My last midi keyboard was the Akai MPK49. The keys were great, the build was solid, and it had all the bell and whistles one could want...and it was huge. The footprint was so big it took up too much desk space. I also quickly realized that connected via usb it had latency that wasn't good enough for real time playing. I got an external midi box (midiman 2x2) and a power supply, and everything was great.
It was also $400.
When I moved I sold it, and set out to find something a little more paired down. It needed good keys, transport controls, and no latency.
I checked out Novation's Launch Key (still big and the keys felt terrible), M-Audio Keystation II (keys were terrible as well), the Alesis v49 (key were fine but squeaked).
I briefly thought about the Novation Impulse - it gets rave reviews - but I just wanted something simple, small, and with a good key feel.
After reading way too much about midi keyboards I ordered the Nektar GX49 without even testing it (you can't really...Guitar Center isn't really keeping them in stock, nor is anyone else).
It's footprint is about as small as you can get for a full sized 49 key keyboard. The build is good. The keys are surprisingly good and the integration with most DAWs is incredible. I tried out Reason first and switching between tracks and patches within instruments is flawless. The buttons to do so are soft rubber and silent (unlike the clickiness of the Akai). The octave, transpose, and transport buttons are simple, clear, and use orange, red, blue, green and yellow to denote status and are subtle yet perfect in showing you exactly what you need to know. I tried Reaper second, which was equally as good.
It has zero latency (well 14ms but that's normal for my DAW at a buffer rate of 512 samples).
It's bus powered and honestly I don't really have anything I can point to that's not good except - the transport controls don't seem to work in Ableton Live. I've only had it for a day, and I've contacted Nektar so we'll see, but weirdly the only major daw that doesn't have Nektar's DAW integration software is Ableton (there's something going on there...no idea what - but the Akai's transport didn't work with Live either). There's an entire page of the user manual about using MMC to enabled transport controls, which I thought Live could handle, but I'm either missing something or the transport really only works for non clip based DAWs (so all of them except Live).
So, instead of going for the $300 Novation or making the mistake of getting another Akai (the 249) for $400 - I got a Nektar for $100.
It's really good. I'm impressed.
Edit (day 2)
O.k. so I set up an account when I registered the GX49 and last night I opened a ticket asking how to get the transport to work in Ableton Live. Today when I checked my email I was shocked that there was a response with a suggestion to install a remote script.
This afternoon I tried and it didn't work. So I wrote back and thought "You'll never hear from Nektar late on a Friday".
A few hours later a second Nektar person got back to me (the first was customer service, the second more of a techie) with a fix.
It took less than 10 seconds - nothing new, just changing a setting - and now the transport controls work in Ableton Live.
For anyone looking for a good, inexpensive keyboard - this is it.
Here's the fix by the way:
1. Press the 'Setup' button
2. Press key A2 (labeled 'USB Port Setup')
3. Press key B3 (labeled with a '2')
4. Press key C5 (labeled 'Enter')
The transport only works with the overall project (not clip in session view), but that's honestly for another controller.
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Looks Sketchy so far will see though
Well surprise to me it has no midi in or out-puts supposedly you download and install this DAW called 8track which they give yah a serial # for but like other manufacturers it's like a demo mode basically but for $349 more itll unlock all features which I'm sure has something to do with Midi in and outs. So connecting it directly to my Akai Live is out the question which sucks bcuz the M-audio 49e this was replacing had those. Anyways after all is registered and installed I'll update this review and let yall know the results.
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