Comments on: Akai Does Mini MIDI Keyboard, Pads, a la Korg nano – But with Real Action?

By: Create Digital Music » Ion Makes a Music Keyboard Dock for the iPhone; Would You Want One?

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:59:36 +0000

[...] to Derek Dumais for the tip. Oddly, Ion seems to have their own version of Akai’s mini-keyboard, too; it seems to be white instead of black but otherwise appears identical. (Consumers want white, [...]

By: thepatrickrichardson

thepatrickrichardson — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:21:00 +0000

Any idea if the back-lighting on the backlit pads of the lpd 8 is software controllable/hi-jack-able?
I’d really like to control my own visual feedback on a unit that small.
would be Beautiful.

By: Michael Coelho

Michael Coelho — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:44:51 +0000

@Rocketish – I bought my Korg Nanokey on June 25th and had a key pop off that I couldn’t re-attach. I called Korg and they are replacing it. They didn’t even ask for the old unit back. I did have to email a copy of my receipt to them before they would ship a new unit.

By: Rocketish

Rocketish — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:35:37 +0000

I’ve got the NanoKontrol and NanoKey… I’m very happy with the Kontrol… great feel and Midi Learn works very well w/ all my NI software. The NanoKey although the velocity sensitivity and key layout are big improvements over a computer keyboard, it has terrible build quality and is still really low playability.

I’ve also had a key break off on the nanokey… the first time i was able to reattach it but it fell off shortly therafter and a microscopic plastic bit fell off and now can’t reattach… I’m going to try returning it tomorrow… hopefully they will let me pay the difference for a nanopad or at least let me keep store credit for when the akai lpk25 comes out.

By: buford t. justice

buford t. justice — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:55:29 +0000

heh, glad someone else is in the market for microcontrollers (did i say micro…er, mini). I’ve managed to get a acer d250 netbook running acidPRO4 and audacity with zippo latency with 12 tracks and 3 effects per ( plus master effects at mixdown). It will be nice to know that i haven’t put off buying a miniKORG for nothing. Where’s Casio with all this? and M-Aud would be nice as well. Tired of using a 12$ ebay rollup keyboard ;(

By: MarqMoz

MarqMoz — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:51:20 +0000

I just returned a korg nanokey, because it was really just a plastic querty keyboard. I’ve been searching for a portable quality controller for a few months now. Akai would really kill competition if they had automap. If novation jumps aboard this nano-bandwagon, it would sick!… a “nano-novation” with automapping knobs!?!

But honestly i agree with plurgid(above). The Prize goes to the company that starts creating components that can be put together to build one awesome customizable/upgradeable controller. The music equivalent of the RED camera. Imagine buying knobs/x-y pads/ faders, and attaching them to your nano keyboard as needed, like a photographer swapping lenses. Then buying a 61-key board for your home studio, and simply attaching your nano+knobs+faders to it when you get home from work. If i had the money, i’d start that company myself!

By: Poodleface

Poodleface — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:58:13 +0000

This Akai mini keyboard is good news, because the nanoKey has been a disappointment for me, mainly because those damn keys keep popping off. I finally had one come off that simply will not go back on. I like small crappy keyboards, but not when they don’t hold on to their keys. :-(

Thankfully, I’ll recoup the $50 when I buy the Korg Legacy Digital synths. Mmmmmmm… Wavestation.

By: tb

tb — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:00:30 +0000

@peterkin
controlling real hardware, they could have easily put a mini din to 2x DIN5 like the old yamahas soundcards had (and the early m-audio PCI) and it would give us, hardware users, a nice little controller for some of our machines like rack synths and samplers instead of carrying something that is just too big (25 notes keys or big mpcstyle pads)

By: sensitive pads

sensitive pads — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:17:34 +0000

actually the korg nanopad is total s**t. the pads are not nearly as responsive as the padkontrol pads. i thought it would be a nice replacement but I sold it right away.

really looking forward to these two

By: alhogar

alhogar — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:26:53 +0000

Detailed info and videos are now up at Akai:

http://www.akaipro.com/snamm09