AKAI AKAIProfessional MPK Mini Plus - USB MIDI Keyboard Controller

The MPK Mini Plus is a superb controller, especially considering its price. It takes the classic MPC drum pads and DAW and computer integration of other MPK models and throws in Keystep-like functionality including the CV ports for hooking up modular gear and the onboard sequencer meaning the whole thing can be used entirely without a computer if required. The keyboard is more responsive and playable than it has a right to be, and the 37-key design and option of using a sustain pedal enable creative playing as well as simpler synths and beats stuff.

It’s bigger than the Mini Mk3 but still supremely portable and doesn’t waste an inch of space. Whether you want to work in a more old school way with the onboard sequencer or do DAW control and triggering on a computer – or some combination of the two – you’ll find that the Plus makes it easy to do. It’s possible to use it as a musical sketchpad and a super-compact studio controller, just as flexible with standalone live sequencing as it is with DAW control. It might well replace several boxes on your studio desk.

Another part of the Plus’s evolution over other MPK Mini family members is the inclusion of an internal sequencer to add to the arpeggiator section. Activated and controlled via the knobs and screen, using the polyphonic 2-track step / live sequencer feels like stepping back in time – in a good way. There are plenty of people who find a tactile approach to sequencing suits them better and is more creative than just clicking dots on a screen. Indeed, the proliferation of older-style sequencers on modern hardware has been a feature of recent years.

Here you can program melodies and drum patterns on the fly with no computer connected, using 8 notes of polyphony per step and 16 notes per drum step. There’s auto-quantize with a range of settings including MPC Swing and the whole thing has a great vibe to it. There’s something freeing about programming this way, like people did before everything was done in software. Of course that’s entirely supported as well, and you get the MPC Beats software as part of your purchase, an AKAI-friendly DAW that’s built around the company’s controllers. It comes with a bunch of samples and really complements the workflow on the Mini and indeed other AKAI gear. There’s also a 6-month subscription to Reason+ thrown in.

Plenty of other controls are at your fingertips, starting with the assignable X/Y joystick controller. This is probably the unit’s only physical weak spot, and you’d want to take care when transporting it. But it can have up to 4 parameters assigned to it for morphing between effects or filter settings for example. This is done using the keyboard’s own menus and its small but serviceable screen. You’ll spend a lot of time using the Shift control and the rotary knobs to enter data and though you will initially have to figure a few things out, in time it’s pretty straightforward to use and you’ll develop a bit of a muscle memory for it.

The 8 assignable endless rotary knobs can control anything from filters to panning and automation and under these you’ll find Transport controls, with maps for all major DAWs available in the keyboard. There are also 8 real MPC drum pads, backlit and velocity sensitive that work not only as a creative surface for playing drums but also as program change and other MIDI CC triggers. As in the other MPK keyboards these are great fun to use.