Nektar Impact GX61 USB MIDI Controller Keyboard

I was looking for a lightweight stand-in for a very heavy (50lb!) 76-key weighted-key Ensoniq synth that I've been using as a MIDI keyboard and this was just the ticket. It arrived this morning, I unboxed it, plugged it into the USB port of my old Macbook Pro, set the MIDI input of the software synth that was already running on the Mac to the Nektar, and presto! it worked right away. It has a very reasonable unweighted-keyboard feel and is generally pleasant to play. I tried a voice in the software synth that uses velocity input and it worked fine -- very responsive and easy to control over a wide dynamic range. It's very compact -- barely larger than the keys themselves, and seems quite sturdy. Also nice is the fact that it uses no batteries or AC adapter, just USB power, so setup is really simple. I'm looking forward to being able to go to rehearsals without needing a wheeled dolly to get a keyboard there.

A lot of items on amazon in this category being "midi keyboards" are generally all plastic mushy key garbage with stupid drivers that don't work in the first place. This keyboard is not that, the GX61 is extremely high quality for its price, the keys are very not mushy and feel a lot like my grandpa's old piano I had as a kid :DI personally use this for making beats within FL Studio 20, it works flawlessly within that with very little troubleshooting to get it going if you know at a basic level what you are doing. they give you a wide variety of onboard options for the keyboard, but these aren't required to be used to experience the functionality of this item. other than the octave and transpose selectors essentially. I give this item 5 stars if you are looking for a good full sized midi keyboard on amazon. For its price, ($127) this can't be beat.

If you're looking for a budget no-frill keyboard, this will meet your needs. I've done music production with FL Studio for over 10 years. This was one of my first keyboards (used to use an M-Audio long time ago, which was just okay). Its keys have medium actuation point, that's split between a real piano and regular organ keys. It's not bad. I've done graph/value testing with the pressure response and the two dials, and their dead-zone and variability is consistent and a non-issue. If you get a faulty product, Amazon will replace it anyway. I have no complaints, and it does what it needs. I was surprised by how lightweight this is, but it's at little to no compromise. I got the pedal as well, and it's plug and play.The manual helps you find online instructions to get it working in FL Studio within just a few minutes, which was great. Doesn't require any special software at all. It's basically plug and play.

Out of the box this keyboard feels solid and well made. Very simple to setup, my Mac automatically recognized it which allows you to get up and running in no time.User manual is straight to the point and goes through the midi setup using the keys.Then comes time to play. The keys offer some resistance but nothing like the feeling of a real weighted piano so it takes time to get used to it as the keys are pretty stringy which makes some of the keys difficult to play.The transpose function works fine but here again it takes a bit of time to get use to 62 keys rather than the full size but that was expected and given the space it saves this is something I am ok to leave with.Overall, I think this keyboard is a great tool for anyone who wants to learn piano or who is an experienced player who needs a device connected to a computer. Nektar did a pretty good job in designing this keyboard even though there are a few compromises but at this price point it’s ok.

I got the Nektar back in 2021.If I do say so my self, the product didn't disappoint. I originally got this midi to just substitute for a real piano, so that I could play around and practice.A long with it I ended up getting a bitwig studio licence which was (temporary) nice.I love how the keys aren't heavy or to soft. They are well pressure sensitive, so there's no need to attack the keys too hard or worry about needing to be extra delicate with your strokes.The Octave and transpose buttons are a nice touch to get different sounds as well as the pitch dial. If your actively deciding to compose/record music which I don't necessarily do so much, as I mostly like to just play around.The eight buttons near the top right of the keyboard makes it easy for, a quick access recorder, track player, undo button pause play and rewind key. I assume the shift button is for selecting tracks.The volume knob makes for a nice touch so you don't need to go into your software to manually change how loud your midi volume is. With bitwig I find that this is very compatible and has lots of cool options for how you can make your midi experience great and funThe biggest pro for this keyboard I'd say is, there's no latency issues so far. And it doesn't collect dust. The keys when pressed don't have a delay which is nice it's something I've often found as an issue when using other keyboards. It's nice and sturdy as well. No loose keys and I've been using it for more then two years, maybe not as consistent as every day par say, but definitely a lot, yet I haven't seen any waring down on the keys, still has that nice color that it first came with.They keyboard itself has ports for foot sustaining. So I assume if you where to buy or had an attachment/ foot pedal for sustaining, then you can draw out the keys by using that instead of relying on holding keys and or editing your track in software. Which is very nifty.Lastly there is indeed an on and off switch, which I assume it's probably to use that as to not wear the hardware built on the inside of this lovely device.I give this a nice 5 star review as it hasn't let me down and I haven't personally found myself complaining about a single thing when using this keyboard.

Over a year old now. Still works great and no problems with connection. The keys aren't super weighted, but for the price point and as a controller you can't beat it.