New 88 key midi controller.

Wildtown

New member
Hello All,

I am looking at getting a new 88 key controller.

I have being doing some research over the last few days and have decided for my budget the smart money would probably be the Nektar LX88+ at roughly
£210/€240/$270.

My DAW is cakewalk by bandlab and I mainly compose with VST's from the east-west cloud.

I don't think I would benefit much from after-touch, although I wouldn't get a 88 key for my budget anyway.

Weighted keys same deal, getting an 88 key for my budget is unlikely.

Does anyone have any experience of the LX88+?

I have been reading about a few users complaining regarding the black keys being too heavy on velocity. That does worry me.

I would really appreciate it if anyone has any thoughts on this keyboard or could recommend another for around the same price?

Max budget would £250/€290/$320 at a push.

The must haves would be 88 keys, mod wheel and faders. A have never used pads before but I think they might be useful.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
 
I bought a swissonic 88 note from Thomann in Germany and it's really good - solid recommendation from me.

I think you are right, thank you so much.

Wow I cant believe I didn't see this controller.

Right time to do the research.

Any issues at all worth mentioning?
 
Hello All,

I am looking at getting a new 88 key controller.

I have being doing some research over the last few days and have decided for my budget the smart money would probably be the Nektar LX88+ at roughly
£210/€240/$270.

My DAW is cakewalk by bandlab and I mainly compose with VST's from the east-west cloud.

I don't think I would benefit much from after-touch, although I wouldn't get a 88 key for my budget anyway.

Weighted keys same deal, getting an 88 key for my budget is unlikely.

Does anyone have any experience of the LX88+?

I have been reading about a few users complaining regarding the black keys being too heavy on velocity. That does worry me.

I would really appreciate it if anyone has any thoughts on this keyboard or could recommend another for around the same price?

Max budget would £250/€290/$320 at a push.

The must haves would be 88 keys, mod wheel and faders. A have never used pads before but I think they might be useful.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.



Not familiar with that one so I would look at reviews and ratings on a number of sites.
Check specs on sellers sites then use that to choose with.

I would question your saying you need 88 keys and not after touch or weighted keys.
What do you plan to do with this and how do you plan to do that?


 
Not an issue, but the manual is less helpful than it could have been. Setting up the rotary and faders so that they send the data you want I find less than intuitive. It's possible to programme setups into the memory so if you then need to change them for a different synth or samplers you can recall a different setup, but I don't do this regularly enough so can never remember the sequence of prods. As a result I've tried to create one that will work any of my sound sources, but of course his means that when I load something new, too much time has passed to remember it! I keep meaning to write down the sequence but I'm forgetful and never do it. Not really the keyboards fault, just my brain.
 


Not familiar with that one so I would look at reviews and ratings on a number of sites.
Check specs on sellers sites then use that to choose with.

I would question your saying you need 88 keys and not after touch or weighted keys.
What do you plan to do with this and how do you plan to do that?



Yes I having been doing as much research as I can.

I am looking at 88 keys so don't have to transpose on some of the VST's I currently use.

I know some controllers will do this better than others but my existing keyboard (it is really old) doesn't do this well.

Well weighted keys are a personal preference I suppose, each player will like a particular feel surely?

In terms of after-touch all am saying is for my budget an 88 key with after touch wasn't going to be easy (until I knew about the swissonic 88 note).

I am simply saying that I would prefer a full size versus a 61key with after touch as the libraries I play from don't use after touch that much but I do take your point.

Thanks



Not an issue, but the manual is less helpful than it could have been. Setting up the rotary and faders so that they send the data you want I find less than intuitive. It's possible to programme setups into the memory so if you then need to change them for a different synth or samplers you can recall a different setup, but I don't do this regularly enough so can never remember the sequence of prods. As a result I've tried to create one that will work any of my sound sources, but of course his means that when I load something new, too much time has passed to remember it! I keep meaning to write down the sequence but I'm forgetful and never do it. Not really the keyboards fault, just my brain.

Ok thanks for that I will read up as much as I can.

Only downside is I think trying one locally where I live might be tricky.
 
My favorite 88 key controller is and has been the Yamaha KX-88.
Cons: big, heavy, old, and fewer features.
Pros: great action that does not wear down and fall apart even after a LOT of use over MANY years. And they're cheap, these days.

Yamaha updated it and called it KX8 or K8 or something but I don't know about those.
I've seen them for under $300 although not lately.
 
The thing that I like about the Nektar Impact series is their tight integration with DAWs. It turns your MIDI controller into a control surface, so you have transport and fader control from the keyboard itself. I'm no pianist, so I can't speak for the keybed quality, but it feels ok to me for a synth-style key feel.

My main gripe about my Nektar Impact (mine is the LX25+) is the drum pads. They're not all that responsive. That can be mitigated by adjusting the sensitivity and velocity curve, but they're still a little too insensitive for my tastes. They work, but you've really gotta pound them to get that 128 velocity hit when you need it.
 
My favorite 88 key controller is and has been the Yamaha KX-88.
Cons: big, heavy, old, and fewer features.
Pros: great action that does not wear down and fall apart even after a LOT of use over MANY years. And they're cheap, these days.

Yamaha updated it and called it KX8 or K8 or something but I don't know about those.
I've seen them for under $300 although not lately.

The KX88 does look a like a good controller but I am not interested in anything used.

The KX8 looks a bit older also but seems a bit of my budget anyway.

Thanks anyway.

The thing that I like about the Nektar Impact series is their tight integration with DAWs. It turns your MIDI controller into a control surface, so you have transport and fader control from the keyboard itself. I'm no pianist, so I can't speak for the keybed quality, but it feels ok to me for a synth-style key feel.

My main gripe about my Nektar Impact (mine is the LX25+) is the drum pads. They're not all that responsive. That can be mitigated by adjusting the sensitivity and velocity curve, but they're still a little too insensitive for my tastes. They work, but you've really gotta pound them to get that 128 velocity hit when you need it.

Totally I think I would prefer more of a synth feel rather than real piano feel. I am not a piano player by choice.

Seems like a minor complaint. I don't know if I would even use the pads.

How have you found the black keys?

Some people have complained they were too sensitive.
 
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