Hi guys hope you're all in good health! well for a while i have been planning to buy a Midi keyboard, except in my country choices are really limited, here the three best Midi Keyboard available - M-Audio - Axiom Air 61 - AKAI - ADVANCE 61 - AKAI - MPK 261 i'm not, really sure what to get, but i'm struggling between the Axiom and MPK, so guys did anyone of you had some experience with one of these, and what do you recommend i get ? Your help is greatly appreciated!
M-Audio not the best manufacturer, but not the worst in the same time. Price = quality. Advance - is more like komplete Kontrol. It comes with software and provide you full control for daw and plugins. Mpk - Just a keyboard with pads and some average arpeggiator. Advance > MPK > M-Audio Axiom Last edited: Jun 24, 2017
i See, i wont lie, i prefer the MPK, as it have more options and more controls over the Advance, wish looks simple, i may benefit from the controller that the MPK has, like the faders and knobs, even the pads looks better to me... care to explain why the Advance is better?
It give's you deep control over everything. Less knobs doesn't mean less control. It comes with it's own proprietary software that allow you to layer and combine plugins both vsti and vst. And the overall device quality feels better (Just personal taste). Mpk - just a decent keyboard controller without extra stuff. That's pretty much all. It will be better if you will try both controllers and choose the one you like more.
That's the problem mate, trying before buying in my country is not an option lol... appreciate your help friend, i'll see what i can do.
of those three, the mpk261 is the best. but if you're buying primarily for kontakt, you should at least consider the native instruments s61. i tried all three of those at guitar center and the keybeds on the axiom and advance kind of sucked. the mpk261 wasn't perfect, but it was a lot better in my opinion.
AKAI - MPK 261 is really not just a keyboard with pads. It is also a controller not as advance as the advance. I controller reaper and Cubase. Works really well for the money.
I'd go for Akai Advance for it's compatibility and build quality. don't count the knobs (endless encoders actually) on this one cause they change dynamically according to your plugins. I also suggest Nektar Impact LX61+ (my personal favourite). It is a revamped version of LX61. Nektar is known for its deep integration with every popular DAW and programming capability of its controllers. so go and see if this model is available where you are. If you are on budget Axiom Air is good but not great. you get what you pay for. though you have to map everything yourself unless you use Ableton Live. I know you're more into cinematic stuff and Kontakt libraries and you need a controller that adapts to your software with a tight software/hardware integration. Komplete S61 is a beast in this regard but it's also very expensive and probably rare in your region. You need weighted or semi-weighted keys with a natural feel. so try them if its possible for you. if not, carefully read comments and reviews of the build quality of whatever you end up buying.
i was trying to get the "Native instrument s88" searched everywhere, i could not find it in any of the stores available here, tried talking to one of those to order the s88 for me, but it was very very expansive... just the idea to order from Europe wasn't really a choice, as i have to pay more than 3 times the original price, plus taxes... so i ended up with those 3...
that's what i end up having, yet most people are suggesting the advance, i'll see which works better with Kontakt, and based on that i'll chose.
I would suggest the Advance out of that list.But for that price you could also get the Komplete Kontrol 61, which would be my favorite out of all of them, especially if you own NI stuff. Great keyboard. I own the 88 key. Edit: I see you said you can't get the Komplete Kontrol. In that case the advance will serve you well.
rare is already too mush friend, you can't the Native Instruments keyboards here, everything else seems to be available, which is understandable after all... but i'm really limited to what is shown there, here's the website anyway... http://www.musicplus.tn/keyboards/claviers/claviers-maitres.html?limit=all
i'm not going to argue a lot here because i ended up not buying any of these three. but i had pretty much made up my mind to buy the mpk261 before i found the controller that i finally ended up with. all i'm going to say is make sure that you read every user review that you can get your hands on. the vip software that comes with the advance is apparently not all it's been hyped to be. and it requires you to install ilok. the keybed is not aftertouch sensitive if that is important to you. and if i recall correctly, the keys were a little stiff (not 100% sure if I am remembering that right). i do recall reading several reviews by people who had trouble getting the vip software to work with kontakt. that may have changed in subsequent software revisions. the keyboards that i spent the most time researching were the novation impulse 61, the novation sl mkii 61, the nektar panorama p6, the akaipro mpk261, the akaipro advance, the roland a800 pro, and the arturia keylab 61. then i found a killer deal on the behringer motor61 and jumped on it. i have never seen it at that same price again in the six months since i bought it.
I know it's not on your list but, like Amirious, I just want to say that after trying and using at least five 61t Master K recently, the absolute best was the Nektar Impact LX61+. Pricre wasn't even an issue, though this one is really unexpensive. No, it's MY best because the software is STABLE, the keyboard has a great feeling, and it just work perfectly with everything. Si tu veux plus d'info, tu me PM, salut !
Hi, The thing about the ADVANCE is that you can tweak some of the popular plugins. I think the MPK261 will be a better value if you mostly work with a mouse. MPK261 was top of my list 6 months ago because of its good reputation but i ended up buying Novation impulse 61 because it was cheaper. I don't know anything about M-audios though. I know that struggle when you can't try before you buy, so good luck choosing what's best for you Cheers from Morocco
First thing. Just looking at the actual key design, the M-Audio beats the rest. Look at the keys. AKAI has these synth-style, light, flimsy keys, which get really thin at the end. The M-Audio has semi-weighted keys, and they're also "fully enclosed". You mentioned you're going to be using Kontakt. Having proper keys will help if you plan on using velocity-sensitive stuff (pianos?). Also, having the pitch bend and modwheel to the left is handier than somewhere above the keys. It also has 9 faders which means you have a master fader all the time, not just track faders. Also, looking at Sweetwater reviews, AKAI Advance has issues with the integration and it works with only the plugins they did mapping for - people say it's hit or miss, with only about 30% of they plugins working.
I personally would pass on all of them, if I had to choose, I would probably go for the Advance 61. The AKAI keybeds are not the best but they are better than the M-Audio ones as far as velocity response and consistency. If you do not care about velocity and just plan on playing at max all the time.... even then I would still go for the AKAI. It's a shame you do not have much for choice.
I recently had to make pretty much the same choices (plus the Nektar Impact LX61) and I went for the MPK261. It just felt the best to me out of the choices, everything felt tighter/weightier, if that makes sense, plus the pads are sweet imo. Good sensitivity/range. I use Logic Pro and I found this after some looking http://community.akaipro.com/akai_p...lly-works-exactly-the-way-you-think-it-should There's a 4shared download link, if anyone should need it, a bit further down bellow the top post. I tweaked it from there and now I'm all good. I don't need anything more. I have no use for "deep integration", it's distracting for me, but to each their own. Forget about keybeds. They all suck within the price range. It's all about the bells and whistles for some awful reason. In the end, this is all subjective, but M-Audio sucks major donkey shlong. Just saying.
