Big bucks

I’m going to have to make a decision soon about which “midi brain” i’m going to use. Some contenders are:
I-cubeX, Midicreator, and Doepfer’s DIY assortment of controllers. I’ve heard that icube is a little flakey, but that it offers the most extensive list of controller options for what I want to do. This is important because I can’t afford to spend too much time trying to mess around with the electronics. However, I can’t afford to spend a lot of money either, and icube is also the most expensive by far. Chris has offered to help pay, but I’m afraid that this might set a bad precedent for mentors in the future, and I don’t think it’s fair to the rest of my class mates. Plus, I probably will want to keep this thing around, especially if it works well! I’ll have to figure out which controller makes the most sense and purchase it sometime later this week. I’ve also got to get a microphone stand from somewhere, but I imagine finding a good one will be fairly easy.