OXYGEN 8 KEYBOARD MANUAL MANUAL

While this new Oxygen 8 isn't quite as revolutionary as its predecessor, there can be no denying it offers a lot of bang for your buck. The package hangs together well despite the slight learning curve issue, and the Lite version of Ableton Live 4 is included so you can get tweaking right away.

OXYGEN 8 KEYBOARD MANUAL MANUAL

The manual doesn't go out of its way to ease the beginner - a few tutorials would be more useful - and Enigma could do with a 'basic' mode for one-click bank loading, though it's still fairly simple. The only downside is that the package isn't as user-friendly as it could be. Once a preset is complete it is transferred via SysEx to the v2, which is a painless process.

The downloadable Enigma software - which isn't included on the CD and only receives passing mention in the manual - comes with controller values for a variety of other instruments, though each parameter has to be dragged individually onto a graphic representation of the controller. The unit has ten memory positions that come preloaded with set-ups for various instruments and a couple of Reason set-ups. For such a simple looking machine, the v2 is rather deep and offers the ability to switch between different velocity response curves, assign CC values to each knob and send out bank change messages - handy for the live musician. At the centre of the controller is the simple LED that is used in conjunction with the buttons below to switch between different modes.

Oxygen 8 keyboard manual