New Keyboard and Libraries for Cubase Pro 10.5

Cubase
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Hi. I’m a new, licensed user of Cubase 10.5 Pro, and am looking for keyboard and music library suggestions - preferably not Native Instruments(NI). So far, I’ve very happy with Cubase, but not with NI. Some background…

I bought an NI S88 keyboard directly from NI and was planning on jumping into the NI ecosystem - Kontakt, NKS, etc. That is, until I received a defective S88. I’m still trying to work this out with NI, but their last customer service response left me extremely angry.

So angry that I’m considering other options, including a new midi keyboard, midi controllers, and music software libraries. I’d appreciate any suggestions about:

  • High quality, 88 key, fully-weighted MIDI keyboards


  • Good quality, non-NI software libraries


  • Non-keyboard MIDI controllers (e.g. Behringer XTouch, PreSonus Faderport, etc.)

Also, if you don’t use Kontakt to manage your music software library, please describe how you do it.

Thanks for any feedback,

Dan.

P.s. I’ve been studying piano for seven years, so a decent piano action is important to me.
P.p.s. I’m a licensed user of FL Studio (full), Reaper, and PreSonus Studio One (Artist). After trying all of these over the last seven years, my choice is Cubase.

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  • I don’t have a lot of experience with MIDI keyboard controllers, I have a Nektar Impact LX49 and an AKAI MPK Mini MK2 and they are great for my needs.
  • I have Kontakt and some libraries and they’ve been good but what I use the most for synths are the Arturia V Collection and Korg Legacy Collection, plus FXPansion BFD3 and Steven Slate Drums 5
  • I have the Behringer X-Touch and it’s working great with cubase pro 10.5.2, I use it with the MCU functionality (transport, fader and panning automation, punch-in and out, mixer window,etc) but after I programmed some generic remote maps for openning plugin windows, quantize, trigger logical editor presets for humanizing velocities, etc. This unit really made my workflow very fast and more fun.
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Spectrasonics Keyscape.

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Thanks for feedback folks. NI is finally replacing my NI S88. It should be here sometime next week.

Regards,

Dan

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I have a S88 Keyboard and I am very happy with it. If you are into pianos and keyboards, the absolute best software library money can buy is Spectrasonics Keyscape as mentioned above. I use NIs Komplete Ultimate library which I like a lot but it all depends on your position regarding NIs products.