I bought a Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol M32 a few years ago as a secondary keyboard, and after two moves, still have yet to unpack my full-size MIDI keyboard.

NI markets the M32 as a controller designed to integrate with their software, but I don't even use any of it – the real selling point of the M32 is its build quality (and to a lesser degree, a rather nice default mapping in Ableton).

The M32's mini-keys have such a nice feel that when I bought a competing keyboard for use with my iPad, I had to return it because the NI had spoiled me. Everything else in the price range feels spongy and plasticky after using the M32.

I don't even use the encoders that much, but they too are significantly higher quality than the competition. Not only are they capacitive (touch a knob and the OLED display will show the name of the mapped parameter), they're higher resolution than most, meaning they're closer to the feel of analog potentiometers.

The only caveat is that you won't be able to use it with an iPad without an external power adapter, as the M32 requires more current than an iPad can supply by itself. Laptops are fine, however.

I like Akai's MPK Mini, I've spent time with the korg nanokey. The MPK has a decent scaled-down two octave keyboard that feels pretty good to play. The korg nanokey got me by for years, but I always thought of it as a stick with a bunch of shift keys on it.

A friend has the arturia keystep pro 37, which seems pretty nice. I'm considering a switch right now so I was happy to see this thread actually. It has aftertouch which is unique for a portable midi controller, though the aftertouch isn't polyphonic IIRC.

I have a keystep 37 and love it, and don't even use all of its features.

one feature I do make use of (and the primary reason I bought it) is the CV/Gate output at 1V/Oct.

highly recommended, great hardware.

Keystep 32 is also excellent and even smaller, and also has CV/Gate as well as velocity and (!!) aftertouch.

I don’t like the touchpad mod wheel, though.

I keep hitting that too - I think that's probably the worst thing about it, which definitely isn't a deal breaker for me, just makes me need to be more cautious compared to the wheel.

That Akai MPK mini keyboard, out of the box, is absolute garbage. Unusable. Almost returned it.

Amazingly the editor software does not expose the keyboard velocity curve for the keys (unlike the pads which are fully customisable).

However if you hold Full Level for 5 secs then the display shows the curve as 4 values and you can twaek it into something useable.

There is no documentation for this so the numbers are totally opaque and it will take experimentation.

It's really not garbage out of the box, it's a better-than-average MIDI controller, but if you hate it that's cool!

I second this, it's nice and affordable.

I have a QuNexus, by Keith McMillen Instruments.

It's pretty good for a small-pad portable keyboard — velocity sensitive, with per-key aftertouch in two axis (pressure and tilt). Oh, and the keys light up.

Pretty much same size as the Korg Nanokey / related kit. FWIW, I'm not overly impressed by the build quality of the Korg Nano stuff — the case plastic is cheap, and can easily be twisted / bent, by hand or in a bag, then holding its new shape pretty well (so it doesn't sit flat on the desk, until one bends it back). But whatever: it's dirt cheap compared to KM's stuff.

Since I bought my QuNexus, they've released a reduced feature version, that does not have CV — called the K-Board. I'd probably have got this if it had been available when I was purchasing (I have no need for CV myself).

[1] https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/qunexus/

[2] https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/k-board/

Thanks for the info! I agree, my Korg Nano looks kind of cheap, and it gets twisted and it has trouble sitting flat.

The nano works, but if I had to replace it I think I'd try the K-board.

I really like this since it's an MPE instrument in a really good price point.

A few months ago I was contemplating the same thing since I was out of town for a long stretch of time. It's unconventional and doesn't have quite all the features that most traditional keyboards have, but I ended up purchasing a Launchpad Pro [1]. While it does not offer a traditional keybed, it is surprisingly playable and feels very musical in its note mode. It also has a chord mode that makes building up chord progressions and riffing on them. It also has a reasonably featured 4 track midi sequencer built in. And of course it can be used as a drum pad and can launch clips in Ableton and Logic (and I believe there is a script for deep integration in bitwig studio as well?).

[1] https://novationmusic.com/en/launch/launchpad-pro

Related, the Launch Control XL is pretty much the only sensibly priced and well built box of knobs, sliders, and buttons.

Arguably not as "sensibly priced", but if all you want is knobs, I really like my FaderFox PC4.

Not as “sensibly priced”, but I’ve replaced my LCXL with the Teenage Engineering TX-6 and am very pleased

Yeah, I use it to control my stream, it works very well. (I use it with ardour on linux)

My comment might be unhelpful, but in the end I settled on using the computer keyboard and focusing on programming the music(via macros, scripts, etc) vs performing it. Because it's always there, there's nothing additional to plug in. Apart from that I have tried a number of weird things:

I have a toy Casio to bang on if I want to play keys, though that admittedly isn't MIDI(Yamaha's PSS-A50 is, though!)

From time to time I've considered getting a Critter & Guitari Organelle: also a complete instrument, with small keys in an interesting form factor. It's open enough and programmable enough to serve nearly any synth need.

I've considered repurposing ortholinear mechanical keyboards. It's mostly an issue of sheer DIY effort. There are some examples of putting velocity on standard layout keyboards...

I have not one but two exotic isomorphic MIDI layouts: the C-Thru Axis49(relatively speaking, portable enough to cram into a backpack, but a bit thick, fragile when dropped, and the manufacturer is long gone), and the Chromatone CT-319(full-sized, really nice build, cheesy built in sounds, manufacturer cleared stock for shipping price only). These layouts are wonderful for hands-on play with scale and harmony ideas, and can be experienced more cheaply with touchscreen apps, though I've never found an app in this category that I'm totally pleased with.

It's actually the isomorphic boards that got me to think in terms of programming it all in the first place. If you reduce the keys to the ones you need to play the particular track you have, you only need maybe 16-24 most of the time(7-8 note scales across 2-3 octaves). And you can easily go into a wholly rhythmic approach by being sample-focused, and then just use drum pads to perform.

There's a lot of options once you break away from resembling a piano. None are exactly better because a majority of people would rather transfer piano skills and play piano music, than play a new thing. That's just how it goes with music.

I have a arturia keystep and keystep pro, and love them. They are great for composing, the built in sequencer is easy to use and they have midi and cv outs which work nicely for a dawless setup. I am seeing more and more of my favorite artists using them, so i guess i'm not the only one who loves them. The keystep fits into my small backpack and I live in a mountain area so in 15 minutes i'm in the forest, I connect it to my phone and come up with melodic lines. Although i'm not much of a musician it's great for relaxing after a busy day

I've been using my M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 for a few years now, and it hasn't dissapointed. The keys are small & don't feel amazing to play, but it packs two and a half octaves in a package just over the width of my laptop. You don't need more if you're programming MIDI melodies.

Same here. It's barebones, but it's also cheap and plentiful on the used market, has enough functionality to be useful without being overwhelming, and fits easily in a backpack. Did some noodling around with it connected to my iPhone on a plane recently, no drivers needed if you get that Lighting-to-USB adapter, phone powered it fine, and I was able to drive Korg Gadget and make some shitty techno.

I have KORG (nanoKONTROL Studio and nanoKEY) and love them. I get that the keys are weird, but I also have an Akai MPK mini and tried a few other keyboards (ROLI Bluetooth ones, etc.) and nothing quite came close.

Something you might want to look into is getting a Yamaha Reface (I recommend the DX or the CS, which are the ones I have) and use them as a keyboard. The keys are excellent, and velocity sensitive on all models -- and you get a very nice standalone synth to play around with.

Seconded on the Yamaha Reface series [0], they are widely regarded as having the best mini keys on the market. One note on the velocity sensitivity, though - while they all have the same keys and send velocity data when used as a MIDI controller, the built-in sound engines on the YC and CS models don't actually use the velocity. Just something to keep in mind.

Anyway, they're quite portable, solid and well-made. It feels like a real piece of kit and not a cheap plastic toy synth. They're really ideal for a great-sounded keyboard that you can just sit down and play without needing anything else.

Unfortunately, they've been unavailable for months now on the retail market but you can find used ones on Reverb [1] for a modest markup over retail price (USD $400)

A budget options is the Yamaha PSS-A50 [2][3], which has the exact same keyboard as the Reface series, but it's definitely more of a plastic toy and the sounds are just okay. But you can still use it as a MIDI controller if that's all you're after and it's only USD $100 at MSRP.

0: https://usa.yamaha.com/products/music_production/synthesizer...

1: https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=Yamaha%20Reface&make=ya...

2: https://usa.yamaha.com/news_events/2020/yamaha_pss-a50.html

3: https://reverb.com/p/yamaha-pss-a50-37-key-mini-keyboard

Offgrid https://shop.birdkids.io/product/offgrid

Really looking for something close to a keyboard format, but those do look slick. Thanks.

Korg microkey is great; I have stacked two of them on my other keyboard and use it even for live setups without any issue so far; see e.g. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S82hsEDY8Pc or http://rochus-keller.ch/?p=1153.

I have an Arturia Minilab MkII and it's actually smaller than my already small laptop, and you get 25 keys that aren't totally toylike.

I use AKAI MPK Mini Mk3. It's okay, the key action is quite good for the price. The X/Y joystick is annoying though.

But I still prefer its action to Arturia's or NI's. They feel very rubbery.

The best compact (albeit expensive!) controller I've ever tried was AKAI MPK 225. The action feel so pleasant. I'm not really a good key player though so YMMV.

Why not take a crack at repair? The last post in this thread describes disassembly:

https://gearspace.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and...

I have a Novation LaunchKey Mini mk3. I like the size and the Ableton integration with the pads, but the keybed is just atrocious and I essentially never use it. Feels like spongy bendy plastic sticks (which is what it is).

I had an Arturia MiniLab mk2 for a while and like the feel much more. (I ended up returning it because it didn't integrate with Reason well, which is what I was using at the time.)

I also have a Novation LaunchPad Mini mk3 which I quite like for triggering clips and automation. I haven't tried using it for actual note playing.

I've been interested in the XKey. Does it feel like playing an actual synth-action piano keyboard, or is it more like a piano-shaped Mac keyboard?

The XKey is more like a piano-shaped Mac keyboard. The throw of the keys is ... a couple of millimeters?

I've got a AKAI MPK Mini, version 2 I think - had it for a while. (Looks like they sell a version 3 now.) 25 little keys. Not expensive, doesn't weigh much, size of keys fine for experimentation, seems to be a standard MIDI-over-USB sort of device so it works with everything, and it has some dials and pads as well as just the piano keys. A couple of arpeggio-type options too.

I really didn't get on with the velocity sensitivity, which to my mind requires far too heavy a press to get max volume, both on the keys and the pads.

You should be able to adjust the pad velocities with the Editor.

The keyboard might be able to be edited with the same trick as the mk iii.

Hold down Full Level for 5 seconds and you can then edit the curves usong the knobs.

Don't have one yet but my next purchase should fit this: a striso board. https://www.striso.org/

I really like the keybed on the yamaha reface series. It has smaller keys, but they are proportioned very well and the feel is good.

The reface series do have sound engines built in, but they can be used as midi controllers as well. Plus they have speakers built-in (along with MIDI, headphone, line in, line out) and can run on batteries, so it's a great portable option.

I have the reface CS, and I like it because it's two in one, midi controller and synth.

> I really like the keybed on the yamaha reface series.

A significantly cheaper option is the PSS-A50 which has the same keybed.

I don't own one but the arturia microlab looks like it's similar to what you're looking for. I own a few other arturia products, including the keystep 37 and pro and they're both great. My only complain is I wish the pitch bend and modulation were physical controls rather than the touch but I don't use them so much that it's really an issue.

The Korg Microkey 61 got me through university. It was the only MIDI keyboard I could find with a small form factor + ... a lot of keys. I used it with a NanoKontrol 2 to get some knobs/faders.

After graduating, I got myself a weighted 88-key MIDI keyboard so I could properly play piano, but some of my favorite 'music memories' are riffing on those bouncy mini keys.

I've got Akai MPK Mini and I'm quite happy with it, it does the job and doesn't restrict me while I'm doing my job.

It's a bit bigger than the ones you mention but I have the Komplete Kontrol m32 https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keyb...

Still quite compact and a nice device.

Thanks, I'll take a look. The extra keys down to F are tempting.

Arturia Keystep is my favorite. It has built in CV outs too for controller modular synthesizers in addition to midi.

I just picked up a launchpad x for this purpose. Has a note mode and you can customize what the grid does. Focusrite is also having a sale at the moment: https://store.focusrite.com/en-gb

Love my Seaboard Block. Fits the size. Doesn't look to shabby next to Apple stuff. It's not your typical sample-trigger keyboard, but pair it with an mpe-Synth like Equator2, learn to play it expressively, and you get some amazing results.

I have a bunch of these [1] Namando mini slim keyboards connected to firewalls/routers. They are cheap but have 64 keys and are backlit which is useful for router closets. That said I am not a fan of mini keyboards. My brain is wired to use full size so mini's really slow me down.

[1] - https://www.amazon.com/Namando-Compact-Keyboard-Portable-Com...

midi

Ah sorry I thought that was a typo. The only keyboard I've had that could do MIDI was a full sized crazy over priced thing that by today's standards would be an antique.

I have the Korg Nanokey 2 and I really like it. But my goto controller is the Arturia KeyStep 37. I love pretty much everything made by Arturia, never unhappy with a purchase.

Not really any, honestly. Smaller keys are harder for me to play and often don't give a proper sense of weight. If I'm traveling, I'll lug around a controller with full-sized keys. If I'm tinkering with notation on the go without the formality of a full-sized piece of gear, I'll often jam it out on my laptop's keyboard in a tracker

Surprised no one has mentioned the Keith McMillen K board and QuNexus. These ones are incredibly well built and reviewed.

They look cool. Have you used one yourself?

Yes. Key feel is excellent and the backlighting can be useful.

I have a Novation Xiosynth 25, which has full-size keys, a semidecent audio interface, and a very nice synth engine.

Are there any self-contained mini portable pianos with a Bluetooth interface that fit in a small backpack?

A reface CP with a midi -> bluetooth dongle would do it

Akai MPK Mini Play -- you can also use it standalone (it has a built-in synth)

Akai LPK25, but I miss having pitch bend and modulation wheels.

It's a decent device for testing and demos, but the keys are stiff.

Presonus Atom SQ or Novation FLkey mini if you use FL-Studio

I am not a professional but using an Alesis Q25 and like it.

I have the AKAI MPK Mini. It fits your criteria for size, and it works well as a midi source on Ableton 11.

My latest buy is a Kurzweil K2000s. I can recommend it, affordable used.

The K2000 is probably not what someone asking for micro/nano keyboard recs is looking for, but it is a deep and remarkable instrument. :)

Wanted one in the 1990s, this one just came to me. Probably better than a mini.

Can these things be used as general computer input methods?

There's various software that can map MIDI to other emulated inputs, yes.

Hm. Somewhere around here I have a Midi Fighter-Twister that I would now like to put into service as a rotary encoder unit for general inputs.

https://store.djtechtools.com/collections/midi-fighters-midi...

midipipe on mac is pretty good. I'm currently trialling it to play/pause spotify and mute/unmute using it + some osascript.

http://www.subtlesoft.square7.net/MidiPipe.html

Keyboard Maestro [1] also allows you to trigger automations using MIDI commands.

[1] https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/main/