About
Hi, I'm Matt.
Tech nerd, gear hoarder, and the person who ends up with fourteen browser tabs open every time I try to buy a MIDI controller.
Why this site exists
Whenever I research a piece of music hardware or software, the information is scattered everywhere. Each manufacturer's site only shows its own range. Retailers list whatever they stock. Reviews cover a handful of models at a time. Nowhere could I find a comprehensive list of everything in a category, current and previous generations, with the specs lined up so I could actually compare them.
This site is one place that lists every model in a category, lets you filter down by the things that matter (key count, key action, aftertouch, connectivity, size, weight, price…) and then compare up to 5 side by side with the differences highlighted.
I'm not exaggerating when I say I've spent months and months researching various products. It's all in my brain and I'm starting to get it down on paper, and hopefully shed some light on some mysteries.
Ultimately it's exhausting trying to find gear when you've got a specific need, which might be as simple as:
“I need a USB-C bus powered 61 key MIDI controller”
What I actually play
I'm a musician first: predominantly piano and keys, and I play in a covers band with a gloriously awkward set list. One song wants a Rhodes, the next an analogue brass stab, the one after that a string pad and a clav, and there are about four bars between them to sort it out. That is the problem most of this site quietly grew out of.
The rig, since it comes up: a Nord Electro 6 76 as the main board, a MacBook Pro running Gig Performer® with an embarrassing number of virtual instrument plugins behind it, and a MOTU M4 handling the audio. Controllers from Novation and Arturia, and CME WIDI Bluetooth MIDI for getting rid of at least one cable.
None of that is a recommendation, and nobody involved has paid me a penny. It is just the context: when I say a spec matters, it is usually because it has bitten me on a stage somewhere.
What's here now
850 products across 25 categories, starting with controller keyboards. Discontinued models stay in the list and link to their successors, because the second-hand market is real and a three-year-old controller is often the smart buy.
More categories are coming as I get to them. Everything runs on the same engine, so the filters adapt to whatever you're looking at: scale length and pickups for guitars, I/O counts for audio interfaces, and so on.
A note on accuracy
Specs are compiled from manufacturer listings and checked where I can, but manufacturers change things, regions differ and I make mistakes. Treat the numbers as a starting point and confirm on the manufacturer's page (linked from every product) before you buy. Prices are list prices, not what you'll necessarily pay.
Spotted an error or a missing model? I'd genuinely like to know. That's the only way a list like this stays comprehensive.
Independence
No manufacturer has paid to be listed, ranked or featured, and there are no affiliate links, for now. I'll see how popular it gets. Seriously though: the whole point of the site is to make comparing easy, so it will always contain the full range of gear in a category, regardless of whether I earn pennies from affiliate links one day, or a manufacturer pays me to talk about their keyboard, or sends me gear. (Please send me gear.)
If the site has saved you an afternoon of tab-hopping, you can buy me a coffee. It goes on hosting and the occasional cable.
Product names and images belong to their respective manufacturers and are used here to identify the products.