Well my advice here is to dig in on some of these
keyboards
The A-49 has one huge down-side for me - it has no sliders/faders. But if you don't think you going to need them, it seems to be a nice master controller. Specially minding that Roland makes high quality stuff.
But - if you're looking for something with rotaries/sliders (eg if you like to program your own vst patches and want to use the mouse the least as you can / to "live act" or record automation directly to your DAW) - I'd personally recommend Oxygen 49. Since I own it, I can give some pros and cons:
PROS:
- Has a very nice feel to it;
- 9 sliders and 8 rotaries (pretty much all you need to control essential plugin parameteres);
- Non weighted keys - like the a49 (this is a pro since I don't like playing on semi-weighted/weighted keys. It's up to you);
- Sustain port (standard 1/4" jack in);
- USB powered;
CONS:
- Somewhat sensible..electronic-wise. 2 of my O49's rotaries send random values via MIDI. I read somewhere that it could be just dirt, all it sends is noise (that's percieved as midi)
- Fragile-ish. While it has lasted me for 3 and a half years laying on my desk, I am not so sure about the quality of its materials on the fly. It certainly has a durable feel to it, but to a point where you think twice before carrying it without a case (i carry mine inside the original box eg)
But seriously, browse through the thomann catalog I posted (or MusicStore) and see more viable options than A49.
Hope I helped.