Sure, it may sound crazy to stick a Windows PC into the chassis of a big, blue keyboard. But trust me, the people at Open Labs are even crazier than you think. This isn’t a keyboard you’ll check email on. It’s a keyboard you’ll watch movies on. Here’s my hands-on report (or, as I like to say here at CDM, grubby, greasy fingers-on report . . .)

Open Labs’ NeKos are powerful keyboards that pack a full-blown Windows PC, tuned software, and control surfaces into a single musical instrument. They’ve got some heavy-hitting celebrity endorsements, and they’re rugged: one NeKo managed to continue functioning after being being beaten with a baseball bat and set on fire by DJ Richard Devine.

This month, Open Labs unveiled the next-generation NeKo keyboard: sexier looking, more features, and cheaper. Porsche car paint, faster processors (up to a dual core 64-bit AMD CPU), Pro Tools software, and even Borg-like ability to clone your hardware synths and automatically create multisamples. Priced for mortals, too: US$2,295 gets you all the basics, up to US$5,995 for the absolute top-of-the-line. More after the jump.

Here at CDM, we've covered instruments powered by flames,
but not necessarily instruments set aflame. This one is just too
painful to watch. At a party hosted by Native Instruments,
Windows-powered keyboard maker Open Labs encouraged DJ Richard Divine
to destroy their NeKo keyboard, supposedly to demonstrate how rugged it
is. So Rick D responded by setting the NeKo on fire. Apparently that
did nothing, as the keyboard plays on in the video. Until he hit it. Hard. With a baseball bat. Several times.

I had to avert my eyes. Um, Open Labs, next time can you just give it to me instead?

Via Music Thing. I think Dave may be a guitarist, if he has a stomach for watching this happen to a keyboard.