What to Know about Midi Keyboards before Buying

scottb721 on 09/03/2023 - 21:04
Last edited 09/03/2023 - 22:14

My son's asked for a midi keyboard for his birthday next month.
Anything particular I should know when looking regarding features, must-haves etc ?
Looking in the $100-200 range, if needed.

He's 19. A pretty proficient player, has a Yamaha digital piano which does have midi output but seems primary interest is something more compact to have at his desk.
S/W wise he uses Audacity and Anvil Studio.

It might be a case of he's not sure quite yet what else he might want to explore with it. In a similar vein, he has a talkbox on the piano and plays around and experiments with.
He also creates game content and has YT channel so possibly some use there too.

Maybe in the $100-200 range

Thanks

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • bmxr on 09/03/2023 - 21:21
    +11

    Ask your son.

    If he's asking for it (or anything like I was with things like this) chances are he's been researching it and knows what he wants. If not, ask him!

    There's quite a wide range from midi keyboards to drum machine samplers and all the peripherals, software, connections and everything in between.

  • sumyungguy on 09/03/2023 - 21:24
    +2

    Where to start… How old is he? What will he be using it for? Does he already have a preferred DAW? Is he learning piano? Do you have a financial threshhold of pain?

  • scottb721 on 09/03/2023 - 22:15

    Thank you,
    I've updated my OP

    • sumyungguy on 09/03/2023 - 22:27
      +1

      I went for a Komplete Kontrol A49, I like that the keybed is smoother than most of the competition.

  • Kangal on 09/03/2023 - 22:43
    +1

    Best to ask him.
    Get him to do the research, from the low-budget stuff, to the midrange, and the high-end stuff.

    It will get him more appreciation to the instrument later on.
    I do that with most of the big ticket items (car, laptop, phone, etc etc).

  • Master Bates on 09/03/2023 - 23:40
    +1

    I am thinking about getting an Akai Mini Play Mk3 myself.

    Why? Because Akai. Loose reason, but it's within your budget and gets good reviews. The negative stuff I have seen seems to be about setup, but I'm sure it's not that hard.

    • EightImmortals on 10/03/2023 - 07:34

      Have a had a couple of people recommend this unit. Currently about $150 on Amazon, went down to $109 around Christmas time.

      • Switchblade88 on 10/03/2023 - 11:26
        +1

        The Mk3 'Play' version has an inbuilt speaker and headphone out which makes the entire thing portable, unlike all other MIDI keyboards that require tethering to an external device for actually producing sound.

        Not sure if @scottb721 needs it, given the use case described, but it's a nice bonus feature that's not at all common.

  • crentist on 10/03/2023 - 00:46

    Better to spend the extra money and go straight for a Maxi Keyboard

  • [Deactivated] on 10/03/2023 - 01:51
    +1

    Check Aftertouch feature.

  • scottb721 on 10/03/2023 - 08:29
    +2

    He says he wants to use FL Studio so thinking of the Novation FLkeys 25 or 37.

    • kokita on 10/03/2023 - 09:19

      Sounds good if he has another Yamaha keyboard with a bigger range (>61 keys)

  • ryf on 10/03/2023 - 09:28

    Other option is a Korg micro key (USB or Bluetooth/USB). We have one and works well.

  • AustriaBargain on 10/03/2023 - 10:43

    Does he have an iPad? A midi controller with an iPad is probably a versatile solution, rather than connecting it to a PC like we used to in the old days, or using inbuilt voices.

    Does he want a full 88 key board to learn piano, or does he just want a smaller one for playing samples? Does he care if they are weighted like real piano keys or is he just happy to have them trigger the sounds?

  • johndoe on 10/03/2023 - 11:16
    +1

    Good to ask him to clarify:
    - Full size keys vs mini keys
    - Number of keys, 25 keys may be enough if you already have another keyboard that can connect to the computer
    - Drum pads/knobs

    I would recommend going to a music store if possible and trying them out.

  • scottb721 on 17/03/2023 - 15:08

    Just in the interests of closure, we went with the 25 key Novation FLkey mini.

    • FabMan on 30/10/2023 - 16:02

      Hey, it's been half a year, does your son still like the device?

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