Akai Pro MPK61 USB MIDI Keyboard Controller Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've seen only two reviews on the MPK61 having looked all over the net. Both complained of the feel of the keyboard. I'll get to that shortly.
I bought mine based on reviews of the MPK49. I also bought an On-Stage stand for it and a Behringer expression pedal. It was a quick setup - but I found almost immediately that two adjacent notes were not playing - unless I really hit them hard. So it got RMAed - no problem - the next unit was fine.
Pros:
The controls and pads were much bigger than I thought they would be - I just hadn't picked up on the size from the photo. So they are large and very smooth.
The pitch bend and mod wheels are well built (and lit up!). It doesn't look like the pitch bend would ever bias like some controllers.
The unit can run on USB power only. For all the lights on this thing you wonder how 500 milliamps manages it all. If a USB connection is not established the MPK will send controls out the MIDI connector - yet still run from USB power (say your computer is in standby but still provides USB power - actually I'm passing through a USB hub). This is useful if you just have a sound module connected to it.
If USB is established, the MIDI in connectors will pass another controller or keyboard to the computer. This keyboard actually establishes three USB MIDI connections with your computer.
Aftertouch works well.
Generally you have a lot of control over sensitivity of the keys and pads. So you can adjust things the way you like. Except....
Cons:
The guy was right about the feel of the keyboard. To be more specific - it is supposed to be a semi-weighted keyboard but the spring in the keys requires every bit of force (or more) than a fully weighted keyboard. The spring fights your fingers down and up as well. But worse, the keys are about an inch shorter than they should be - so hitting a black key requires a lot of force if you're towards the back of the key. Be prepared to learn how to play just for this keyboard. Akai should really rethink this - much less spring and longer keys.
Those two reviews also complained about the pads not working well. But I find that they work just fine as long as the sensitivity and sensitivity curve are adjusted properly - I use 14 w/curve A.
Considering I had to return the first keyboard - Akai has some quality issues.
Finally, one annoying firmware bug - a bank value of 127 for the MSB in a program change is excluded only if you try to assign it to a key. Why? For me it is a pain since all my drum kits use MSB=127.

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