M-Audio Ozone

Any wannabe music artist really needs a keyboard to compose on a PC. We've reviewed a few of these devices before but the USB Ozone has one important difference: it's also a top-notch sound card.

Without a decent sound card, your PC won't work properly with a keyboard, so the Ozone is all you need to turn your PC into a recording studio. The keyboard itself is a cut-down version with 25-keys - or two-octaves for the musically inclined - which is enough for beginners to create a few tunes. It also sports eight controller knobs, which can be programmed to operate different functions inside your music software to change the way it sounds, and a wheel to change the pitch of a note.

As this is a professional sound card, there's also a rack of inputs enabling you to sing, play guitar, trigger sounds played by the keyboard and record the lot simultaneously. A specialist microphone socket lets you record with less hiss than an average input produces but you'll need a posh microphone to get the most out of it.

The two MIDI outputs let you trigger external MIDI instruments and still communicate with your PC via USB. This feature is overlooked in lots of other USB keyboards.

Setting up the Ozone wasn't as simple as we would have liked but installation isn't too complex, provided the instructions are followed carefully. The bundled software is to a good standard and includes all of the software you need to start belting out professional-sounding tracks.

The Ozone might seem a little expensive but you have to take into account the fact that it includes a very good sound card. If you buy a standalone keyboard you might run into trouble if your current sound card isn't up to standard. The Ozone gives you all you need in one box and, as it's USB, you can carry it around and use it with almost any PC. If you want to get serious with music on your PC, then this is the tool to do it.

Contact: M-Audio 01442 416590
www.maudio.co.uk