Nektar is a company that focuses a lot on making keyboards and controllers, and here we have one of their top selections for beatmakers. The only thing that might leave some players wanting? Although those knobs and individual displays are undeniably cool, you don’t get faders or drum pads as you do on the KeyLab. Still, the S88 is a stellar deal and a no-brainer for musicians already using Native Instruments software. Either way, panel settings including the selected pad bank, octave, layer settings, arpeggiator and so on can be saved as one of eight Snapshots which are stored even when you power down. Performance and verdict The casing is made of aluminum, giving you that peace of mind of its sturdiness, and it is not flimsy. The keys have an aftertouch as well. When you press a key, the sound engine springs into action, selecting the right sound based on the velocity and force of your touch.

A top-of-the-line Yamaha digital piano, for instance, has acoustic piano-like keys. This means that the keys are harder to press (i.e. require more finger strength). It also has features to mimic the complex acoustics of a real piano. assignable knobs & buttons for controlling virtual instruments, mix plugins, DAW controls, and more

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While they were immensely popular earlier, hardware synths (either analog or digital) have become something of a niche buy recently. Modern software synths are so much more powerful than what even the best hardware synth can accomplish. You can usually get much better results by plugging a MIDI keyboard into your DAW and using a software synth like Serum. The pitch bend and modulation wheels’ look, feel, and quality are pretty impressive, making articulating the pitch in performances give light to your expressive changes. Of course, you can change the modulation intensity of effects like vibrato or tremolo, but it is also possible to assign these wheels to an array of MIDI messages. +/-buttons, you can assign different functions like a program, CC, and MMC messages. By default, they control octave/transpose up and down functions.

Although the keys are not weighted, they provide a great playing experience, making it perfect for both beginners and professionals alike. For smaller setups, production on the go, basslines, and tweaking MIDI notes after playing, your setup might benefit from a smaller MIDI keyboard like the M32. If you already use KOMPLETE or any other NATIVE INSTRUMENTS software, then our MIDI keyboard range will fit straight into your setup, seamlessly integrating with the products you already own. Piano is the instrument you all know and all. A digital piano is like a piano, except it is entirely electric (i.e. has no analog components). Digital pianos replicate the sound and feel of a piano through a computer-based sound engine. Read more about them in our guide to digital pianos. The keyboard uses a tri-sensor scaled hammer action with Casio's AiR sound engine. This combination does a spectacular job of replicating the feel and sound of an acoustic piano. The action is graded, i.e. it goes from heavy to light as you move up the octaves. Synthetic ebony and ivory keys complete the acoustic piano experience (and serve a function purpose – the keytops are moisture resistant).For all its complexity under the hood, the user interface is relatively simple and focused on playing dynamics. Via two front-panel knobs, the curve is continuously variable, and can be skewed to favor the bass, middle, or treble range. Then, the Dynamics knob acts as a sort of “compressor” relating finger velocity to sensed velocity. This may not seem as granular as a key-by-key software editor, but musically, it gets results as good and arguably more fluidly. Pitch and mod wheels are on hand, as is one assignable pot. Zoning for splits or layers? You’ll want to handle that on the receiving end. Let’s dive right into the question you wanted to see answered: what’s the best 88 key keyboard on the market right now? MIDI keyboards come in various shapes and sizes, with different numbers of keys, additional controls, and features tailored to specific needs and preferences. From compact 25-key models designed for portability to full-sized 88-key controllers with weighted keys for a more realistic piano feel, there’s a MIDI keyboard to suit every musician and producer. A MIDI keyboard is a keyboard that plugs into a computer and helps you control a DAW. Think of it as a physical interface for your DAW. You can shift octaves up and down and transpose keys up and down (in one semi-tone increments) by pressing the Trans button and pressing octave up or down. Above you will see the transport section, which consists of Rewind, Fast Forward, Loop, Stop, Play, and Record controls. When you control these functions on the keyboard, the production process feels more tactile and smoother.

Adjusting settings on the A88 MkII is made much easier with its accompanying control app. (Image credit: Roland) Some onboard settings such as MIDI output channel can be made onboard using keyboard keys (there’s a legend just above them). Pots are arranged in two rows of four and are also MIDI-assignable, giving you much more functionality. Their default parameter settings are Osc Tune, Osc Level, Osc Mod 1 & 2, Cutoff, Resonance, Env Amt, and LFO. Below these, you will find the transport controls, including the buttons for Loop, Rewind, Fast-forward, Stop, Play, and Record (which also have secondary functions). There are plenty of models to choose from. You can opt for a compact MIDI keyboard that fits comfortably in a bag, or you can go all-in with a full-size 88-note model with weighted hammer-action keys. Most options we recommend here also come with additional features such as knobs, pads, buttons and faders to boost creativity and give you even more control over your software. Most MIDI keyboards include good value software bundles too, and we have listed the highlights with each keyboard. Many of the best MIDI keyboards also come with mapping templates for the most popular DAWs - Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, etc - making it easy to get up and running and start producing music right out of the box. Additionally, you get 4 touch sensitivity settings (hard, medium, soft, and fixed) to accommodate different playing styles. The key tops are plastic instead of the synthetic ebony & ivory found on Yamaha's high-end digital pianos (such as the P-255). They look good but don't do a great job of absorbing moisture from sweat.The previous version of the Doepfer PK88 had 2 MIDI outputs, and in 2009 they equipped this keyboard with a USB interface. You have access to all advanced functions with this button. Here the keyboard goes into Edit mode, whereby the keys are used for selecting functions and entering data, such as transposing, selecting MIDI channels, etc., and thus gives you more out of the keyboard. Rounding up the feature list is a powerful set of 30W speakers. You can easily drag this to a small gig and not even use any external speakers. With the VPC1, you will get the natural feeling of being at a grand piano with its design, layout, and ultra-realistic touch. With a MIDI controller, you can get the feel of a genuine grand piano and the sound of any virtual instrument. To use one of these weighted MIDI keyboards, you’ll need access to a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for virtual instruments and voicings.