midiplus AK490 MIDI Keyboard Controller

I've tried and own many midi controller keyboards, mostly lower budget ones, but some name brands over the years too. I decided to try this one while on sale and I have to say, its pretty good considering the price. Its not the worlds best quality, most feature rich, but it's got a lot that works well, can be customized for parameters in plugins and daws, has a decent keyboard feel and response (on Heavy setting imo). The Arp, chord, tap tempo, and controls are all very useful and easy to figure out without manual...or even without the editor program it comes with. Most modern music programs and plugins offer easy controls to assign such things, and this keyboard responds well in my experience so far.I have others, name brands, and plain controllers, but this is a great fit in my humble small desk space home studio with its compact but decent range of 32 keys! Way better than the typical mini 25's, not as long as the 37's if tight on space like I am. for under $50, I don't see how you can go wrong with this compared to other more expensive ones for twice as much. I also own an Akai LPD8 with pads and knobs, so I didn't need that in a mini keyboard necessarily. I think you can buy both for under $100 usually. Not bad setup by any means, and easy portable! Hope this helps someone on a tight budget out! Cheers!

I knew absolutely nothing about playing music when I bought this, and wanted to use it to learn how to play.Yeah no doubt it's not nearly as good for that as something with full sized keys, but I got cramped quarters to work with at my computer station. I also didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars then only to learn I don't like playing music or something.I am not disappointed. It's been pretty good, and I am slowly learning with apps like melodics. Making music in LMMS is much easier now and I am far more creative with this. It works well with fruity loops demo too.I'd say the only real disappointing thing is these apps don't support midi controllers better (especially lmms), but I can't fault the keyboard much for that.Love the features of this one, esp velocity and the built in arrpeggio\octave buttons. The best feature of course is the small footprint. You can have this on your lap, seriously it's smaller then some typing keyboards. That is great for experimentation while trying to find that new sound.The cord could definitely use another foot or 2, so make sure the front usb ports on your pc work (or invest in a usb hub).You also might need to upgrade the firmware before it will work- and you will find that on their website.Good stuff, and will tide me over until I am ready to upgrade far in the future, and other keyboards at this size are hard pressed to have as many useful buttons and features. They DO however come with powerful freebies like instrument packs. That is the biggest omission here, but I was willing to sacrifice that to have the powerful extra buttons that this model has. It was worth it. I use them a lot.

I am not familiar with the brand. It's basic, no frills. Does have pitch bender and modulation wheels. Both 5 pin and usb midi connection. It does have a little bit a "cheap" feel to it. Keys are a bit stiff. I needed to go up from a micro key board with 25 keys; this has 49 full or near full sized keys.It does the job and for a low price. Delivered in original box. If that's a problem then contact the seller for shipping options.I just needed to come back after Amazon has directed other curious customers with questions.First, I am only a customer and not an Amazon employee or representative. So please do not ask me questions about your order, shipment, etc.Next, please do some research about what it is you want to do. This is only a MIDI controller keyboard. It has no other functions other than to input data in the same way that your PC keyboard has no other function than to input text to your computer. It is not a "digital piano" or "sampler". You will need MIDI music software to use this. It is NOT a stand alone musical keyboard instrument.I am amazed at the number of questions sent to me by Amazon in response to my reviews from customers who think that I am an Amazon employee or rep, or who think this is is a "stand alone" music keyboard. Please, do your research and know what the heck you are shopping for!

It does exactly what I wanted...I wasn't expecting it to be quite so plug and play to be honest.BUT! My use might not be quite the same as others. I bought this for home studio work really.I unboxed it. Plugged it into Windows 10, switched it to USB power, fired up Cakewalk, added the Midi instrument input in its settings and added a synth channel to a project. Hit a key... and Boom, off it went.For a cheap, off brand bit of hardware I was expecting some kind of struggle with settings or finding drivers for Windows. But no.Totally surprised.This thing is heavy too, it feels really solid. They keys feel responsive, a little "squishy" in their action and the springs on them are ever so slightly too stiff I feel. But over all.. I'm really quite impressed for the price tag.