All user reviews of 5/5 for the Akai Professional MPK mini

The small size of the device and its built like the arpeggiator were important elements for this purchase.
One can also appreciate the USB connector requiring no special MIDI cable

UTILIZATION

Touch is not the desired function on this type of product, but note that the velocity is also on the pads. Actually being a novice it can be normal but rather a good surprise for me.
Otherwise use as impeccable Abbleton live or is recognized directly.
Manual level could use some work because there is absolutely nothing. Good at making do a little we could find some explanations online but hey it could be better.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for one week and I begin to glimpse the possibilities. Its small size allows it to easily win especially thanks to his self-supplied USB.

The investment is minimal and is ideal to try the advantages of MIDI keyboards.

I will also probably use it for DJing in the future.

The presence of a single USB port:
- 2 octave keyboard,
- Pads to play sound samples,
- Pots to modulate the sound samples,
in a compact and portable that motivated my choice of MPK Mini.

It has a USB port (mini USB, I would have preferred a standard USB port rather than the mini connector), but the main thing is that it communicates with the USB MacBook Pro.

UTILIZATION

The touch keyboard is suitable for my use, which is to trigger events and typing or short melodies.
For its size, it's a keyboard acceptable, but a keyboard with a touch of piano keys requires longer than the depth of the MPK Mini.
The good idea is to disable the sensitivity of the pads to use a learning module MIDI DJ software and assign an order.

The general configuration is simple, I do not need to select the MIDI channel.

I have not read the manual.

OVERALL OPINION

I use the Mini MPK 6 months, with pleasure, to accompany my control surfaces of DJing.

Its distinctive feature I like most is the all-in-one, and the quality of the pads to play sound samples.

I tested before the small separate controllers Korg NANOPAD (launch pad samples) and nanoKEY (2 octaves keyboard), and I did not love their touch. In addition, these two controllers Nano required to provide two USB ports simultaneously has to offer on the MPK Mini USB port.

The value for money is excellent, and with experience I would do the same choice.

Number of Keys: 25 velocity-sensitive
Pads: 8 velocity-sensitive, light-up MPC-style pads x 2 banks
Knobs: 8 assignable controller pots
Computer Interface: USB/MIDI only
Programs: 4
Octaves: 9
Arpeggiator: Yes
Additional controls: Sustain, Tap-Tempo, CC
Dimensions: 6" x 13.6" x 1.2"
Weight: 2 lbs (shipping weight 2.5 lbs)

I really like this controller because it is small. It's small enough to fit in a computer bag and it's usb powered so you can really jam on it anywhere.

UTILIZATION

Using this product was really easy. I just plugged it into my mac, installed the drivers and it was good to go. The only thing that takes a little bit of setting up is using the pads. The pre-loaded notes didn't match up with the drum kits in reason so I had to manually change the notes so that I could have a more comfortable and usable drum/sample pad. The tap tempo and arpeggiator features both work very well and come in handy. The keys aren't weighted but if you get used to them you can utilize the velocity sensitive feature. The 8 assignable controller pots are useful too. They are the same situation as the pads, you have to set them up, but once you get them working they are really awesome. You can use them to add real time effects to your synth/instrument. I have some assigned to reverb, delay, modulation, phaser, etc. Using the knobs allows you to add any amount of those effects in real time so that you can improvise some pretty cool stuff live.

OVERALL OPINION

I really like this controller. It is perfect for a portable midi controller. Weighted keys, more keys, and a modulation wheel would be nice but aren't really practical for such a small unit. For the price, I can't think of a better midi controller. I've used a few other small midi controllers but got annoyed with all of the wires I had to carry around to get it working properly with my computer. This one is one plug and done. No midi adapters, no power chords, no instrument wires, no pedals. It's small enough to just fit in with my laptop wherever I take it. It definitely has enough features to effectively produce some cool electronic music. I would buy this again if I needed another.

I have XP home edition and it works fine with me ...
Akai will probably propose a solution in the future (drivers) for this kind of product.

UTILIZATION

Everything is included on this little MIDI keyboard, a real Swiss Army knife for computer music:
knobs, pads, keyboard, ultra compact and small (almost a toy).

OVERALL OPINION

Very pleased with this acquisition, I had a keyboard E-MU Xboard 25 and remained very good but I was looking for something smaller to move, the pads also have finally convinced me, sold one to buy another.
Definitely the best MIDI keyboard for musicians on the go!