Your MIDI Keyboard Controllers Questions Answered
Best MIDI Keyboard Controllers 2024
Read on for our picks for the year’s best MIDI keyboard controllers!
Arturia KeyStep Pro
This is so much more than a MIDI controller and perhaps has more features than this round-up should really handle. But MIDI is not the only protocol at play in our increasingly diverse hybrid studios and so more and more controllers are including Control Voltage (CV) in their capabilities. The Keystep Pro does this in spades.
The KeyStep Pro controls everything. It’ll do regular MIDI to hardware, USB to software, 4 channels of CV/Gate to analog and modular plus 8 Gates outputs to run a machine’s worth of drums. All of it can be run from the onboard 4-track polyphonic step-sequencer.
Each track can sequence hardware or software. Track 1 can run as a powerful 16 part drum machine while the other 3 can also run as arpeggiators for instant creativity. You can run monophonically with analog or modular gear and polyphonically with MIDI or USB. You can have your whole rig running from this controller. And then you’ve got performance controls over the top like rolls, loops, randomization, and transposition.
It can get deep and complicated but it also frees you from the confines of the DAW and puts multiple control over multiple instruments and devices right under your fingers. This is an extraordinary controller keyboard.
Street Price: $399
arturia.com
Novation Launchkey Mini Mk3
The Launchkey Mini Mk3 is a tiny controller that is packed with features and punches well above its weight. It’s perfect for running with a laptop or tablet and will fit perfectly into your bag for mobility. It looks great and plays great even with those slimline keys and only 2 octaves.
This controller comes alive when paired with Ableton Live. The pads match the color and configuration of the Live Session view and you have automatic mapping over the devices, parameters, and clips. It’s completely seamless and lets you get on with making music rather than staring at a screen or using a mouse. You can add tracks, set it recording, mute and solo channels, dial in effects, and control your session.
But that’s not all and you certainly don’t have to restrict yourself to Live. Inside is a very powerful arpeggiator that you can route to any MIDI destination in software or hardware. It’s controlled by two very creative parameters called Deviate and Mutate. One starts to push to melody into interesting places while the other messes with the gate timings.
Once you have a regular arp running you can use these features to work the melody into all sorts of interesting places. There’s also a very handy chord mode for banging out one-fingered progressions.
It’s a fun and creative little keyboard that’s more than just a Live controller and has a MIDI output for controlling hardware, which is very unusual for this sort of controller.
There are larger versions available with all the same features but with full-sized keys from 25 to 61 and the larger ones also have MIDI faders to expand the control. While they are probably easier the play the “Mini” is just so convenient and easy to take with you.
Street Price: $109
novationmusic.com
Akai MPK Mini Mk3
Mini MIDI keyboards just get better and better. The Akai MPK Mini Mk3 does the job brilliantly by super-portable, dynamic and feature-rich. The feel of the keybed is really very good for a keyboard of this size and improves on the Mk2 in almost every area.
You can’t help but notice the eight MPC-style pads on the top. These are taken straight from the Akai MPC samplers and controllers and offer the same feel and velocity sensitivity. They are backlit, precise and extremely playable for you drum tracks and sample triggering. They even have Note Repeat built in for rolls and flams.
The little joystick is a great way to get your thumb involved in pitch bend and modulation. The eight knobs are endless encoders that can be quickly mapped to your virtual synth parameters. Under a button or two is a superb little Arpeggiator for getting things moving right from the go.
It’s a study little machine that will drop lightly into your bag. It also comes with a big bundle of software include MPC Beats, AIR Hybrid and a bunch of instruments and expansions. The MPK Mini Mk3 is great starting point for your music-making. There’s also a larger 37-key version available if you need a bit more playing surface.
Street Price: $99
AkaiPro.com
Novation SL Mk III
There’s a trend for MIDI keyboards to be the center of everything and to control everything. Not content to simply play notes, they want to offer drum pads, clip launching, transport controls, and parameter tweaking — and that’s awesome! Novation’s SL Mk III goes one step further and adds pattern-based sequencing into the hardware.
The SL Mk III has a lot of functionality built-in for Ableton Live. It has 5 little screens that can display parameters directly from Ableton Live devices and give you instant knob control over them. But it also has a library of hardware and software devices so that you can dial up instant mapping to a variety of sound sources and the displays reflect those parameters.
You can also create your own templates for how you want to work. The semi-weighted keyboard can be split into multiple layers and zones and you can apply scales and key changes with color-coded lights above the keys providing a guide.
The 8-track pattern-based sequencer is the stand-out feature. This is taken from their Circuit groove box and allows you to build real-time or step-based patterns directly from the keyboard. This is a fantastic feature for integrating external synthesizers and MIDI boxes into your DAW-based setup.
The SL Mk III also has two sets of CV, Gate, and Modulation outputs so you can sequence analog and modular gear as well. Many people are looking to go “DAW-less” in their creative workings or live performance and the SL Mk III can definitely provide that while being completely software integrated when you want it to be.
If all singing and all dancing are what you need in a MIDI controller for both your DAW and your external gear then the SL Mk III is a perfect choice. It’s $599 for the 49 key version and $699 for the 61 keys.
Street Price: $599
novationmusic.com
Nektar Impact LX+
Nektar have a different approach to MIDI control. They are not content to leave you to find your own way and instead provide some very clever software that makes the mapping of software instruments and DAW control really easy with a range of DAWs.
With a couple of button presses you can map the 8 knobs and the 8 faders to synthesizer parameters that can be recalled every time you load that instrument. The focus here is for use with a DAW and software instruments rather than external MIDI synths but it can work as a regular MIDI controller just like any other. The keyboard also includes full DAW control over mixer faders and transport while being able to control synths at the same time as well as some useful pads that can be quickly mapped to any drum machine.
In the LX+ range there’s a 25, 49, 61 and 88 keyed version giving you a choice to match the way you like to play. They do more expensive keyboards that have a more professional feel to the keyboard but the LX+ range are very well priced with a lot of powerful features.
Street Price: from $109
nektartech.com
Arturia KeyStep 37
While the massively featured Arturia KeyStep Pro tends to hog all the limelight the more compact KeyStep 37 is one of the best MIDI controllers I’ve used. Not because it has the greatest keyboard or a large amount of knobs or sliders but because it has a couple of awesome features that mean I use it all the time. Whenever I want to play with some synths, rock my modular or have a bit of fun this is the keyboard I reach for.
Firstly it has a regular MIDI output port so I can plug it into any external MIDI synthesizer. Secondly it has a CV/Gate output which means I can plug it straight into analog gear or my modular synthesizer. But more importantly it has a brilliant arpeggiator and step-sequencer which gets you immediately writing tunes without having the think about it.
One arpeggiator mode in particular is fantastic. It’s called “Pattern” and rather than going up and down the notes you hold it creates a sequenced pattern out of them and it always nails it. It just sounds great, every time. If you want something more deliberate then the step-sequencer is simple and easy to use and you’re off. All the notes come out of the CV/Gate outputs as well as MIDI and USB so you can plug it into anything you want.
The KeyStep 37 is not going to run your whole studio but as a working controlling within a hybrid setup of MIDI and modular it’s perfect.
Street Price: $199 (starting price)
arturia.com
M-Audio Oxygen Pro 49
The M-Audio Oxygen range of keyboards has been around forever. They’ve been useful, chunky and able to deliver the basic control we all need. With the Oxygen Pro range M-Audio has elevated the classic controller into something more at home in the studio, more elegant and with better creative facilities.
Cool and intelligent features like Smart Chord and Smart Scale help you develop ideas quickly and easily without finding yourself in the wrong key or struggling to find the next appropriate chord. Wrong notes could become a thing of the past. The arpeggiator is excellent for finding melodies and the Note Repeat function can generate a lot of fun interactions.
The sliders, knobs and pads can be used in any MIDI situation keeping the action on the keyboard rather than on a mouse. There’s a lot of built-in mapping for DAW control and software synth editing which can be very convenient.
The action of the keyboard is far superior to previous M-Audio controllers and offers a semi-weighted feel with advanced high-speed key bed scanning technology and channel aftertouch.
Street Price: $259
m-audio.com
Expressive E Osmose
Something a bit different, a bit futuristic perhaps? Osmose is an instrument more than a controller, although it does that too and in more ways than most. It has the mechanical feel of a piano while offering the sort of expressive control found in specialist MPE controllers that are usually very unlike pianos, like the Joué in this list. Osmose is a ground-breaking controller.
Each key has 3 dimensions of control with its Augmented Keyboard Action. It has the initial pressure, aftertouch, and pitch control on each note and every note with full polyphony. So you don’t just trigger a sound, you play it, enter into it and control it with every press, every note. For synthesizers and software that support MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) it offers an amazing level of expression and nuance when playing.
To show this off beautifully Osmose contains a specially designed instrument sound engine called EaganMatrix. It’s a digital modular synth designed by Haken Audio. You can shake sounds, strum them with your fingers, bend and manipulate like you would with strings or breath. It’s a wonderful playing experience and is unlike anything else out there.
Street Price: $1,799
expressivee.com
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