The MX-8 is a real workhorse MIDI patchbay and covers a lot of ground. It has a number of useful functions that allow you to run a rack from a controller keyboard without needing a ton of controller functions from the keyboard itself. It's a 1U rackspace swiss army knife for remotely controlling up to 8 units. Being able to make changes to patches, splits, transpositions, velocity cross-switches, digital (MIDI) delay, MIDI filters, and compression, makes this a must have for making quick changes in a live context or having favorite, complex settings preset for speed in the studio. It is deep yet easy to use, straightforward, and the most useful MIDI patchbay I have run across. Don't leave home without it.