Newbie: Korg NanoKEY 2 or AKAI PROFESSIONAL LPK25

[tizak*]

Hi All, I would like to get into electronic music and on a limited budget. When looking for a responsive, midi controller would anyone venture an opinion on the Korg nanoKEY 2 or the AKAI PROFESSIONAL LPK25 are keyboards I can grow with and be considered a good starter keyboard, if there are alternatives please respond, both with the pro's and con's for the Korg nanoKEY 2 and AKAI PROFESSIONAL LPK25 or alternatives.

Cheers

[budd1405]

I hope your not on windows 7 because I got pad2 from Korg and it doesn't work, spent around 4 hours trying to get the drivers to work and now it's going back useless. I guess they are cheap for a reason.

[Mushy Mushy]

Cheap = popular
Popular = easily found on Google

[lionscub68]

If you look around you'll find the Alesis Q25 for about the same price... cheaper in some parts. Full-sized two octaves of keys, plus real pitch & mod wheels, AND a sustain pedal input jack.

[tizak*]

Thanks for the feedback, I will check into the Alesis Q25, I am still interested on feedback on the AKAI PROFESSIONAL LPK25, any views?

[EvilDragon]

AKAI has better keys than the NanoKey.

[thecontrolcentre]

I've tried out the Akai MPK Mini ... very nice for the money. The LPK25 is the same keyboard without the drum pads and rotaries. I'd go for the MPK ...

[BDeep]

I own the nanokey2, I wanted something small so it wouldn't be too obtrusive in my living room. The advantage over the Akai (for me) was that I find the keys on the nanokey easier to use when tapping in drum patterns. Plus, if I'm in need for serious playing, these micro keys will just not suffice anyway.
YMMV of course.

Also of note, the nanokey comes with a bundle of software, but more important, some great discounts on software (Complete Korg collection for $99, any Applied Acoustics Pro synth for $99... That's 50% discount in both cases). Something you might want to take in your considerations.

[tizak*]

Yes, the Akai MPK Mini looks very interesting indeed, and in my price range, from my perspective, an important consideration is key sensitivity, any feedback, comparisons with other controllers?

[thecontrolcentre]

The velocity sensitivity is what you'd expect from mini-keys ... not as good as a full size keyboard. Also there's no aftertouch, but the drum pads are excellent (better than on my ReMOTE SL), and the rotaries work fine.

[GaryG]

I wouldn't consider either a keyboard you can 'grow with'. Both dead handy for portable use, chucking in your laptop bag etc. but that's about it. If you're serious and are thinking of a more fully spec'ed keyboard in the future, I'd go for the Korg so you have a tiny portable option (a lot thinner than the akai) and your full size controller with all the bells and whistles (m-audio axiom or something). If your can stretch to the MPK mini then there are other full size options around... maybe a Q25 (if you can find one cheap) and an akai lpd8 so you get essentially the same features with full size keys, pitch/mod wheels etc.

If you have any ambition to be a half-decent keyboard player then seriously think about full size keys though.

[lionscub68]

Of course, I love going the "modular controller" route.
I have an M-Audio 88es for my primary keyboard controller.
Alesis Q25 for an auxillary keyboard controller so I don't have to mess around with splits, or, portable playing.
Than add a CME Bitstream 3X + Korg nanoKontrol2 for buttons, sliders + sends ... basically a mixing desk.

Still waiting for my KMI QuNeo to show up to round it all out.

I had the korg nanokeys. I used it to record with for a good year; it was okay but had a huge jump in velocity (it alomost never hit 64, always 25 or 100).
The littel akai controller? don't bother.

[tizak*]

So, to round out the discussion as I understand it, the Alesis Q25 keys are touch sensitive and are full sized, while the Korg nanoKEY 2 and Akai MPK Mini are velocity sensitive and not full sized.

From the discussion, the Alesis Q25 would probably be the best choice?

[lionscub68]

Alesis Q25 = yes.
+no drivers required.

[thecontrolcentre]

So, to round out the discussion as I understand it, the Alesis Q25 keys are touch sensitive and are full sized, while the Korg nanoKEY 2 and Akai MPK Mini are velocity sensitive and not full sized.

They're all velocity-sensitive (touch-sensitive is a whole other thing) ... the main advantage of the Alesis is it's full size keys and midi ports (as well as USB). The MPK mini has drum pads and 8 rotaries, the Alesis doesn't ... so it depends what you need really.