows 8.1, go to the download section for Windows 8 and use those downloads. The Windows 8.1 section is empty, but the Windows 8 downloads seem to work just fine on my 8.1 box. You may keep getting server errors when trying to download the files, but you should get through eventually. Just follow the instructions included with the firmware download; it's a simple process. Hopefully this fix will work for everyone that has these issues; once I upgraded to Firmware 1.2, I had the keyboard I wanted. And so, on to the review of its functions. Hypercontrol: Hypercontrol is touted as the AIR line's Big Shiny Selling Point, but if you don't use one of the DAWs specifically listed for compatibility, you will find this feature completely useless. My unit did come with Ableton Lite (on a DVD) and a link to download Ignite, but I was interested in neither. I use MixCraft 6, which is not Hypercontrol compatible. I tried Ignite so I could see how Hypercontrol works, and essentially it just seems to be a timesaver. I don't think it does anything that I can't program myself, between the AIR's remapping features and Mixcraft 6's custom profiles. Trigger Pads: Having 16 pads instead of 8 was the reason I bought this unit. After upgrading the firmware, they work perfectly. The pads are very stiff when struck in the center and soft when struck on the edges. They take a firm touch, but they control well, and I can reliably hit the full range of velocities with them. At any time, you can switch between three banks of trigger pad mappings with a single button press; the pads light up in red, green, or amber to tell you which bank you're using. Remapping an individual trigger pad is very simple: press Edit, press Pad Learn (the keys double as function buttons in Edit mode), play the note you want the pad to trigger, and press the pad to assign the note to it. There's also a Roll button. M-Audio says that the controller will sync its internal tempo to your DAW, but either this feature is buggy or Mixcraft doesn't send tempo information. Regardless, you can still set the controller's tempo to match your song and quantize the notes after the fact. Not great for live performances, but it's still very convenient in the studio. Keys: The keys are very expressive and feel much sturdier (and quieter!) than a regular Axiom 25. This is partly because they're a little bit stiffer and offer slightly more resistance. You can quickly change the velocity curve for both the trigger pads and the keys, which is great. I don't have much more to say about the keys, which is a good thing - they're comfortable and get out of the way of my fumbly playing. Encoder Knobs and Other Controls: As I said initially, the knobs had serious issues out of the box, but I fixed that and they work as they should now. The knobs increment faster as you turn them faster, and it's easy to get a feel for how it works. If you turn them slowly, they increment one at a time. Turn them faster, and they increment faster. You can easily increment by tens or fifties or instantly turn them all the way up or down. Unlike the regular Axiom series, where the knobs click, these knobs turn smoothly. There's no feedback to tell you when the knob has incremented except for the LCD display. On the bright side, though, the knobs have a Midi Bank button as well, giving you quick access to three sets of knob settings. They change color like the pads as well, and remapping them is as easy as remapping the pads. All of the buttons on the controller except for the directional pad (which is used for HyperControl and internal functions - I don't think you can remap it) are clicky buttons made of hard plastic, which is great. Most have indicator lights, and the Midi Bank buttons change color to match the knobs and pads. I love having this sort of feedback in the buttons. The pitch bend and mod wheel are nicely large, have indents for your finger, and they're covered in a textured, grippy rubber, so it's easy to keep them under control. General Midi and Remapping: I'm still digging into the programming features on this controller, but what I know so far is that most of the things you'll need to do often, like remapping, changing the velocity curves, and memory management are way simpler than on a regular Axiom. Having dedicated MIDI Bank buttons for the pads and the knobs is glorious. The AIR possibly offers less programmability than the Axiom series, but what it does offer, it presents in a much more user-friendly way. I haven't found anything lacking in this department yet, so I'm going to tentatively call it a step in the right direction. I do know for sure that Hypercontrol is absolutely NOT necessary to get your mileage out of this controller. --- Overall, I'm very happy with this controller. It's nicely built and stylish, although the addition of a full 16 trigger pads makes it quite large for a 25-key controller (which was no

    2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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  • There are so many problems with the Axiom Air they should initiate a recall...

    As reviewed by MICHAEL on 5/26/2014

    1. As far as I can tell, Hypercontrol doesn't REALLY exist for any current version of the major DAWs. 2. Because you can't use hyper control (the reason to consider buying this controller over other controllers in the first place) you can only use it in general midi device mode. When used as a general midi device, the knobs have the odd behavior of being velocity sensitive. This is not normal for ANY controller and its impossible to use in real-world applications. When you spin slowly, it could take about 5 rotations to get from 0 to 127 (the full range of midi cc.) When you spin fast you can go 0-127 in less than 1/4th of a rotation. There is no way you're going to get to the value you want to get to if you're trying to perform a song or automation in real time. 3. When you are turning a knob or moving a fader it doesn't display the correct data type. For instance, if you pan a track left it should read negative value like -22, but instead the screen will read something like 50. Basically it only shows you a value in the midi cc range of 0-127, which isn't what I'd like to see when I'm trying to pan a track. 4. The LCD display became LESS informative in the AIR, compared to the PRO, because the PRO used to be able to show you a high view of what each knob is controlling. With the AIR the only thing you can do to see what each knob is controlling is to hold down the Preview button and spin each knob one-by-one. You just have to remember where everything is because you can't see everything at once. 5. You were able to assign ASCII keys and ASCII Key Combinations to different buttons on the Axiom Pro, and you can't with the Axiom Air. 6. They removed the ability to setup Layers and Zones in the Air. So if you wanted to control a bass on the lower half of the keyboard and a piano on the top half, you can't.

    4 of 7 people found this review helpful.
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  • Great deal! Especially when you consider the price.

    As reviewed by Kevin on 8/31/2014

    This is exactly what I needed and with Guitar Cities price on Labor Day weekend its is impossible to beat. Now I am very new to digital recording studio but I bought this to learn with and so far it is great. I am totally a novice and I had it up, installed and doing what it was supposed to in 20 to 30 minutes. It will take me a while to read and learn all its capibilites but I got a great deal.

    2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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