Best 49 Key midi keyboard under 500 EUR?

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Hey,

Can you recommend me a good 49 Key midi keyboard under 500 EUR?

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Yo,

Akai mpk49, Arturia Keylab 49 mkII in my opinion.... if you are into live (midi) looping and performance, Arturia Keystep Pro will be king. It’s 37 keys though, but 4 tracks of sequencing with scales, arp, dedicated drum sequ and per step editing.

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500 EUR is a lot for 49 keys! I think the best value per buck are the Nektar keyboards. As you don't specify what features you need, I leave it to you to see what would suit you the best. (Note that Nektar is known for its DAW integration, so it's not just a matter of the hardware.)
Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:15 pm Passing Bye wrote:
"look at SparkySpark's post 4 posts up, let that sink in for a moment"
Go MuLab!

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I got the Roland A-500 Pro. Great keyboard.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/cakewalk_a500pro.htm

And if the 61 key big brother is good enough for Depeche Mode on tour, then this is good enough for me :hihi:
Last edited by ramseysounds on Fri Mar 06, 2020 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
I wonder what happens if I press this button...

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500 is a bold price range, cause its already upper class midi keyboard range.

i would buy the native instruments. great keys quality, good software bundle. imo the best bundle tbh. i would have bought this, if it werent for the 250 price range. i bought the m-audio code49. came with a softwarebundle too at that time. i wouldnt have bought it without it, BUT i was pleasently surprised about the keyboard quality for that pricerange. so its hard to recommend, but---mhhnnnn ok yes. but evrything else below that pricerange is, for a PLAYING producer, its basically a no-go. theyre good for absolute beginners with daw and producing, using onefinger-key technique etc....
just buy the ni :D
[aˈtoːm] [aːl] [ˈa(ː)tonaːl] IV
https://soundcloud.com/atomaalatonal4

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Yep. :tu:

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I've tried a bunch, and so far, for a keybed that isn't hammer-action, the best I've found are those with the Fatar beds, particularly the NI Komplete Kontrol S line (not the budget A line). I have the S25 and S61, both MK1, and they are excellent. I bought both used, the S25 for $100 (no software) and the S61, with software, for around $250. That also got me Komplete select, from which I upgraded to the full version during the Christmas sale for $200. So, for $550, I got two KK controllers and Komplete.

I tried the newest and best Arturia boards and thought they were cheap junk, with flimsy, spongy keys and crap steppy encoders. They have a nice, weighty metal case and are rather beautifully designed, but they are shit right where it counts the most.

The Akai, Nektar, M Audio and whatnot boards that I've tried in the store felt cheap, light, and junky compared to my NI boards.

I tried the MK2 NI controller and thought the screens, the KK software, and so on, was gimmicky, useless crap. I am only interested in the keybed, encoders, and pitch-bend and mod "wheel" controls. I actually like the NI touch strips better than the springy wheels. They are more versatile. But they aren't perfectly reliable.

I have not tried any Roland controllers. Studiologic has a few that look pretty decent and have Fatar keybeds.

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KOMPLETE KONTROL A49 is great

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in official page $219.00

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A controller takes up desktop real estate so make it earn its keep and be a synth as well.

Any old synth with a good keybed does the job, Yamaha DX7s had a fab keybed, as did my old M1 which I should never have sold.

If you can stretch a bit further a Behringer Deepmind 12 makes a reasonable contoller as does a Studio Sledge2 and both sound great. Both have aftertouch and I think the Deepmind sends midi CC and arp data.

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The Roland A-PRO series are nice and can often be found for pretty cheap. Although I did just replace mine with a sequential pro 3 today.

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pekbro wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2020 2:05 pm Although I did just replace mine with a sequential pro 3 today.
Cool !

No sleep for you tonight ! :)

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It's probably not going to be something that you're looking for since it's a lot cheaper, but I needed a new midi keyboard so I picked up the Alesis V49 a few days back. Loving it so far, for the price that I paid I wasn't expecting it to have weighted keys.

That being said, if you want something higher end, look into the Nektar Panorama P4.

If I had more money, I would have gone with this.

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Nektar for integration, Arturia for "premium feel"..

Native instruments stuff may be good but eventually, they'll drop the support and you're alone with your controller. For example Korg stuff works year after year after year.

Just pick a controller that integrates best with your DAW.

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