Midi keyboard (small, or even bluetooth)?

[Tannaliini]

1. I use FL Studio (so the midi keyboard should work with FL - is there a difference what DAW you use?)
2. I'm not looking for hardware synthesizer, just a small midi keyboard (I don't mind if the keyboard comes with some VST synth or something, but it's not that important)
3. I use Windows (Lenovo laptop to be precise if that matters)

I am very new with music making. But I noticed I would like to have some sort of midi keyboard to play some notes with (not just the pianoroll with mouse clicking). I might not use the midi keyboard all the time + my computer desk/space is very limited so I am looking for something rather small midi keyboard.

Something like this maybe (Korg):
https://www.korg.com/us/products/comput ... okey2_air/

Or this (Akai):
https://www.akaipro.com/lpk25-wireless

I think Akai + Korg should be good brands?
Any experiences does the bluetooth ting work with midi keyboard - or is the lag/latency just too much to really work with bluetooth?

I think I will use the midi keyboard just to find melodies, have a more freedom to find melodies. But then I will probably make/copy the melody to the FL's piano roll by mouse (maybe?).

[Kwysix]

Hello !

First, give up on bluetooth, it's going to make the unit pricier for no valuable reason.
I would recommend you these two instead :
- Komplete Kontrol M32 : you get a bit more than the regular 2 octaves, and the NKS Compatibility, which will help you get your hand off the mouse and keyboard a bit more thanks to the premapped knobs. I personnaly got a KKS49, and it actually gave me the ability to use some soft synth as if they were hardware.

- Arturia Minilab : gives you the opportunity to use pads as well, pretty good if you're an Arturia V Collection user

[MMaarrkk]

Personally, for a cheap option, I would go for Keystation Mini 32 MK3. You can find it for around $50 and I initially got it for a throwaway travel midi, that easily fits in a backpack. It has been over 3 years now and it's still working great. It's rather minimalistic in comparison, but to just get your melodies on midi, works great.

[GaryG]

If the action on that Akai is like the regular wired versions then I think it's horrible, worst action out their imo. I'm not much of a keyboard player but find a decent feel does help with creativity for some reason. I like the mini key Korgs like you mention but found for me the Arturia keybeds were best. A little larger than the other mini keys, nice tactile feel, not too light. I ended up getting the microlab as I didn't need all the controls but the minilab II that Kwysix mentioned is a great all rounder.

[Passing Bye]

Nektar Impact LX25+ is awesome affordable little keyboard with great FL integration

[ztrauq]

I have similar space constraints, and I ended up going with a midiplus X2 mini. It doesn't have a ton of additional features, but it's one of the smaller ones I've seen with some additional knob controllers, and it fits in place underneath my raised laptop stand. If you can stand touch panels for pitchbend/modwheel (although a lot of small controllers have gone over to them including the whole Arturia series), it is surprisingly robust, and the keys, while still synth action, feel better than I anticipated (not too overly springy or spongy).

Another option to consider is the Arturia Keystep, which is a similarly slimline keyboard with some additional sequencing features built in. I don't have that version - I got a Beatstep not that long ago to supplement the keyboard with a pad controller - but the Beatstep has a lot of features and is generally built like a tank, so I would imagine those attributes would carry over to the Keystep. MiniLab has both the keyboard and pad controller in one, but it's also about twice as deep (not wide) as the Keystep and has less drum pads compared to the Beatstep. There's also the Microlab, which may be about as slimline as it's possible to get without super-tiny keys, but I don't know much about it.

[eagle428]

The Akai keyboard you listed is solid. If you go for the wired version, it's even smaller than the bluetooth one

[vitocorleone123]

Keystep (not Pro)