MIDI keyboards | Imagination Works

Review of Novation Impulse 25, 49 and 61 MIDI keyboards

Today in audio part we will look on professional MIDI keyboards Novation Impulse 25, 49 and 61, which are modifications of the same keyboard with according velocity-sensitive keys amounts. Besides them they have : 8 knobs, which can be rotated any amount of times in any direction; 8 velocity-sensitive drumpads with backlight; 9 sliders ( on 49 and 61 models ) or 1 slider ( on 25 model ); 6 transport control buttons; pitch-bend and modulation wheels; 2 octaves control buttons; LCD display; 6 programmable buttons, 4 of which has backlight; 4 control change buttons ( 49 and 61 ) or 3 such buttons ( 25 ); 9 mute and solo buttons; and arpreggiator. They have following ports : USB connector ( through which they are powered and communicate with computer ); MIDI input and output; power adapter input, which is needed only in MIDI connection case; 1/4” ( 6.3 mm ) TRS jack inputs for sustain and expression pedals; and Kensington slot. Keyboards support High Rate Scan ( HRS ) technology, with which they scan their state 10000 times per second and acquire all nuances of musician play. They are tightly integrated with modern DAWs, their instruments and VST plugins : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others. MIDI keyboards are supplied with DAW Ableton Live Lite 9.

MIDI keyboard Novation Impulse 25 ( rear view )

They are compatible with Windows 7, 8 and newer and Mac OSX 10.8 and newer operating systems. Keyboards sizes are : 25 : 525 ( width ) x 332 ( depth ) x 100 ( height ) mm; 49 : 864 ( width ) x 332 ( depth ) x 100 ( height ) mm; и 61 : 1022 ( width ) x 332 ( depth ) x 100 ( height ) mm. Their package contains : Novation Impulse 25, 49 and 61 MIDI keyboards, USB cable, optical disks with software and user’s guide. They are good and functional keyboards with full spectrum of controls and adequate price for their functionality.

Nektar Impact LX 49 and 61 – fully-functional MIDI keyboards with optimal prices

Lets review MIDI keyboards Nektar Impact LX 49 and 61, they are variations of one model with 49 and 61 full-sized velocity-sensitive keys. There is ability to choose one of 4 velocity curves or one of 3 fixed velocity levels. Keyboard has octave shifting buttons; pitch-bend and modulation control wheels; 8 velocity-sensitive drumpads ( there is also ability to chose for them one of 4 velocity curves or one of 3 fixed velocity levels ); 8 potentiometers; 9 30 mm faders; 9 programmable buttons; 6 transport control buttons; 5 set and recall parameters sets buttons; pedal input ( pedal itself isn’t bundled with controllers ); and USB port ( through which they are connected to computer or Apple iPad via camera connection kit and from which they are fully powered ). MIDI keyboards are compliant with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and newer and Mac OS X 10.7 and newer operating systems, there is no need in additional drivers for their work. They are tightly integrated with modern DAWs and their instruments : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others. Package contains : Nektar Impact LX 49 or 61 MIDI keyboard itself, USB cable and user’s guide. These are very functional MIDI keyboards with full spectrum features : keys, drumpads, pitch-bend and modulation control wheels, control buttons, including programmable, and adequate price. One “minus” is their blocky design, but this is a matter of taste and different people have different tastes.

M-Audio Axiom AIR Mini 32 – functional MIDI keyboard with compact sizes

Lets review MIDI keyboard M-Audio Axiom AIR Mini 32, which has diverse functional and compact sizes. It has 32 velocity-sensitive mini-keys, with selectable touch curves; 8 drumpads; 8 knobs; 3 transport buttons; 10 memory cells for setting and recalling of keyboard parameters sets; pitch bend, modulation and sustain control buttons; and octaves shift buttons. Keyboard is connected to computer via USB port and receives power from it; it supports HyperControl function for integration with modern DAWs : Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools and others. MIDI keyboard is supported by Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10 and Mac OS X operating systems; it is supplied with software DAW Ableton Live Lite and Ignite Music Creation ( which is bundled with 275 software instruments, developed by AIR Music Technology ). Keyboard sizes are : 396 ( width ) x 196 ( depth ) x 38 ( height ) mm. Package contains : M-Audio Axiom AIR Mini 32 MIDI keyboard itself, USB cable, optical disks with drivers and software and user’s guide.

MIDI keyboard M-Audio Axiom AIR Mini 32 ( top view )

It is interesting keyboard, which has 32 keys, 8 drumpads, compact sizes and adequate price; its minuses are : pitch-bend and modulation controls in form of buttons, instead of wheels, and lack of expression or sustain pedal input. So, it is applicable for wide range of uses, from home studio to concerts.

IK Multimedia iRig Keys – MIDI keyboard for PC, Mac, iOS and Android

MIDI keyboard IK Multimedia iRig Keys with iPad

In audio part today we will meet with IK Multimedia iRig Keys – MIDI keyboard, which is oriented on work with different devices : PC, Mac, iOS and Android. It has 37 velocity-sensitive mini-keys; pitch bend and modulation wheels; volume control knob, which can be programmed to control custom parameter; octaves control buttons, which can be programmed; 4 buttons for storing and restoring of parameters sets; and sustain or expression pedal input. MIDI keyboard is connected to devices via Core MIDI interface ( for iOS ) or via USB interface ( for PC and Mac ), it is powered from these connections. Also, it can be used with Android devices via OTG to Micro-USB adapter, which is bundled with controller. Keyboard is supplied with following software : SampleTank FREE iOS and iGrand Piano FREE for iOS ( they can be downloaded from Apple App Store ); iGrand Piano FREE and iLectric Piano FREE for Android ( they can be downloaded from Google Play or Samsung Galaxy Apps ); SampleTank 3 SE for PC and Mac ( they can be downloaded from manufacturer’s web-site after registration ); and The Grid plus 5 Beats and Elektronika virtual instruments for SampleTank 3 SE ( they are also can be downloaded from manufacturer’s web-site ). This is interesting MIDI keyboard model, which has small sizes and weight and ability to work with different devices; its minuses are : lack of drumpads, small amount of programmable buttons for DAW control and small keys size ( but this is the consequence of its compact sizes ). So, this device should be bought only if there will be no need in additional controls; but, if there is need to simply buy MIDI keyboard, then it is better to buy more functional device, which costs the same amount of money or not much more.

Review of functional MIDI keyboard Alesis V61

Lets review functional MIDI keyboard Alesis V61. It has 61 full-size keys, which react on pess velocity; octave up and down buttons; 4 programmable buttons and 4 programmable knobs; 8 drun pads, which react on presses velocity and applied force; and pitch bend and modulation wheels. All additional controls have variable back-light, which shows their activity degree. Controller is connected to computer via USB port ( through which it also receives power ) and is automatically recognized by Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, in which it can integrate with modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others. Alesis V61 is bundled with DAW Ableton Live Lite 9 and multifunctional instrument AIR Music Tech Xpand!2. There is also need to note compact design of MIDI keyboard and its adequate price ( 169 USD at the middle of Autumn 2015 ) in comparison with other MIDI controllers.

Novation Launchkey 49 – professional MIDI keyboard with tight integration with DAWs

Todays audio part will be dedicated to professional MIDI keyboard Novation Launchkey 49. It has 49 velocity-sensitive keys; 16 drum-pads with RGB backlight, which are also velocity-sensitive; 8 knobs; 9 sliders; pitch bend and modulation wheels; 2 octave/transpose buttons; 1 LED display; 2 Track/MIDI Channel buttons; 8 mute/solo tracks buttons; 3 InControl buttons; 2 RGB backlit buttons; 6.3 mm ( 1/4” ) TRS jack input for sustain pedal; and Kensington Lock port. Keyboard can be connected to computer via USB or MIDI port. In first case it receives power only from this connection; in the second – it requires additional power adapter input ( which is not supplied with device ). MIDI keyboard tightly integrates with DAWs Ableton Live and FL Studio, wherein it can work with other modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Steinberg Cubase, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others. It is automatically set up, when connected to Windows or Mac OS based computers via Plug In and Play function. Novation Launchkey 49 package contains following software : DAW Ableton Live Lite, virtual instruments Novation Bass Station and Novation V-Station, and 1 GB of Loopmasters samples. For connection to iOS devices MIDI keyboard requires power adapter and camera connection kit, or special iOS USB camera adapter. Device sizes are : 775 ( length ) x 270 ( depth ) x 90 ( height ) mm.

M-Audio Keystation 49 II USB MIDI keyboard review

Today among audio devices we will look on MIDI keyboard M-Audio Keystation 49 II USB. It is DAW parameters controller and MIDI notes recording instrument. Overall process looks like so : human plays on this instrument and controls various parameters, they are recorded by DAW in MIDI editor, then they are played by software synthesizer. Keyboard has 49 full-size keys, which react on press velocity ( it is very useful, because many synthesizing parameters can be controlled with press velocity, this allows to perform these actions faster and more creatively ); has USB and MIDI connectors for communications with computer; is powered from 1 USB port; has different buttons and knobs for DAW parameters controlling; has small weight ( this is useful for its use on concerts ); and can be plugged to iOS devices via Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit adapter ( which is not bundled with MIDI keyboard ). With M-Audio Keystation 49 II USB controller following software is supplied : SONiVOX Eighty-Eight Ensemble – sample based synthesizer-emulator of piano 9-foot CD327 Steinway ( it has in itself recorded samples of this instrument, from which it can synthesize different sounds of this instrument ); DAW Ableton Live Lite; and multi-functional AIR Music Tech Xpand!2 synthesizer. Keyboard can work with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 and Mac OS X 10.5 and newer operating systems; it integrates very well with modern DAWs : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others.

Tag: MIDI keyboards