The Microstation is a very cool little product. 'Big Boy' sounds and functions in a pocket-sized, price of a bag of peanuts product. The only similarity to a toy is the plastic housing. But a plastic case isn't exactly unheard of around here, is it? As for the mini keys, they feel great! That's right, that's what I said. There is a review of the Microstation in the recent Keyboard Magazine. In it the reviewer suggests to look at the mini keys as its own instrument, in other words don't think of it like playing a piano or organ. How many of you play accordion? Are not the keys on an accordion a bit smaller that those of an acoustic piano? Or how about a melodica or melodion? They have keys even smaller than the Korg micro series. Korg didn't design the Microstation to be the main axe of your performing rig. In fact they probably don't expect that many Microstations to appear in many live rigs at all. Then again, I put mine on top of my Hammond XK3 where it fits perfectly. Originally I triggered it from either the XK3 or my Roland RD700GX but then found that I preferred playing directly from its own mini keys because their size allows for some intervals that I could never pull off on a full-sized keyboard.

Dave