They are certainly not compatible with electric guitar jacks or XLR plugs for stage mics.
These are adequate for VoIP phone calls or recording from tape/record decks, but not much else. Whether you have basic on-board sound or a surround sound card for gaming, inputs are usually limited to line-in and microphone jacks.
Our plan was to try it with LMMS, Rosegarden, Timidity, and any other Linux MIDI and audio software we find. The keyboard has no built-in sound capabilities of its own it is intended to be used with the Session software, which has a good collection of MIDI samples and effects and outputs via Fast Track, or with M-Audio’s Micro USB Audio Interface, which is supplied with Session. There are Pitch Bend and Modulation wheels on the keyboard to tweak the sound as you play, and Octave buttons for when you want to emulate a piccolo or double bass. The action feels a little light, but the ‘touch’ is OK and you soon adjust to playing forte or pianissimo. The KeyStudio keyboard is well made, with 49 full-size, touch-sensitive keys. Our challenge was to try out this hardware - specifically the KeyStudio MIDI keyboard and Fast Track audio interface - with Linux applications. Unfortunately, its bundled software, called Session, is for Windows only.
Its new “make-music-now” line of products, aimed at musicians just getting into computers or PC users with an interest in music, includes a microphone, speakers, drum machine, and DJ mixer deck. 8 effects pack: Reverb, Echo, Chorus+Flanger, Tremolo, Pitch Shift, Phaser, Tube-Amp and Compression effects can be added to any track and master channel.M-Audio has supplied hardware and software to computer-based musicians for 20 years.Unlimited tracks (the max number of tracks depends only on the device capabilities).Edit, cut, copy and paste, zoom and drag MIDI and audio parts. Create MIDI tracks using the built-in General MIDI synth. Record and playback a virtually unlimited number of tracks, mix them during playback and add effects. N-Track Studio is an audio and MIDI multitrack recorder that turns your device into a full-fledged recording studio. Autogain: automatically equalizes the levels of 2 tracks.15 effects (Bi-filter, Low-pass, Hi-Pass, Delay, Echo, Phaser, Flanger, Cut, Crush, Bliss, Brake, Roll, etc.).Extremely realistic scratch sound as on real turntables.Low latency: music reacts instantly to your actions.External mixer: control EQs and crossfader with hardware mixers.Automix: Let Cross DJ mix your tracks and play music automatically, from any sources (playlist, album, etc.).Smart-seek: Tap on the waveform to fast-forward & get a seamless jump.New Quantize feature : hot cues and loops are automatically set on the beat.Parallel waveforms mode to visually check if your tracks are synced.Beat-grid editing, to make sure that your old music tracks sync correctly.Split Mono: Pre-listen your music tracks before mixing them.Stable Sync: one-press, and the 2 tracks never go out of phase.Accurate BPM detection of your music, down to the last decimal.
Pro DJs, Cross DJ uses the same engine as Pioneer’s rekordbox. Music lovers, mix at your next party and impress your friends. Record your set and share it on SoundCloud. Mix your tracks in perfect sync, scratch, add effects, loops and more. Turn your mobile device into a complete DJ system. Mix, scratch, sample, record: rock great parties with top-DJ features.