Vekked Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Considering picking up another 25-key keyboard for use with my DJ set/travel production. Right now I have the LPK25 which is dope but has it's good and bad Pro's: -Doesn't take up a lot of room so easy to throw beside a turntable or on a laptop stand to incorporate into my DJ setup. -It has a standalone arpeggiator which I really like and use a lot. It works with the PDX 3000 so it's great for jamming out ideas. Con's -The keys are mini-keys with pretty bad action overall. Not ideal for jumping back and forth between the turntable and keyboard on the fly, pretty easy to miss keys. Also don't feel nice for jamming melodies for production. -Basically no mappable buttons or features outside the keys and arp. Not a deal-breaker for me, but there are times when I wish there was a couple buttons/knobs or something. Here are the ones I've looked at as alternatives: CME Xkey 25 -from reading reviews it seems like it's actually decent to play and the keys are full size in area despite being really shallow. Seems like the thinnest possible midi keyboard, so would be good for carrying around. Qunexus 2 -definitely more on like a pad/keyboard hybrid. Pads as spread out and seem maybe easier to hit on the fly as a result. Can map vibrato and filters to the pads that could have some interesting implications. Also very small, a bit smaller than my LPK I think. Novation Launchkey mini/25 -More of a fully featured 25-key keyboard with pads, knobs, and other mappable buttons. Definitely the most powerful option, but they're quite a bit bigger than the other 3 options... So I'm not really sure if this is a great option for one to incorporate into my DJ setup given the size. But I haven't seen them in person/tried it, so maybe someone here has used one in their DJ setup? Anyways, anyone have experience with any of these? Hopefully at least one of them really sucks so I can narrow it down. Might end up just keeping the trusty LPK-25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexinoodle Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Xkey is the next controller i want personally, i'm not a great keys player, but those things are nice to play, and the size just takes the piss.Qunexus is nice, but not for me personallyNovation has proprietary drivers, so not for me, had automap before, never again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutis Mayfield Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 If you are comsidering getting into iOS (blocs wave, launchpadd app) launchkey without doubt. If not Xkeys seems the perfect match... Did you see the roli blocks?http://cdm.link/2016/11/modular-wireless-music-blocks-ios-rolis-next-big-idea/ Maybe it's more suitable for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vekked Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 If you are comsidering getting into iOS (blocs wave, launchpadd app) launchkey without doubt. If not Xkeys seems the perfect match... Did you see the roli blocks? http://cdm.link/2016/11/modular-wireless-music-blocks-ios-rolis-next-big-idea/ Maybe it's more suitable for you? I don't have anything iOS but just out of curiosity why the launchkey for that purpose? It's made to work with iOS stuff? The roli blocks look interesting but I definitely want a keyboard interface of some sort. I found that I don't really use pads and such much and keys are way more intuitive for production for me. The Qunexus is kinda borderline because of that since it's not really keys, but it still has that sort of layout... still looking into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutis Mayfield Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Yes the novation family works with iOS and specifically with their apps. It's a great feature for iOS music making but just anecdotic if iOS isn't in your radar or path. https://youtu.be/d2uk6JlpaIc Recently Novation has updated booth and they can share in-app libraries. Also I expect Blocs wave could be hardware friendly (in addition to Circuit) Also it has ableton link and export Check the blocs and launchpad yt channels for more inspiring videos. Blocs wave is my actual app of choice for beatmaking by far. So for not being long offtopic, if I need thinner and small device to on the go composition... iPad/iPhone itself could do the job. If rubber buttons and keys are a must then launchkey ftw. Offtopic end. Goto "make noise" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 I had and liked this M Audio Keystation Mini 32. It slots into kit bag really easily, has proper keys (of the mini and fairly spongy action variety) and there's 32 of them. http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/keystation-mini-32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vekked Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 I had and liked this M Audio Keystation Mini 32. It slots into kit bag really easily, has proper keys (of the mini and fairly spongy action variety) and there's 32 of them. http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/keystation-mini-32 Hmmm, the LPK has the mini/spongy keys as well and that's my main beef with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutis Mayfield Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 I had and liked this M Audio Keystation Mini 32. It slots into kit bag really easily, has proper keys (of the mini and fairly spongy action variety) and there's 32 of them.http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/keystation-mini-32Also korg microkey. The first version came with usb hub included.http://www.korg.com/us/products/computergear/microkey2/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Rock Well Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Yep, I personally thought the MAudio ones were just a little better than the LPK ones in action, but there's not much in it and personal preference probably comes into play. The above mentioned Kord micro key is a bigger bulkier lump but the keys are better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kebzer Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 You can't go wrong with CME. These guys always made great midi keyboards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubba Dutchdj Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 I really like my QuNexus, mostly because theres an app for it that lights up the keys to selected scales for music theory newbs like me.Like all the Kieth McMillen controllers it has a powerful controller editor which allows seemingly endless user preset controls. The editor goes a bit deep for someone like me to be honest but it gives the keyboards many features real user definable flexibility.I initially went for the QuNexus because of the extra mappable controls, all the pads have X Y control and pitch bend, I thought this would be cool to map to filters in Traktor when doing the midi note PDX 3000 stuff. But initial play with that setup wasn't as user friendly as I hoped, but that said its something I need to experiment further as you can probably fine tune that stuff better with either Traktor or the QuNexus controller editors. Other ideas I had with the pads many controls is to map delay or reverb that only kick in once a certain amount of pressure is applied.IMO I like how the pads work for midi note platter control, there spaced out well enough to make hitting the right key easy and its poss to set up the pressure sensitivity of the pads firm enough so accidentally brushing a finger against the wrong key won't send a midi signal.All in all is very VERY powerful controller and while I don't use it often its flexibility means I'll keep finding new uses for it as and when I learn new things.... one day Id like to get in to synth modules and with the QuNexus having a number CV variation output features it'll be a really good tool for having cool live play control with hardware synths. Edit: I should add Im not a huge fan of having a pitch bend as a pad you have to roll your finger back and fourth on, it works to point but know where near as effective as a traditional pitch wheel. Also should mention the construction is super solid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jam Burglar Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Get one of those keyboards from the movie "Big", hook it up with a guitar-turntable type contraption and you might even get a 1000 youtube hits. Next level. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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