Hi everyone!
hope you're feelin' great. I'm a beginner and I want to buy a MIDI controller for production and there are a lot of great options out there but it's getting confusing...
looking for something around 300 usd with useful features for music production and good software compatibility... I might be wrong but I've heard that some MIDIs work better with certain software which is aimed for a different scenario for example Launchkey 49 MKIII is great and eye catching but works well with Ableton and thus it's great for live performance...
I have absolutely zero experience with digital music production so excuse me if I said something stupid...

 

Flkey I love. Especially the pads can be used for chords or drums. Nice synth action keybed too.

 

Depends on what are your needs... but, as a beginner its hard to know what we need.

Midi controllers can have a lot of pads (finger drumming) and knobs (to control DAW or VST parameters)

I will try to help you based on the gear I have and my personal preferences:

Roland A-300 Pro = its big and tall for a 32 Key controller, you have to think about your space, but the Keys are great to me. Knobs and faders are great to, its really well made

Arturia Keylab 49 Mk2 = have the best keys of my midi controllers, arturia's keys are the best for the price to me.
I also have the Arturia Keystep 37

Novation FLKey37 = i dont like novation keys very much, its to loose, soft, i dont know how to describe
I also have Novation Launchkey Mini MK3 and Novation Bass Station II (much better keys)

Akai MPK Mini Plus = akai keys offers much more resistance than novations. I also have Akai MPK Mini PLAY 1st and 2nd gen.

I would choose the Arturia's midi controller with no doubt because of the Keys

 

If you're an absolute beginner,you won't know what to do with a midi controller. Not an accusation or meant to belittle you, just a statement of where you are in the process. That said, you would do well to think about the Arturia Keylab, it usually comes with a software package which will allow you to make sounds (some very good sounds) with the controller and will have the the controls mapped to control the software without any intervention by you.
its currently 219$ usd on Amazon
Arturia KeyLab Essential mk3 — 49 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller with Analog Lab V Software Included

The keylab has controls to start/stop and record in your daw, so you don't have to keep your computer keyboard or mouse handy to do those things, making it easier to stay in your thought frame as you compose/explore the software etc.

 

They have the same deal on GC website too, so probably most others. But my question is just about Analog Lab software that is included. Is it some lite version or the full version? By itself, Analog Lab V is $200 from Plugin Boutique. If it is the full software included, that is a very good price.

 

My one bit of advice: don't spend too much. There's a good chance down the road you will change your mind on what is best for you. Just my $0.02.

Something to think about before buying:

Make sure you can dedicate the room to the MIDI controller that you think you can. Is it going to be on a stand, or on your desk? I love having it on a desk in front of me, but you'll want it taking up much less space, in this case.

I like the controller @Garamondo Furbish recommended. It's a good price, as noted, you get good software with it (Analog Lab Pro!) and it has some other features you may not even realize you'll maybe want one day such as velocity sensitive keys and support for various pedals like an expression pedal, plus fully rotatable encoders (knobs). Trust me when I say that latter one is a great feature to have. Looks like it lacks aftertouch though on the keys, but chances are you don't know what that is, and won't miss it until you've had a lot of experience on the keys (and well, at least it has an expression pedal plugin - they arent the same tools/techniques though).

I think Arturia makes great controllers. I don't have the KeyLab Essential, but I have a KeyStep 37, and I really like it due to how little room it takes up on my desk. I long for 49 or 61 keys now though, as 37 isn't quite enough for me.. but I do have another controller that I can play along with for bass notes.

Anyways, my one bit of advice as mentioned is not to spend too much, cause things can really change. For example I thought I really wanted an arpeggiator / sequencer on my keyboard. It turns out, no I do not. LOL I also thought I'd wanted a bunch of pads and buttons and controls on my keyboard when really I just need a pitch and mod wheel and I'd rather have some other specialized controllers for automation or pads or for other controls. I can't predict what your experience will be. But I can probably guess it won't be your last keyboard.. but there's enough good features on that KeyLab Essential that maybe it will!

According to their website, included with the KeyLab Essential mk3 is Analog Lab PRO. That is a pretty good deal. I got a lite version for free with either my interface (Arturia Minifuse 2) or my controller (Keystep 37)... but looks like you get the whole enchilada with this controller. Nice.

 

i use native instruments midi keyboard. its small compact. i dont need big size.. all these buttons you probably dont need that much

 

Novation Launchkey 49 MK3 - 259 €
Please read a few tests and maybe try it out if you have the chance! The quality of the keyboard is crucial and important!

Looks Good...Controls Well...But The Feel Is....|Novation Launchkey MK3 Review|

 

Last edited: Oct 12, 2024

well from Amazon it says:
Expanded software package for beginners & pros: Now includes Analog Lab V, 2 pianos (UVI Model D, NI’s The Gentleman), plus subscriptions to Loopcloud and Melodics.

So Analog Lab V, and Native Instruments "the Gentleman" piano, and UVI Model D piano. As well Analog Lab has about half a dozen pianos, and of course a B3 organ, electric pianos, augmented strings - I'm running version 9 on my kit.

It used to come with a LE version of Ableton as well I don't see that listed, but it might be in a package from another seller. I think Arturia does a mix and match with various softwares to get people a taste of things. I know some keyboards used to come with Bitwig DAW etc..

whatever software it comes with is not a physical medium, its just a code to download the software from Arturia or wherever the data is stored, so plan on downloading a lot for a couple days depending on your download speeds..

 

so the buttons are pads that can be mapped to samples like drums or notes or chords in a chromatic fashion so you won't hit any bad (out of scale) notes/chords. other buttons are for up/down octaves, controls for DAW, and in the middle a group of a big knob (for scrolling and selecting) and 4 or 5 small buttons for control over the browser when using Arturia software to switch between instruments or groups of instruments. On the Right, The knobs and faders are mapped to various software parameters in the currently loaded instrument so you can adjust volume, ADSR enverlopes etc, any unmapped can be custom mapped to things like reverb or whatever you need. In the B3 organ, the faders act like drawbars.. so its well thought out and not really as busy as it looks, since there a logical groups by function from the left side to the right side of the keyboard.

49 keys is a good size for a small keyboard as you don't need to change octaves as often and can transpose lots of chords up and down the keyboard to mix up the sound. of course it all depends on your space and what your interests are...

This is the "starter" version of the Keylab series, its plastic, so its light and good for moving out of the way when you need desk space for something else. I have a Casio CZ-230s from the 80's that still works fine, so plastic keyboards aren't necessarily bad from a durability standpoint, its 49 key and its 32 inches long (just bought a case for it so I know this)

the dims on the Arturia are - 31.1 x 9.45 x 2.76 inches (790 x 240 x 70mm)

The strong point on the Arturia is the intergration with their software, it has been improved over every iteration, and the MKII is very good, (I own one) and they say the MKIII is even better - I haven't tried it but highly likely as they do keep improving and experimenting..

 

It's a little over your budget, but this keyboard is making me feel aroused.

 

I bought the Novation Launchkey 49 [MK4] for 250€ from Amazon 4 weeks ago for the release and have absolutely no regrets. The midi keyboard makes a very high-quality impression and every connection or update has worked perfectly so far. It runs with full functionality in Flstudio 24 and Presonus Studio One 7 Pro without major installation/without major midi mapping.
I can only recommend it, the best midi keyboard I have ever owned.

https://www.amazon.de/Novation-Laun...usikproduktions-Software-Bundle/dp/B0D6YXHYCX

 

just avoid any china made usb keyboards, they all ve mod wheel, pitch wheel delay, not due to sound card lantency

 

Many people keep controllers for years. Novation stuff always gets good reviews, but 4 weeks is a drop in the bucket. How many updates could you have installed so far? That really only becomes important after they no longer owe you any updates. Some companies will issue updates for years after that, just for customer support; and some will stop the minute they think they can sell you something newer.

 

yeah, I forgot that "selling point"... Its the FULL Analog Lab. It was one of the reasons I bought the controller.

In fact, i have a lot of plugins that came bundled with hardware, It is really nice

 

The keys of the Roland A-800 pro are almost 1 cm shorter, is made for the Chinese/Japanese market, they have smaller hands. But this also makes the keyboard firmer.
Roland has stopped the production of the A-800 Pro, but there are still used models on ebay.

Nektar Panorama T4 - 275 €
49-key master keyboard with aftertouch

The keyboard of the Panorama controller keyboard is well made and offers a pleasant playing feel. The keys quickly return to their original position and the keyboard is equipped with aftertouch. I find the relatively loud keyboard noises that occur when the keys spring back to the zero position a little annoying.

 

Last edited: Oct 12, 2024

I got a IK Multimedia iRig Keys I/O 49 off ebay for pretty cheap, purely because it was the smallest keyboard to fit on the drawer of my desk and that it is iPad friendly for transport. It also has a mic/line input which has come in handy for riffing ideas.

The keys feel a touch smaller than usual keybeds, but they're responsive and nice to touch. My only complaint is that occasionally, if I am playing very busy music, such as New Orleans style blues and using sustain pedal it occasionally drops a single note (which is frustrating). I think this is due to limits in the polyphony and/or if it is drawing too much power from the device. (IIRC)

^^ I would say this is broadly correct, if the device requires USB and doesn't have a MIDI IN/OUT via DIN then you may want to double check class compliance and how many USB ports you have left. I prefer working with old school MIDI DIN because it takes the power element away from the situation IE the keyboard has a dedicated PSU. If you have too many devices drawing power from a laptop it's more to go wrong and more to troubleshoot. Unfortunately newer devices tend to be USB only. Furthermore, there is opportunity cost in terms of PSU and transport... It really depends on what you really want from the product.

 

just don't forget to watch the correct hand/wrist movement videos before anything else ;) like

and gives prio to the "weighted keyboard"s, unfortunately, fully weighted keys are rare in the 49-key range, as most manufacturers reserve fully weighted keys for 61- and 88-key models, focusing on piano-like action.

ps. as I the most compact it this one

https://www.studiologic-music.com/products/numacompact_se/

 

Last edited: Oct 12, 2024

he's right you know, but one shouldn't think this is a possible "Novation Only" sort of problem, this is many vendors, if one wants to see how they support products go to their website and look for drivers for different operating systems. Some will have support from windows 95, to windows 11, this shows not only a commitment to their customers, but an actual financial investment in having engineers trained in designing hardware drivers.

Vendor websites are also great for shopping for products, and I dont mean all the pretty pictures etc. if you are interested in a product download the user manual, there is all the meat and potatoes - explaining how to set it up, what it does and the technical specs etc..