Artesia Xkey 25 USB MIDI Controller - Gold

Barely wider than a standard iPad, this is a perfect portable 2-octave controller that still manages to incorporate pitch bend and mod functions as well as sustain and octave up/down for the full range of notes. The nearly-flush key profiles are a slight adjustment over other key beds, but pressure sensitivity and aftertouch more than make up for that. Plus the keys are full-size, not mini. It is MIDI over USB only, but no separate powered hub is required for use with iOS devices. One caveat for those purchasing the blue model: the product image is misleading. The housing is not the solid blue shown, but rather a much lighter blue with a shimmery sheen to it. For me, that was a little disappointing, but not a deal breaker. This is a great controller for sketching out ideas or just perusing the sound banks of your synth apps.

Disappointed. I purchased this keyboard with great expectations and the one I received was damaged. Besides, it looked like it has been opened and tried before (and I assumed, also returned) because it had double tape on the box. One of the keys did not work properly and honestly I was expecting something better for the price. It is an amazing tool, the rest of the keys worked great, it is exactly as on the picture, but... mine was damaged and had to sadly return it. I am not sure if I want to buy it again.

Update: This thing just kinda stopped working after about a year and a half. I contacted support but the warranty was up so... Unfortunately I've given up on this brand. Solid midi keyboard but I've found that virtually no instruments, at least in Logic, use the aftertouch in any meaningful way. There's a few where it's like "oh, you can sorta tell here", but that's about it. This is of course no fault to Xkey, who've made a great product, but I was under the impression that after touch would add a lot more character to my sounds, but ended up doing literally nothing. For real expressiveness, I ended up going with a Roli Seaboard Block. I still use this Xkey all the time though, since the Roli is really proprietary.

awesome little controller. takes some practice because it's very very sensitive and has very very short travel (like a mac keyboard). it has polyphonic aftertouch and several velocity curve levels you can set via the app. once you learn a light touch it is extremely expressive. Great controller for ipad or just to have on your desk to tap out lines in your daw excels for portable because its so small and light. It's a pro tool in a unique modern chassis.

Nice little keyboard! I'd give five stars except for the following two things: 1) Velocity sensitivity. the literal weight of my fingers is 128 velocity, and it's really difficult to get a comfortable weight to the keys without turning it down in my DAW (Sonar X2 in my case.) Same with aftertouch, I need to be extra soft. 2) Since the drivers install directly from the keyboard (Instantly! Amazingly fast!) and there's no software, it's 100% a midi keyboard only. There's no way to use it in any other way as far as I can tell. It's be nice if I could dual-purpose it as a 30 button surface with mappable keys, but that's not what I bought it for, so no complaints. Your average Amazon reviewer would probably give this thing 5 stars. It's solidly built and works exactly as advertised.

Love it! Great in so many ways. Size and function are perfect for travel.

Starts up OK, but if I hit certain chord combinations GB says "cannot load requested driver" and switches off audio. I could blame GB, but none of my other midi kbs do this. Pity, because it is very nice to have a full size. Returning.

Very easy to travel with it. Just what I need to practice on the road.

Excellent product and prompt delivery.

An excellent piece of kit, works great with iPad, iPhone or your MacBook. I like the sturdiness and feel of this keyboard. It really is built on a very solid piece of aluminum. I am actually looking forward to the Xkey Air though. The main reason for this purchase is that the chip on the inside of the micro USB port got bent out of shape when I tried to insert the plug UPSIDE DOWN, with a wee bit of persistence and a little more force. That is the only weak spot when it comes to this keyboard. It is super slim and pretty light, and the keys work great. Some people don't like the clicking sounds the keys make but to me it is nonsense as most people play with headphones. For the price you can't go wrong with this. All I can say is make sure you are careful with your micro USB port.

I WANTED to love this keyboard: it's beautifully designed & has many features that other similarly compact keyboards don't (particularly polyphonic aftertouch). However, unfortunately it's simply not as playable as the keyboard it was to replace. My old Samson Graphite 25 is MUCH more playable with its semi weighted traditional action keys: the keys on the CME are simply in a different league than the Graphite (i.e. a much lower league!), and all the controls on the CME are also much harder to use by the nature of them being push buttons rather than the mod wheels on the Graphite. If space saving and beautiful design are your prorities then this is a decent littel travelling companion, but if you want genuine usability and playability then there are many better options out there.

Brilliant purchase for my husband.