Nektar Impact LX88+ USB MIDI Keyboard Controller with DAW Integration & M-Audio SP-2 - Universal Sustain Pedal with Piano Style Action, The Ideal Accessory for MIDI Keyboards, Digital Pianos

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  I just wanted to post something in response to some of the criticism I’ve seen of this control surface which i feel is unwarranted. The velocity curve of the impact 88 is the best I’ve experienced on a control surface and it has fast become my favourite instrument - I’ve uploaded a short improv video, because the harshest criticism appears to be that there is an uneven balance of velocity in the black keys and I wanted to offer a quick demonstration. I had read in reviews about all sounds just locking up in the DAW - what i will say is that its very easy to accidentally install the drivers twice and this will cause issues in logic pro for instance but it is a quick fix if you make this mistake (there’s a walkthrough on the nektartech website which took two minutes). The Daw integration is absolutely fantastic, giving fast on keyboard access to mixer / instruments etc and shuttle controls. I was weary of the negative reviews because i had watched several prominent youtubers big this up yo be one of the top five control surfaces and in glad to say their hype train was absolutely correct. Love it.

...but ultimately let down by 2 things I simply was not willing to let slide.Firstly let me say that this controller is, at least on paper, superbly made! USB bus powered, works with a several DAWs out of the box, semi weighted keys are all features that made me order this in the first place.However, where it let met down is the following - velocity of the black keys; Nektar say the fixed this from the previous LX88 iteration but the 88+ still exhibits the same behaviour in that black keys are just way louder than the white keys if played at the relatively same manner (when using piano sounds). I tried adjusting the velocity settings but simply couldn't find a good middle ground so you are forced to consciously mind your playing when using sharps/flats and ensuring you apply much less pressure.The other thing, even more serious than the above, is the random freezing where no sound would come out the DAW. It just looked like the lights were on but nobody was home. I wanted to keep it but after much contemplation I decided to return it and to keep looking.

I ordered the LX88+ to use for orchestral programming with Cubase. I am a piano player used to a fully weighted keyboard, but wanted something lightweight, portable, and with sliders for Instrument control and DAW transport functions.The unit is packaged very well, and for something that is nearly all plastic, is robustly built, though I would get a hard case if I wanted to move it regularly as it wouldn't stand up to hard road use without one. Mine will be remaining mostly stationary in a studio, so should hold up well to daily use.Playing-wise the keyboard feels mostly quite nice with 2 notable exceptions. Firstly, although the unit is fairly solidly built, the same cannot be said of the action, which is really very light, and feels a bit plastic-y and cheap, but there is no question they have solved the previous issue of black notes having a different velocity response to the white notes - in my tests they are perfectly matched and play evenly and well across the whole 88 note range.The second problem though is more practically serious. If you are an experienced player, used to large stretches you will find that you will initially scratch your thumbs and maybe forefingers on the sharp undersides of the white key rims whilst doing those stretches, where the keys are not finished to a degree where that wouldn't be a problem, like it isn't on more expensive machines where the corners have more rounding and are made with more care. I have since adapted my style to minimise the issue (less flat, curvier fingers), and now it only happens occasionally.But, having set a suitable keyboard velocity response curve, I was able to play very expressively quite quickly, and my regular feel adapted to that of the keyboard very easily to the point where I could make all my Virtual pianos sound very convincing. The Yamaha half-damping sustain pedal I have worked (despite the keyboard not responding to half damp signals) as its polarity was detected correctly at power up.There is also a little inconsistency in fader and rotary stiffness making these also feel a bit on the cheap side, but they are perfectly serviceable in practice, and I am able to input very smooth CC curves using them whilst recording. The drum pads feel much more professional and solid, but have a pathetically quiet response by default until you change it to a better curve.Talking of which, DAW control is 90% fine, though for some reason the cycle function , which initially works in both on and off commands when you first start Cubase will sometimes lose the ability to turn cycle on during the session, and only a program restart will bring it back.The manual provided is large format and clear, and has answered all the questions I had about the unit including custom assignments of sliders and pads, which was quick and easy.9/10 from me then for a very competent keyboard for the price, but with a few quality corners cut which is why it drops a point mainly because of the sharp corners on keys. Otherwise, generally excellent.

A fantastic piece of kit and well worth the money. My only advice would be, if you have a stand with bolts to screw in securing the KB to the stand be carefull not to screw in long bolts too far! I found I had two keys that didn't work and was all set to send the KB back and await a new one. Turns out the RH bolt was directly under the affected keys and on loosening the bolt the keys worked fine. I now have a fully functional and enjoyable keyboard. Confering with Nektar technical support (extremely helpfull and very prompt) bolts that are too long can affect the key operation... so take care with your bolts!

There is a wide range of things you can do with this midi, and has some great features. But there is one very obvious and really irritating flaw... the black keys are weighted more heavily than the whites, which is really frustrating when you want to play something. Its not that good for chords. I kind of wish I had shopped around a bit more because its beginning to get really annoying.