The Cakewalk A-500PRO USB/MIDI keyboard controller is a welcome companion in the studio, on-stage, or anywhere you feel inspired to work on your music. Combining the best of Roland engineering with Cakewalk's legendary ease-of-use, the A-500PRO controller has the features and feel you need to get the most out of your music performances and productions.

The Cakewalk A-500PRO keyboard works perfectly with a wide variety of software on Mac or PC, including Ableton Live, Cubase, FL Studio, Garage Band, Logic, Nuendo, Pro Tools, SONAR, and the included Production Plus Pack. Best of all, the A-500PRO MIDI controller keyboard is easy to set up—if you can plug-in a USB Cable, you'll be making music in no time at all.

The Feel of a Roland-Quality Instrument
When you perform with the Cakewalk A-500PRO, you're tapping into the benefits of over 30 years of Roland keyboard development. A superior key mechanism provides aftertouch and increased sensitivity for a wide range of expressive dynamics in your performance. Rounded key assemblies offer responsive reaction to your touch and more comfortable glissando. Plus, enhancements have been made to eliminate vertical shake and reduce the already low mechanical noise on key strokes. With the addition of selectable Velocity curves, you can fine tune the A-500PRO USB keyboard to match your playing style. No matter what your skill level, you'll appreciate the feel of this quality instrument.

Everything at Your Fingertips
The Cakewalk A-500PRO controller has been ergonomically designed to put everything at your fingertips. All controls are easily accessible and intelligently laid out to make performing and producing music an inspiring affair. Whether you're playing your favorite virtual instrument or working in your digital audio workstation, 9 knobs, 9 sliders, 4 buttons, and a dedicated Transport section offers fully assignable control of all the features you need. The sure-grip, rubber-coated Pitch Bend/Modulation Stick offers expressive control of both functions at the same time.

The A-500PRO Editor for Mac and PC makes it a breeze to customize the Cakewalk A-500PRO keyboard for use with your favorite synth or DAW. Just fire up the editor, adjust your Control Map, and hit transmit—it's that easy. And when you're working with an ACT (Active Controller Technology) enabled DAW like SONAR, parameters will remap automatically, keeping you in the flow and focused on your music.

Easy Connections with Side Panel Ports
The Cakewalk A-500PRO controller has easy access connections on the side panel so that you can have a computer monitor or laptop in the ideal position behind the keyboard—a must for educational use. Connect USB, MIDI IN/OUT, Hold, and Expression pedals without having to reach behind the keyboard.

Dynamic Pads
The Cakewalk A-500PRO controller puts 8 velocity sensitive Dynamic Pads right within your reach. Use these pads to trigger grooves, samples, or one shots on the fly with your favorite DAW, sampler, or virtual instrument like the included Cakewalk Sound Center or Studio Instruments Drums. Use the Hold control to "latch" the pads. Or assign aftertouch, velocity, and controller data to pads for greater expression in your performance.

Ready to Rock In Studio or On Stage
Whether you're live on stage in front an audience of screaming fans, or dimming the lights in the studio to capture a mood, you can always clearly see what you're doing with the Cakewalk A-500PRO keyboard's ultra-bright backlit LED display and buttons. And the A-PRO works with USB bus power, so if you have your laptop, you're ready to make music anywhere.

FPT Low-latency MIDI Transmission
The Cakewalk A-500PRO controller offers MIDI Transmission using Roland's proprietary FPT (Fast Processing Technology). You can rely on FPT for stable, high speed, low-latency, and low-jitter MIDI transmission. In layman's terms, that means the subtleties of your performance are going to be captured regardless of the music application you are using. When working with virtual instruments, FPT provides lower latencies to give you the inspiring feel of playing a real instrument.

Production Plus Pack
The Production Plus Pack is a powerful suite of music creation software that ships with the Cakewalk A-500PRO. It includes SONAR 8.5 LE recording software (PC only) and three high-quality and versatile virtual instruments for Mac and PC: Rapture LE, Cakewalk Sound Center, and Studio Instruments Drums.

Features:

• 49 velocity-sensitive keys
• Inspiring feel & response for serious players
• 45 assignable controls: knobs, sliders, buttons, transport, & more
• 8 Dynamic Pads for finger drumming & MIDI triggering
• Sure-grip Pitch Bend/Modulation Stick
• Expand playability with Sustain & Expression Pedals (available separately)
• USB Bus Powered so no AC adaptor required
• Durable Roland-quality manufacturing & craftsmanship
• Ready to play with 3 included virtual instruments
• Works with any DAW on Mac or PC
• Supports Windows 7 & Mac OS X Snow Leopard
• Includes the Production Plus Pack music creation software which has Cakewalk Sound Center, Rapture LE & Studio Instruments Drums for Mac and PC, as well as SONAR 8.5 LE (PC Only)
• 16 x 2 character, brightly lit LED display for editing controls and navigating the system menu
• 8 velocity-sensitive, lighted, dynamic pads for finger drumming and triggering loops and samples, with HOLD button for latching
• Dedicated transport section for using the A-PRO as a control surface, that can be remapped if desired
• Console-style faders for improved feel when making tweaks and adjustments
• Included Editor software makes creating new control maps and transferring them to the A-PRO simple and easy