My new toy - a review of the AKAI MPK25 keyboard controller

[64Guitars]

I bought myself a new MIDI keyboard controller yesterday. This is something I've been wanting for a long time as a practical way to control softsynths and Hydrogen.

http://www.akaipro.com/mpk25



The keys are full-size and semi-weighted. Plus they have aftertouch which can trigger vibrato or other effects in some softsynths when you press down on the keys after the initial press. There are only 25 keys but that's what I wanted because I don't have enough space in my computer room for a full-size keyboard. Actually, I would have preferred a 37-key keyboard (three octaves) but there aren't many to choose from. The most common sizes are 25, 49, and 61, and I decided 49 was too big for my needs. And, although the keys on the MPK25 only span two octaves, you can access 10 octaves by pressing the Octave Up and Down buttons. I think this will be adequate for my needs since my keyboard skills aren't very good and I'll only be playing short phrases anyway. The feel of the keys is quite good. I'd say it's a better feel than that of my Yamaha PSR-2100 which was top of the PSR range when I bought it.

The MPK25 also has 12 drum pads which are pressure and velocity sensitive. And there are four pad bank buttons so you can trigger a total of 48 different pad sounds. On first impression, I'm a little bit disappointed with the drum pads because you have to hit them really hard to trigger a sound. But I was aware of this before I bought it because I did a bit of research and found that it's a common complaint. Some people fix it by attaching spacers to the bottom of the pads so they'll be slightly closer to the sensors. Or you can buy replacement pad sets that are thicker with the same result. I figure I'll wait a while to see if I get used to them. But if it continues to be a problem, I might try fixing it with spacers or a replacement pad set. It also has a Note Repeat button which, when switched on, allows you to hold down a pad to have it repeat at intervals you specify. This is handy for doing hi-hats or ride cymbals. Saves you having to hit the pad repeatedly and gives you accurate timing.

At the right of the MPK25 is a group of 12 rotary controls which can be easily programmed to adjust whatever parameters you like in your softsynth. It's really cool to turn a knob on the MPK25 and see a control change accordingly on the computer screen like magic!

Below the rotary controls are four switches which can be programmed to toggle parameters in the softsynth. There are two banks of switches and rotary controls. So, really, you have 24 rotary controls and 8 switches available.

Below the switches are five transport controls for rewind, forward, stop, play, and record. Unfortunately, Audacity doesn't support MIDI so I can't make use of these transport controls when using Audacity. I might start experimenting with other DAWs just so I can make use of these handy controls.  I did get the transport controls to work with Hydrogen, allowing me to start and stop my drum arrangements by pressing the corresponding transport controls on the MPK25. I'm sure I could configure the rewind, forward, and record buttons to work in Hydrogen too but I haven't tried it yet.

There's also a built-in latching arpeggiator which I really wanted since my Yamaha PSR-2100 lacks one. Many of the other controllers I considered also lacked an arpeggiator, so it was an important consideration for me when choosing the MPK25.

The unit is USB class compliant which means no drivers are needed. It works just fine in Linux. It's powered by the USB connection so no external power adapter is required, although one is available as an accessory. The MPK25 has MIDI In and Out jacks on the back for connecting to other midi devices. I'd need the power adapter if I was using the MPK25 with an external device and not connected to the computer via USB. But for normal computer usage, the single USB cable is the only connection needed.

A CD is included with an Editor/Librarian program for Windows or Mac. Luckily, it seems to work just fine in Linux under Wine, although I haven't tested every feature of the software. But I was able to adjust some settings in the program and see them take effect immediately on the MPK25, so I think the software will be useful to me. In any case, it's not required to make use of the MPK25 as all settings can be made with the hardware.

There's also a CD with Ableton Live Lite. Unfortunately, I was just livid after wasting several hours trying to get it to work. It installed just fine from the CD under Wine. I then started the program up and it seemed to be working alright. However, before you can use it, it insists that you register at the Ableton site to unlock the software. So I clicked on the button to register and it asked me if I wanted to check for a newer version or just install the version from the CD. I decided to check for a newer version, which linked to a missing web page. I wasn't impressed but figured I could just use the version from the CD. But when I tried to do that, it refused to unlock the software because I hadn't downloaded the newer version. I reinstalled from the CD and tried again with the same result. So I downloaded the new version, uninstalled the old one and installed the new one. I tried again to register and the bloody thing still says it won't unlock it because I haven't downloaded and installed the new version (which was not true). By this time I was furious and gave up on the damn thing after sending an angry message to Ableton. Commercial software sucks with all its stupid activations and registrations that don't work even when you have a legitimate copy of the software. These stupid companies are more worried about people using their software without paying than they are about legitimate users. Free, open-source software is the only way to go!

Anyway, my first impression after one day of use is that the AKAI MPK25 is an excellent keyboard controller and I'm quite happy with my purchase, apart from the Ableton bullshit and, possibly, the drum pad sensitivity (or lack of). But I may be alright with the pad sensitivity once I get used to it.

I still have a few things to learn about the MPK25 before I can get productive with it. Especially, I need to learn more about all my softsynths. I didn't pay much attention to them before because it was impractical to do anything with them without a keyboard. Now that I have one, I need to study the softsynths and learn how to use them properly. Since getting the MPK25 yesterday, I've experimented a bit with amSynth, Qsynth, ZynADdSubFX, AlsaModularSynth, LMMS, and Bristol, and I'm quite impressed with the new sound possibilities these synths will open up for me once I get comfortable with their operation. I'm also looking forward to creating drum patterns in Hydrogen using the MPK25.

[64Guitars]

I just stumbled upon this old post of mine tonight:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=1380.msg9340#msg9340

I can't believe it took me four years to decide to buy this. I guess I'm not exactly an impulse buyer. 

[Blooby]

Congrats. I am amazed and somewhat intimidated by music technology these days. That's a new thing for me, by the way.

And my Betamax is all of a sudden flashing 12:00.

Blooby

[Hook]

Cool toy 64 & great review, thanks! I'm sure your going to have alot of fun with it.
 
I'm with you blooby , a bit intimidated & I just lost another bead on my abacus

[Geir]

Thank for the great review. I think I will be looking for a midi traveling keyboard myself, preferably on that connects easy to my iPad

[64Guitars]

I think I will be looking for a midi traveling keyboard myself, preferably on that connects easy to my iPad

Kenny Mac loves his Line6 Mobile Keys:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=17238.0

http://uk.line6.com/mobilekeys/




And this looks interesting:

http://www.akaipro.com/synthstation49

[Greeny]

Very cool. And very interesting... I've never even thought about the possibilities of something like this. I like the fact that it's a USB device very much.

Hours of fun, I'm sure. Can we have a demo / song at some point? :-)

[Oldrottenhead]

Hours of fun, I'm sure. Can we have a demo / song at some point? :-)

one in progress with me on uke and vox. my inner puppy wants to post it now, but that honour is for 64. (assuming he likes my contributions).

[cuthbert]

I bought myself a new MIDI keyboard controller yesterday. This is something I've been wanting for a long time as a practical way to control softsynths and Hydrogen.

http://www.akaipro.com/mpk25

Great review, 64G - your MPK25 looks similar to my Novation ReMote 25SL Compact:



Sadly, the drum pads on my controller are similarly difficult to use predictably, in that they are not very responsive. I'll be looking for an alternative controller for drums. Also sadly, the bundled software was less than useful for me (also Ableton) - I just didn't like the UI for it, and so didn't dive into it too deeply. Luckily, I already had a decent DAW (Cubase Essential 5) and since the Novation is USB class compliant, I could just plug it in, select it as a MIDI source in Cubase, and go.

Yes, the real beauty of these controllers is the ability to use them with soft synths (VSTi) - and especially the ability to control other parameters in real time over MIDI on those instruments which allow it. Does the MPK25 also have a 5-pin MIDI out port, as well as USB? I haven't yet used it on the Novation, but it's good to know it's there if I ever want to connect it directly to another hardware unit with MIDI in.

[64Guitars]

Hours of fun, I'm sure. Can we have a demo / song at some point? :-)

one in progress with me on uke and vox. my inner puppy wants to post it now, but that honour is for 64. (assuming he likes my contributions).

The honour should have been yours. It's your song. I think whoever starts a song project should be the one to do the final mix and post it. If I create my own song and ask you or Tim or anyone else to sing on it, then I want to do the final mix and post it. But when I merely offer additions to someone else's song, then they should mix it and post it so it's in their own jukebox. This one was definitely yours. I only added to it.

Anyway, it's posted here: https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=17287.0

It's not really an example of what the keyboard can do since the same could have been done with any midi keyboard. It's the soft synths that create the sound, not the keyboard. I didn't even use any of the drum pads, controls and switches on the MPK25 for this. I just played the keys. So a more basic keyboard controller would have worked just as well in this case.