Best velocity sensitive 88 key midi keyboard

I've been busy the last 5-10 years raising kids and stuff but now would like to get back into making music. What are some really nice full size midi keyboards that work well with Logic?

That's a very interesting question...

Probably M Audio stuff

I just bought a Korg Kross 2 88-key model which I think is very nice. Floor model cost me about $800 USD. It's a very, very powerful workstation synthesizer, which also has a built-in USB audio interface. It can exchange both MIDI data and sound through the USB connection. You can plug microphones and such directly into it. The piano-like feel of the keys is very convincing, with a true hammer-action, yet you can also play them lightly and more quickly like "plastic keys." There are over a thousand patches without using an expansion memory-card. And believe it or not it can run on AA batteries. (Batteries not included.™) Logic Pro fully recognizes it, and drivers are not required in OS/X Catalina.

 

I previously had a much heavier "controller-only" device which flipped out on me. Just quit working one day and it would cost more to fix it then I'd paid for it. Besides, I was never as satisfied with it as I thought that I would be. I actually bought it for "dials and faders" then found myself never actually using them.

 

I enjoy having a very powerful hardware music-making device to complement what Logic can do in software. And, "88 keys" was a basic requirement. (The Kross 2 also comes in a 60-ish key model with a different keyboard.)

I just bought an M-Audio full size hammer action midi controller. I haven't had it long enough to know how well it will last but it seems to work well. It is basic though with just a pitch and mod wheel, but it has a good action and weight to the keys. Also, very easy to use with logic. I didn't have to set anything up, just plugged it in.

I always find the M-Audio keys to be pretty good - their controllers as a whole though, unreliable if they've got faders.

 

The Korg M50 88 key is a good wild card, you can find it cheap used and has the same RH3 keybed as Kronos/SV1 etc which cost far more - brilliant units.

 

If you're not looking at the higher end keybeds then really, there's a mass of different priced options out there and they all have their pros and cons, and additional software/plugin bundles to tempt buyers.

The controller that "just flipped out on me one day" was an M-Audio, and, until that fateful day(!), I was extremely pleased with it. The piano-like feel of the 88-key model was superb. I never had trouble with any of the switches, buttons, knobs and faders until poof. Yeah, I'd still recommend it highly.

 

I did have the problem that its "Eclipse" software, which exposes all of the settings on the device as a GUI, didn't work with Catalina. Maybe they've fixed that since. Or maybe I just had an older model and now there's a newer one.

 

Dunno ... I might get it repaired, after all ...

I bought an Arturia Keylab Essential 61 and I love it.