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- 25-key USB MIDI keyboard controller gives you expressive performance with computer-based digital audio workstations, sequencers, and more
- 25 velocity-sensitive mini-keyboard keys are highly portable; writing sessions, capturing ideas and studio use with nearly all music creation software
- Built-in arpeggiator provides melodic inspiration and versatile patterns for modern music production
- Plug-and-play USB connection for Mac and PC; no driver installation required. Perfect for Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper, Digital Performer, Ableton, etc
- USB-powered; no additional power cable needed
- Sustain button, octave up and down, and tap tempo controls ensure your ideas translate from head to hardware
- Includes editing software for Mac and PC; easily customize the keyboards' MIDI commands to fit your workflow
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Akai Pro LPK25 Laptop Performance Keyboard
OVERALL IMPRESSION: NOT A TOY! This is an excellent songwriting tool, that makes music making on the go a reality. Not intended to replace your main MIDI controller.
DISCLAIMER: I am an amateur musician making songs mostly to share with family and friends. Also, guitar is my native instrument, and my keyboard skills still leave much to be desired. That being said:
I LOVE THIS DEVICE!!
PROS:
-PORTABILITY AND SMALL FOOTPRINT. I can take this thing with me anywhere and it does not take much space in my laptop bag or work-surface. I have a 20"x20" wood board that I use as a work-surface for my laptop, mouse, LPK25, and headphones. Using that setup I composed whole songs in my bed, sofa, dinner table, backyard chair, passenger seat of my car (at work during lunch time), hotel room, in-laws house...you get the idea. I also have a room with a full size desktop piled with recording equipment in my house, but I only use that setup for recording vocals, guitars, mixing, and mastering (when I have time). Most of my music creation is done with the LPK25 and my laptop.
-PLAYABILITY. Although the keys are small they are still comfortable to play without hitting more than one note at once with each finger (and I have thick fingers). The keys also have great sinth-like action.
-BUILT-IN ARPEGIATOR. I am a novice at using arpegiators but I have found the built-in arpegiator on the LPK-25 very useful and simple to use. An excellent tool to develop ideas, particularly if you (like me) are lacking serious keyboard skills.
-USB POWERED. No power brick required, and it does not drain my laptop's battery quickly either.
-PLUG & PLAY: No drivers to download and fuss with.
CONS:
-VELOCITY RANGE NOT AS WIDE AS I WOULD LIKE. The difference in loudness when you press a key fast/hard VS. soft/slow is not as noticeable as more expensive controllers I have used in the past. If you are a very expressive player you won't like it this very much.
UNKNOWNS:
-QUALITY & LONGEVITY: I have only owned it for a few months so I don't know how well it will stand to the test of time. But that being said as far as I know AKAI products are pretty reliable, and well built, and this product feels solid.
FINAL NOTE: Although this will be obvious to most, I think it is worth mentioning that this is a midi controller and NOT A STAND ALONE KEYBOARD. The unit makes no sounds of its own and you need a separate computer program (i.e. virtual instrument) to use it.
UPDATE 12/08/2010: I am happy to report that as of today (12/08/2010) my Akai LPK25 is still working as good as the day I bought it.
Buy Akai Pro LPK25 25-Key Ultra-Portable USB MIDI Keyboard Controller for Laptops Now
I purchased a Korg Nano Keys yesterday and did not like the "button" like keys you had to play on. I could not tell what notes I was hitting without looking at the keyboard. (My old piano teacher would have been cracking the backs of my hands with a ruler for looking...lol).
I traded the Korg in for the Akai LPK25 (which I did know existed till last night!). It was more, but so worth it!
This thing is much better built than the Korg. The Korg felt like it might break in my laptop bag. This is much more solid.
It is about twice as thick as the Korg, but still small enough to put in your messenger bag or laptop case.
No drivers needed, just plug it in and you are ready to go.
Sustain button is a nice feature that the Korg did not have. Only drawback about the sustain is that you cannot shift octaves and add more notes while holding the sustain button down.
The octave buttons light up but could have used a multi-colored method of letting you know how many octaves you are shifted. (Korg did this)
The arpeggiator is a feature I will probably never use. It would have been nice if the editing software would let you re-assign these buttons to something else like pitch bend, modulation, or a couple of transport button functions. (The Korg had pitch and mod buttons, but not really practical for anything I could think of compared to a full sized controller.)
Here are the PROS & CONS....
PROS: No drivers needed, sturdy, sustain button, octave buttons.
CONS: Sustain only good for current selected octave, Arpeggiator is a wasted feature to me (or at least let me set these buttons up to do something else!).
In all, a solid product that is already getting alot of use since I brought it home this afternoon, (I'm already finishing up one writing assignment on it).
It was @ GC which compared to the Korg Nano Keys @ , but the quality is worth the extra . (You get what you pay for!)
Paul Roberts
Keyboardist/Composer
Prospekt Media
Read Best Reviews of Akai Pro LPK25 25-Key Ultra-Portable USB MIDI Keyboard Controller for Laptops Here
The LPK25 has a good build quality. I travel often and it's perfect for that. Still, there are two major annoyances so I can't give it five stars. Four may actually be a bit generous.
The keys have a spongy feel and I do not like the velocity curve. It feels like an instrument more than a toy and it is possible to play expressively, though for me it requires much concentration to hit the keys hard enough to make a sound yet soft enough to avoid running out of velocity response. I could not find any evidence that it is possible to program the velocity curve.
A worse annoyance is that, according to the manual, it requires the included software to change the midi channel. Since I use the keyboard with Linux I have not yet been able to change the channel from 1. Things I thought would work, like depressing "program" and "up" have no effect. It is possible to use the included software to program four presets but that would still yield a maximum of four preset channels. All presets came set to channel 1 on my unit. The arpeggiator is a superfluous waste when you consider that something as simple as changing the midi channel can't be done with the buttons on the hardware.
There is room for improvement but it is still the best in its class, unfortunately. If this keyboard appeals to you on the web then you should be at least satisfied with it.
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I carry around an LPK25, an LPD8, and a Go Mic in my laptop bag for beatmaking on the go.
Considering the only thing remotely close to the LPK is that crappy looking thing called the Nanokey, this is the laptop controller to get. Build quality is great. The keys and housing are sturdy. The keys are small but the feel is good enough that you can get melodic with them. Unlike the Nanokey, which feels like Korg put a bunch of spacebars side by side, Akai actually made an effort to make this thing feel like a keyboard.
The same Arppegiator that Akai uses in their MPK series comes with this and you can set up everything via software. The sustain button can either be used to sustain the key you're playing or latch the arppegiator sequence. There's a tap tempo button if you don't want to use an external MIDI clock for the arp. And the bottom two buttons are use to transpose up and down. They light up to let you know whether you're at a higher or lower octave.
That's all there is to it. There's no pitch bend or modulation, but I'm guessing that's because they wanted people to buy the LPK too. If you can afford both the LPK and LPD, you can use one of the LPD knobs to control pitch, mod, velocity, etc.
I'm glad Akai upped the bar on this. There's so much more that can be done with laptop controllers and between Akai, Korg, and Vestax, there should be a lot of cool new gear coming out over the next few years.
I wanted a simple midi controller for use with Garageband. This Akai is pretty cool. I was impressed with how good the keys feel and how usable the unit is...The arpeggiator and sustain buttons are nice but you have to hold down the sustain button while you are playing. What the hell is that? Also, when you are recording into garage band, it does not record the sustain. It fits in my laptop bag and is fun to play around with. Much higher quality than the Korg Nanokey.
