Suggested MIDI controller?

[spacepickle]

I would love to be able to use a piano keyboard instead of having to use my QWERTY keyboard. However, I am very new to digital music in general and have no idea what to buy. Ideally it would have at least 1.5 octaves and a few buttons and knobs. Can anyone give me a suggestion of what to buy? It would have to be entry-level price. Is it fine to buy these used, or is it better to get them new? Sorry if this is too off-topic, but this seems like a good community to ask

[utdgrant]

Is it fine to buy these used, or is it better to get them new?

Buying used should be absolutely fine, particularly if the seller can give you a demo of it in operation. Make sure it has MIDI over USB, though. One of my friends bought a used MIDI keyboard with a Firewire (!) connection, which was useless with his PC.

I currently use a Nektar Panorama T6. It is a fantastic piece of kit, with loads of knobs and sliders but definitely not what you'd call an 'entry-level price'. All Nektar products integrate brilliantly with musical software, including most mainstream DAWs and even softsynths like the Arturia V-Collection.

Before I bought the Nektar, I used an Alesis QX 49 for many years. It had a decent complement of knobs and sliders, with a full-size 4-octave keyboard. It's discontinued now, but if you can find one used, I'd still recommend it.

When I'm developing new modules in Voltage Module Designer, I tend to use a little Korg NanoKey2 for playing notes. This takes up very little desk space alongside monitors, QWERTY keyboard, mousemat, etc. The lack of knobs (or even performance wheels) is very frustrating for real musical purposes, though.

[seal58]

As additional keyboard I've got a Novation Impulse 25 MIDI controller. It offers 8 knobs, 8 dynamic pads and transport buttons.
There is also some bundled software provided together with the device.

[huggermugger]

I'm a trained pianist and lifelong keyboardist, but for my 'in-the-box' work, I'm very happy with just two octaves (though once in a while I'd prefer three). I also really like a compact workspace, so again, two octaves. It has octave transpose buttons, so it's easy to change the range. There are all kinds of 25-key controllers on the market. Used would be ok if you can test it first. I like the keyboard action of Novation. Hard to see in the photo but there are 8 drum pads, plus 8 controller dials and 8 buttons. It connects to my Mac via USB, but it also has 5-pin DIN MIDI I/O (just in case).

[spacepickle]

Thank you to everyone who made a suggestion! I'll start looking into these soon.

[UrbanCyborg]

I really like the McMillen K-Board Pro 4, although it doesn't have anything like a piano's touch, and isn't all that cheap at around $600 US, But it's small enough (although heavy) to sit right below my monitor, and has fully-programmable four-axis sensitivity, full poly aftertouch, and four programmable slider bars. Oh, and the keys are a bit small, although there is a four-octave span.

Reid

[ColinP]

The Arturia Keystep is rightly very popular but doesn't have any buttons or knobs. My guess is you could get one cheap second-hand because of this and the fact that the newer Keystep 37 has largely superseded it (offering a few more keys and some CC knobs).

I thought about upgrading to the 37 but ended up adding an X-Touch Mini instead. I know some people don't like the company but I'm rather pleased with the X-Touch Mini which has 8 endless rotary knobs , 16 buttons, a slider and a great price.