Cubase Elements 11, compatibility with hardware

Cubase
1

Can anyone tell me if Kawai ES520 keyboards will work as a midi controller in Elements 11? If so will I need a specific driver? Thanks

2

Yes, it will work as a MIDI keyboard. You would have to connect it via USB to your computer. Typically no driver is required for USB MIDI but you could verify with Kawai.

3

Thanks for your information. I should have added to my topic that I’ve been using a small old yamaha keyboard as my controller via midi in/out, through an Alesis iO2 interface, but want to upgrade to an 88 key instrument so I can also play it as a standalone piano. It is equipped with midi in and out as well. But cubase includes a list of devices but that doesn’t include Kawai instruments. Hence the question about drivers.

4

Most likely that’s a list of MIDI devices which have scripts so they will work with Cubase’s MIDI Remote. This is an additional Cubase capability beyond the standard MIDI spec (but it is compliant). If you know what Mackie Control is, it’s kind of like that.

For standard MIDI use, like using a MIDI keyboard to play a VSTi, anything that meets the MIDI spec will work fine. Basically if it says MIDI on it, then it should work with Cubase or any other DAW. One of the core reasons MIDI was created was to establish an environment in which everything from different manufacturers would be interoperable with everything else. It has done an amazingly good job of this for decades.

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5

Thanks for your help