Akai mpk 61

I have the smaller brother of the MPK 61, the MPK 25, and that works well with Reaper. No need to install any software, creating a new preset for the most common midi commands (expression) is enough for me.

And Nazarko. M-Audio Oxygen 61 3d Generation has no glitchy/noisy keys either and is maby a good cheap alternative. Pretty light keys. Sorry i can't offer more info, but keep an eye out for that one and what people say about it should you choose budget. All i got, for now. ;)

If you have played real piano, then the you should not have any problem with the AKAI at all, it's "stiffness", but you know its synth keys feel offcourse. It's all a matter of preference, but when i did tests i was not looking for my own preferance per say, i was looking for if it made noises, if you grab one key and move it sideways etc, it should be built solid, hope you know what i mean. AKAI and the AXIOM was "solid" stayed together so you should able to do a Jerry Lewis without the keys making scrambling noises. Ive seen only One youtube bad critic on the Impulse. To me, it should be an offcaurse that a midi keyboard should work and send midi and all it knobs should have a native number, atleast. But these fancy keyboard nowdays have their own software solution to make things more "easy and fun", If supported by the OS and your DAW which you also should check if that is of interest to you. I am for now pretty much as lost as you and i hope we get the answers we are looking for. :) Ps. why don't i just go and buy one and turn it back if it's not living up to my expectations? not funny enough, i was not allowed from my perticular store who had it, i asked.. But with my HS7 monitors, i had 8 days... go figure how some work.. lol

I have a CME UF5 and it has a pretty good keyboard. Light enough for fast work but enough tactile to give some feedback while playing. I also have a Roland RD-150 with a weighted wooden hammer-action keyboard and they complement each other very well for different playing styles. There are negative reviews to be found about it, but that goes for all keyboards. The CME stuff is build like a tank (most part of their case is actually metal). However, in comparison with other available keyboards today they might have slightly less controls available (I can map a total of 50 controls). There are also no drum trigger pads if you want those. I use a Korg PADkontrol for that. If I would buy a new keyboard today I would probably go for the Nektar Panorama P6, although I haven't played one yet so no idea about its keys :D

You are welcome. :) Hope all these is available in your store so you can feel 'em, doesn't matter if it's the smallest version, should be the same feel of the keys. Happy hunting. :)

Sir gremlin, are you getting payed for this? :) Looks good though and he did say one magic word, - works with every DAW - :) But we have yet to have anyone here on this forum saying that none of this thread current options will not work so. :P Make it available in a fysical store p l e a s e and before christmas! damnit or this Nektar have no chance. :) Speaking for myself yep. :P

Akai MPK 61 vs Axiom Air 61 

Even a dedicated control surface unit like the Novation SL MkII lists just limited REAPER control, as in "Mixer control, Transport control, 3rd Party plug ins" (according to their website). I take that to mean no control of REAPER's built-in vst's (however, I may be misinterpreting this). So be careful and double-check if you want to be able to control everything in Reaper.

IT sounds to me, from their website, that this controller may not give you any control of the VST and VSTi settings of Reaper's built in effects. But I AM NOT ABSOLUTELY SURE. When they say it WILL control "3rd party plug-ins", I take that to mean NOT the BUILT-IN in plug-ins. Maybe someone else can tell us that either I am correct, or hopefully that I am wrong. Let's wait & see.

Here: Scroll to the bottom of the page. Some of the OTHER DAW's listed, list control of "Included Plug-ins." But not for Reaper. Just "3rd Party Plug-ins." Maybe that's not important to you. I'm just pointing it out so you're not disappointed.