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I’m a hobbyist music producer, and I bought myself an M-Audio Keystation61 MK3 a few months back. The build quality was great and I enjoyed having a lot of keys at my disposal. Like any music producer, there are times when I’d have flashes of inspiration, open my DAW (Studio One), and start experimenting. It’s at these times that I find the size of the Keystation61 to be very annoying, as I had to pull out this huge keyboard from my closet just to experiment.

It’s for this reason I’ve been looking into buying a cheap, small MIDI keyboard I can keep on my shelf just for those moments I need to play a quick melody and don’t need huge 63 key keyboard. I know a lot of keyboards include extra drum pads, knobs, etc., but I don’t really need that as I already own an AKAI LPD8. I’m more looking for which keyboard has better key quality, key quantity, and preferably pitch and mod wheels. I would not like to go over $100.

If anyone has any keyboard recommendations for me, please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

——————————-[ Some keyboards that have caught my eye so far]——————————-

midiplus AKM320 / AKM322 / minicontrol ($40-$50)

• (+) 32 Keys

• (+) Pitch and Mod Wheels

• (+) Very good price

• (-) Seems “too good to be true”

AKAI Professional LPK25 ($45)

• (+) Cheap

• (-) No pitch/mod controls

• (-) Only 25 keys

Nektar SE25 ($50)

• (+) Recommended by a couple “Budget MIDI keyboard” articles

• (-) Only 25 keys

• (-) No pitch/mod controls

Alesis Qmini ($55)

• (+) 32 Keys

• (-) No pitch/mod controls

Nektar Impact GX Mini ($55)

• (+) Pitch/Mod Joystick

• (-) Only 25 keys

M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 MK3 ($60)

• (+) 32 Keys

• (+) M-Audio seems to be a pretty trustworthy brand

• (-) No pitch/mod controls

Arturia Microlab 25 ($70)

• (+) I’ve generally heard good things about Arturia

• (+) Pitch and Mod Sliders

• (-) I’ve heard the capacitive pitch and mod pads aren’t great

• (-) Only 25 keys

midiplus X3 mini ($80)

• (+) 37 keys (apparently)

• (+) Pitch and Mod sliders

• (-) Seems to have capacitive pick and mod sliders like Arturia, which I heard isn’t great.

Arturia Keystep 32 ($130)

(I recently found this for $80 at my local used music shop, that’s why it’s on this list)

• (+) I’ve generally heard good things about Arturia

• (+) Pitch and Mod Sliders

• (+) 32 keys

• (-) I’ve heard the capacitive pitch and mod pads aren’t great

• (-) I’m not sure how much use I’d get out of the sequencer