Best controller?

[docjohn]

 A friend of mine is thinking about taking the plunge ;using a Mac Book and controller  for church. He's looked at Akai,M _audio, few others.

Any simple way? One that's like effectively pre-programmed out of the box to use with most DAW?  I suppose he will have Garage Band,maybe get Logic?

This is totally beyond me;ideas?

[betnich]

I think he can use Logic with Abelton Live for stage situations.
Reason is another...as well as ProTools with various audio interfaces...

[docjohn]

hey Bet,how many pieces does he need to make this work?

[betnich]

I think most newer music keyboards have a USB port, you can plug that directly into the Mac. If not, he will need a MIDI interface that converts from MIDI to USB.

He will want some way to get the sounds and audio from his Mac out into the sound system. So either the headphone/audio out port on the Mac, or for more control and pre-amp, an audio interface...