Hello everyone,

I've been playing piano for 2 years but I left my piano and keyboard in my home country. I want to find a midi controller which is close enough to the feel of piano keys. I'm interested in M-Audio range where they offer semi-weighted keys. I want to use a vocoder function on my Mac using the Midi controller if possible and currently I own a Korg R3 to play just that; which I'll consider selling if I get a good midi controller though. Basically, I play piano and vocoder/talkbox. So;

1) What Brand/Model do you suggest (cheapest and practical)?
2) What software do I need to use for vocoder on mac?
3) Can I use the XLR input on the keyboard for vocoder?

Thanks for viewing!