I bought this keyboard mail order so didn't know exactly what it was going to be like until it arrived on the doorstep. However, I was highly impressed when it did arrive. The first thing that struck me was how well built this instrument was. With it's full metal shassis in blue and grey with solid wood end cheeks it looks great. At the same time, I was also surprised at how light and portable it was at 20kg. It looks much heavier than it really is.
The feel of the keys is fantastic after playing lighter action synth keys. The response feels great and you can really take advantage of the pressure sensitivity of the keys, just like a real piano. They respond well to both extremes of playing for dynamic performances. Once I started using this keyboard I found that my playing style altered and became much more expressive because of how it responds.
The control surface is simple and uncluttered. The display is simply a three character LED at the centre, but it's in bright green which looks fantastic, and it displays what it needs to so I was perfectly satisfied. All panel legending is in white which contrasts well and is clear against its blue backdrop.
All the MIDI finctionality of the keyboard is accessed from a 5 x 7 cell control matrix, which is really easy and intuitive to operate. What's more, you can set up performances on the MC-1000 and store them in internal memory. When you next plug up the external tone generator, the MC-1000 will send all the MIDI signals to recall the performance.
The MC-1000 also caters for the installation of an internal Sound Blaster tone generation card. This enables the keyboard to be used as a separate entity in its own right without the need to link up to an external MIDI instrument.
Overall I was very impressed and very satisfied with my MC-1000, which clearly represents great value for money. You get a lot of keyboard for a small cost. Anyone looking for a master keyboard right now should definitely consider the MC-1000.
Released: 2001 | 
