Controller Keyboards
Every keyboard controller we can find, from pocket-sized 25-key boards to 88-key hammer actions and MPE surfaces. Filter by key count, key action, aftertouch, connectivity and on-board controls, then compare models side by side.
The Low Down
A controller keyboard makes no sound of its own. It's a set of keys, wheels, pads and knobs that sends instructions (which note, how hard, how much wheel) to software on a computer or to a hardware synth, which does the actual sound. That's why a 61-key board can cost £80. You're paying for the controls, not a sound engine.
You'll still see these sold as ‘MIDI keyboards', but the name has stopped telling you anything. Nearly every keyboard built in the last forty years has MIDI on it, including every stage piano and organ on this site. What marks these boards out is what they're for, which is driving something else. That's why the money goes on sliders, rotary encoders, pads and DAW mapping rather than on voices.
The Low Down
A controller keyboard makes no sound of its own. It's a set of keys, wheels, pads and knobs that sends instructions (which note, how hard, how much wheel) to software on a computer or to a hardware synth, which does the actual sound. That's why a 61-key board can cost £80. You're paying for the controls, not a sound engine. You'll still see these sold as ‘MIDI keyboards', but the name has stopped telling you anything. Nearly every keyboard built in the last forty years has MIDI on it, including every stage piano and organ on this site. What marks these boards out is what they're for, which is driving something else. That's why the money goes on sliders, rotary encoders, pads and DAW mapping rather than on voices.
A controller keyboard makes no sound of its own. It's a set of keys, wheels, pads and knobs that sends instructions (which note, how hard, how much wheel) to software on a computer or to a hardware synth, which does the actual sound. That's why a 61-key board can cost £80. You're paying for the controls, not a sound engine. You'll still see these sold as ‘MIDI keyboards', but the name has stopped telling you anything. Nearly every keyboard built in the last forty years has MIDI on it, including every stage piano and organ on this site. What marks these boards out is what they're for, which is driving something else. That's why the money goes on sliders, rotary encoders, pads and DAW mapping rather than on voices. About Controller Keyboards.
Keys and how they feel
- Full / slim / mini keys
- — Full-size keys are piano width (about 23.5 mm per white key). Mini keys are roughly two-thirds width so 25 of them fit in a laptop bag; fine for melodies and bass lines, cramped for chords. ‘Slim' (Arturia, Korg) is in between, full-length keys that are slightly narrower.
- Synth-action
- — Light, sprung keys with no weight behind them, fast, easy for organ and synth lines, and what most controllers under £200 use.
- Semi-weighted
- — Synth-action keys with extra weighting or resistance so they push back a little more like a piano. A compromise that suits people who play both piano and synth parts.
- Hammer-action / fully weighted
- — Each key drives a small hammer, reproducing the inertia of a piano key. Heavier, more expensive and slower for synth playing, but the only thing that feels right for piano practice. ‘Graded' hammer action is heavier at the bass end than the treble, as a real piano is.
- Velocity
- — How fast you press the key, measured 1–127. Almost every keyboard here is velocity-sensitive; the ones that aren't are noted. Velocity curves let you change how hard you have to play to reach full volume.
- Aftertouch
- — Pressure on a key after it has bottomed out, used to add vibrato or open a filter without moving your hand to a wheel. Channel aftertouch sends one pressure value for the whole keyboard; polyphonic aftertouch (rare, and expensive) senses each key separately.
- MPE
- — MIDI Polyphonic Expression: each note gets its own pitch bend, pressure and slide, so you can bend one note of a chord. Needs an MPE keyboard (Roli, Osmose, Expressive E) and an MPE-aware synth.
Controls
- Pads
- — Rubber drum pads, usually eight or sixteen, velocity-sensitive and sometimes pressure-sensitive. For finger-drumming, triggering clips or samples. RGB pads change colour to show what is loaded on them.
- Knobs, encoders and faders
- — Knobs with end-stops send a fixed 0–127 value and can ‘jump' if the software parameter is somewhere else; endless encoders send relative up/down so they never jump. Faders are the same idea in a straight line, and map naturally onto mixer channels.
- Pitch bend and modulation
- — Two wheels (or touch strips, a joystick, or a lever on Korg gear) to the left of the keys. Pitch bend springs back to centre and bends notes up or down; modulation stays where you leave it and usually adds vibrato, though every synth can map it to something else.
- DAW transport / integration
- — Play, stop and record buttons that control your recording software, plus (on the better boards) track selection, mixer control and auto-mapped knobs. Each maker has its own scripts, so check yours lists your DAW.
- Arpeggiator, chord and scale modes
- — Built-in tricks: an arpeggiator plays held notes as a pattern in time with the DAW; chord mode plays a whole chord from one key; scale mode remaps the keyboard so you can only play notes in the chosen key.
Connections and power
- USB MIDI
- — One cable to the computer carries MIDI and power. ‘Class-compliant' means no driver is needed and it works with iPads and Android too. USB-C is replacing USB-B on newer boards; older mini keyboards use micro-USB.
- 5-pin DIN and TRS MIDI
- — The classic round MIDI socket, for talking to hardware synths without a computer. Small boards use a 3.5 mm TRS jack with an adapter instead, there are two wirings (Type A and Type B), so check the adapter matches.
- CV / Gate
- — Analogue control voltages for modular and vintage synths that don't speak MIDI. Pitch CV sets the note, Gate says when it is on. Arturia's KeyStep range and Akai's MPK Mini Plus have it.
- Pedal inputs
- — Sustain takes an on/off switch pedal; expression takes a rocker pedal with a pot. Footswitch means a second assignable switch input. See the Foot Pedals category for what goes in them.
- Bus powered
- — Runs entirely from the USB cable, no wall wart. Boards with big colour screens, hammer actions or 5-pin MIDI out sometimes need a power supply, or need one when used without a computer.
- Bluetooth MIDI
- — Wireless MIDI to a Mac, iPad or phone. Adds a few milliseconds of latency and needs batteries, but no cable.
- Running from a power bank
- — A bus-powered controller draws well under an amp, so a phone power bank will run it for a day. But most banks switch themselves off when they see so little current, and the keyboard dies mid-set. Buy one with a low-current or 'trickle charge' mode (Anker, Nitecore and INIU label it) and turn that mode on. Keyboards with their own DC input need a bank with the right voltage output, usually a USB-PD bank plus a PD-to-barrel trigger cable. See the wire-free keyboard guide.
Choosing
Key count first: 25 keys fits in a bag and plays melodies, 49 plays two-handed parts, 61 is the sweet spot for most producers, 88 is for pianists.
Then key feel: if you are learning piano, a hammer action is worth the weight and cost; if you mostly program synths and beats, synth-action is quicker and cheaper.
Then controls: pads if you make beats, faders if you mix from the keyboard, a screen and DAW integration if you want to leave the mouse alone. Everything else (arpeggiators, chord modes, bundled software) is a nice bonus, not a reason to choose.
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