Currently I’m looking for a MIDI-Controller. I have narrowed it down to Korg Taktile 49 and maybe the new Akai MPK249. I’ve heard the keybed of the Akai is still too “stiff” and you have to spend a lot of force to bring the keys down. But beside that I’ve also know from reviews that otherwise the mpk is an excellent controller.
With the korg taktile you can use the pads (also 16 as the akai) to easily enter chords and to my mind that’s a very interesting function especially for composing.
At the moment I’m working with my Korg microArranger. Although the keybed is very good (very “light” to push the keys down - I like this) it isn’t a midi controller.
Anyone who have tested one of the above-mentioned controllers and can give an advice? Also in respect of the different keybeds and in relation to the simplicity of the particular setup in Reaper.
I actually like keys that offer a little more resistance. Some people call that “semi-weighted.” Especially if you are a trained pianist, you will definitely appreciate it (when you play fast passages, a loose action can easily trigger a lot of unwanted notes, whereas a tighter one gives you a higher degree of control, just like the keyboard of a real piano.) I used to have an MPK49, which I later replaced with a Max49, whose touch faders are superb (in fact even better/more responsive than those of my Steinberg FD modules.) Software-wise, the MPK49 was a disaster (transport buttons would not work in Cubase, for example), while the Max49 is simply fantastic and super-easy to program. I don’t know why Akai reverted to “dumb” plastic faders with the 249. Probably the 249 is not a replacement for the Max 49 (I just checked and latter is still in production), in fact it costs less. But trust me, the extra $100 or so are totally worth it.
P.S. The drum pads on the MPK49 were horrible, as in you had to bang on them really hard to get any response. Basically unusable. I hope they improved them on the 249. The drum pads on the Max49 are by far the best I’ve ever experienced. Even better than those of MPC machines. Like I said, totally worth the extra expense…
Thanks for your response.
Unfortunately I have to drive almost 100 km to visit the next music shop (and even then I don’t know if there were those models (Korg Taktile / MPK249) to test them).
By the way: beside the microArranger I’m also (at the moment exclusively) working with a fantastic piece of kit named QuNexus from Keith McMillen. Can highly recommend it if you are searching for an extra mini keyboard - best buy for me by now ((maybe for the time being instead of buying a full midi controller keyboard I should consider the 'brother" of the QuNexus: QuNeo?).