Akai SYNTHSTATION25 25-Key Keyboard Controller For iPhone and iPod Touch

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Today's Bonus:

• 25-key MIDI keyboard controller with dock for iPhone and iPod touch
• Velocity-sensitive, synth-action keys for expressive performance
• Stereo RCA line outputs and headphone jack
• MIDI-over-USB for use with virtually all music software

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I had been eyeballing this thing for a while, but I didn't have an iphone. I recently got an ipod touch 4g for an unrelated reason, and within a few hours of that purchase it occurred to me that I should get this thing too. I'm glad I did.

The controller is well built for a powerless piece of plastic (i say powerless because it is not a pre-amp or anything, it does require batteries). I own the LPK25 and the LPD8, and the SS25 is pretty similar in design with the exception of the pitch and mod wheels (drum pads are controlled via the touch screen). There is no on board speaker, and keys played don't play through the ipod's speaker, so you NEED headphones or to use the line out. Get an RCA to 1/8" adapter and you are set. I really like this because I make the noise in my band and it is difficult to do what I do without a computer. This essentially puts Garage Band in my pocket and I've spent many a night on the couch completely oblivious to my wife and kids while I amuse myself and actually get some work done at the same time; the portability is just awesome.

Software:

AKAI SS25 Software: 1/5 stars. It turns on when the ipod is plugged into controller unless another app is running which I find completely annoying. Also. I have yet to figure out how to record a freaking song with this software. UI just plain sucks and is not at all intuitive. If this were the only software available for the controller nothing could have redeemed it and i would have given the keyboard a 1/5 also. BUT luckily...

Nano Studio: 4/5 This software has everything the SS25 app lacks: friendly interface, decent library of sounds, and modeled after your typical track by track software. My only complaint is the drum and synth selectors on the keyboard behave a little strangely and don't necessarily correspond to tracks in an obvious way. Still, after a week I've produced some very pretty sounding tracks that are unique from one another. The best part of NS for me is that it can connect directly to and upload to Soundcloud.com, which I was already using for my regular band. You can also connect via Nanosync and transfer wirelessly to a computer. VERY HANDY.

Music Studio (full version): 4/5. Essentially the same as Nano Studio, but with more of a Garage Band sort of quality to it. The sound library is decent and expandable and laying track by track is easy. Exporting is also simple with MS, you can connect to a computer via your phones IP address and transfer files to a computer. I like Nano Studio just a tad more than MS, but only because I had been using NS for a day or so before getting MS and I'm a brand loyalist. However, I AM actively using both NS and MS apps.

Long story short: Get the controller, don't waste 99 cents on the Akai app, DO invest $15 in Nano or Music Studio, and go to town.

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I discovered an iPhone/iPad app called "iVoxel" a few months ago. It was a vocoder in software (think "Mr. Roboto" by STYX or Disney's "Main Street Electrical Parade" intro). I had wanted a vocoder for ages, but never enough to actually buy one. The app was a great toy, but trying to use it on an iPhone (or even the larger iPad) screen was not really practical. It was a $14 toy app, useful only to those really dedicated to making it work via a touch screen.

A recent update to iVoxel proclaimed "Now SynthStation25 compatible!" Curiosity finally got to me, and I did a search to discover what this "IPK25" device was. Watching introduction videos from the NAMM show from early 2010, I was intrigued. The concept of a real musical keyboard that could dock to an iPhone is appealing -there are so many fun iPhone sound apps, but they are not useful as real instruments due to the limitations of a tiny touch screen instead of a piano style keyboard.

The Synthstation25 is a great first step. I went to see one in person at a local Guitar Center (the retail front of Musician's Friend). They keyboard was smaller than I imagined, and a bit cheesier, but, I took one home immediately (paying local taxes and using a discount coupon made the price at retail about the same as ordering from them via Amazon, and helped me support a local merchant).

1. Will not work with iPhones in cases. If you have a tight fitting iPod/iPhone case, you will probably find yourself not using this since it requires the device to be removed from the case. Most docks are like this, and even my Speck case with a bottom flap that opens up) won't do any good since the whole device has to fit in the slot. I wish dock makers would just leave enough room for a case, and then provide spacers.

2. The keys are tiny, and a very short range. Not really a con since this is exactly what the device is advertised as, but since no larger full-size keyboard is available, this unit won't be a perfect fit to everyone. Maybe we can see an IPK49 or IPK66 with more keys in the future.

3. No AC adapter included. Requires betteries. My M-AUDIO keyboard is powered from USB, but this one appears to still take batteries (tech support at Akai implies it can be powered by USB, but it is unclear if this is accurate). If you use it standalone, inserting your iPod/iPhone in it and using it as a mini keyboard, fine -you are used to batteries or a power cable. But hooked to a PC/Mac, I hope it truly can run off of USB power alone and not suck down batteries or require another wal wart power adapter.

(Power adapter note: It uses a 6V 1 amp adapter, and you can get this at Radio Shack -it uses an "M" size tip.)

On the Akai software:

1. Akai application is authentic. That's a con, in this case. Yes, back then, we had 64 voice patches, and you scrolled through them by number to find what you wanted (and probably kept a sheet of paper with your favorites written down). But why, in a digital recreation, should we still do it that way? Instead of a list of sounds, you get a bank of 01-64 to choose from.

2. Limited sequencing. It's an old-school note sequencer, so you have to be really dedicated to retro tech if you plan to use it to create a song from scratch.

Everything else, I'd say, is a pro. It does exactly what it says it does -giving you some real (mini) keyboard keys to play music on. iVoxel is a dream to use this way, and it's fun to play analog sounds on the Akai software.

I have already made use of it as a mini USB keyboard for GarageBand -it's so tiny and easy to use for small projects that I used it instead of my larger size M-AUDIO. This is a great bonus!

There is room for improvement ... for v2, I'd like to see:

1. Make it a USB dock. The USB connection is not connected to the iPhone/iPod. It would be nice if it could also dock/sync to iTunes when hooked to a computer. (It does charge, when using a 6V power supply.)

2. Make the connector area larger so you could use devices in cases.

I plan to test this out via a dock extender cable ($8 online) so I don't have to take my device out of the case each time (and could use the iPad that way).

I could imagine a much larger keyboard that had a music stand type area where you could put an iPad, then run a cable to the keyboard (that would be great).

No other real downsides. Once more software supports it, the value will increase greatly. Right now, though, if you aren't wanting a vocoder or analog synth, it won't have much use to you.

UPDATE: I found places selling iPod extension cables and ordered one, hoping I could plug the cable in to the keyboard, and the other end in to my iPhone in it's protective case. Unfortunately, it does not seem to work. The cables may only run enough signals to support charging or audio, and not whatever else it takes for these types of peripherals. If anyone finds an iPod extender cable that works with this keyboard, please let me know!

UPDATE2X: The "dockXtender" cable from CableJive (sold on Amazon) works, and, using this cable, I was able to hook my iPad to the Synthstation25 and run the apps as well. MusicStudio has an iPad version that gives a much better/larger interface for editing music, so I have been using that. Very nice.

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I really wanted to like this controller , really. Im a huge fan of NanoStudio which was the sole reason for me buying this controller. I had read some complaints on the nano message board about these not working for no apparent reason but I figured Id take a chance since most everyone gave these things great reviews and talked about how good they worked.

So when my SS25 came in the mail and I plugged it in of course it was unresponsive within 5 mins. What I mean by that is that the sound cut from the headphone jack, keys became unresponsive and an error message saying this device is incompatible came up after replugging it in, restarting ect. Thirty Minutes later it was working again, so I let it sit with a loop running in the background and without touching anything after about 10 mins the sound cut from the headphones , keys became unresponsive and an error message came up again. This is all while being plugged in to a USB for power. After restarting my ipod several times and just letting it sit it started working again and is working now.

If that was all that was wrong with it Id say ok maybe its an issue with Nanostudio (except the same problem happens while running the akai app) and that really it has more to do with iOS then anything else. Fine, except that this is a product designed specifically for the iphone device! On top of all that the G key on the upper octave works only when it wants to which is about half the time.

If you just want to use this as a toy to play around with nano studio (synthstation is a real piece) and maybe you get lucky and get a good working unit then go for it. But this thing would be a real gamble to use live EVER and Id be embarrassed to even bring it to a practice.

RETURN !

for the record: ipod touch 4th Gen , iOS 4.2 , nanostudio v1.13

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I don't own an iphone, I bought this for the sole purpose of hooking up to my main desktop as a midi controller. It's a bit smaller than it appeared to be in the picture, but that turned out to be a good thing since I wanted something small for my desk that won't get in the way. The velocity range of the touch response isn't the greatest, but that's something that you can easily fix if you use a good DAW. It didn't come with a usb cord, but it's a standard mini usb connection so I just used an extra cable I had from a harddrive. The downfall is that it's not powered from the usb bus, so you will need 4 aaa batteries (included) or a 6v DC adapter (not included) to use it as a usb controller. On the upside, this thing is built really well, seems really durable. When I seen this onsale for 50 dollars, I didn't even hesitate to buy. It works with standard windows xp built-in usb midi drivers, so that leads me to believe that it will also work with linux as well..

I've tried it with an iphone too. I turned it on, loaded up flstudio mobile, popped the iphone in and within 5 seconds it started working.. and it works really well for that purpose.

SUPER HAPPY early birthday for me!

The Akai synthstaion app is good...

nanostudio is.. well, almost PERFECT.

No latency, tons of sound potential in both apps. MIDI IN from a DAW or MIDI yoke works in Akai app, not sure with nanostudio. It seems like its only one channel at a time tho. Just this thing with fresh batteries and headphones in the love-sac, pretty much set. I also got a korg mini-kp to go with. Need to try iRig and a dock extension cable for routing it like an effects loop with the kp and synths from android on the EVO.