Having grown tired of switching octaves on my old 25-key Novation ReMOTE SL and in need of a practical controller for live use, I ended up choosing this one after testing several other keyboards from makers such as Akai, Arturia, Korg and Novation. The Roland A?49 has a great feel to it, it?s extremely portable, well-priced and, if you don?t need all that many knobs and sliders, all in all an excellent no-nonsense piece of equipment.