Impact LX49+

Guitarist with low keyboard skills using Studio One 4 Pro. I have had this keyboard for a month now and I rate it 5*. But! You need to know my reasons, because you may not see things the same way. Keyboard. You will find reviews of the LX49+ that say they could not get on with the keyboard, usually because it is thought to be too hard. My guess is that these people have half-way decent keyboard skills and they enjoy weighted keys. I am a guitarist and I don't have keyboard skills and I don't enjoy weighted keys. For me, sprung keys like these are best. Do I think they are two hard|? No, not at all. They are harder than most, for sure, but I like the resistance and I especially like the way they bottom out. There is a nice hard endstop, so you know when you have bottomed out the key. This is actually the best sprung keyboard I have ever played and I have played about 10. Pads. I bought this keyboard to get the pads. I have owned several pads instruments, and in my opinion they all sucked. This one, by contrast has excellent pads. They require just the right amount of finger force and they deliver the entire range of velocities. It means you can use them for any instrument (using key learn), and you can get the emphasese and the rhythmic subtleties you are looking for. Great. The pad learning feature works well so you can lay a drum kit on the pads fast. I usually like two pads to be given over to the snare, to do fills, and it's a cinch to do. Rock and Roll! The DAW Integration with Studio One 4 pro is excellent, just know that when I did it in July, the website was a just a bit behind the curve. So, although S1 drivers were there they were for S1/3 and I had to go looking for the S1/4 drivers. But, they were there and they worked. You will find all the synths and instruments in S1 integrate with this keyboard too. Very nice. However, I have found that synth/instrument integration with 3rd party stuff is not universal, so sometimes it's there and sometimes it isn't. When it isn't, you have to do the midi learn thing. But what is nice is the keyboard remembers your links. So you only have to do it once. And how many 3rd party synths/instruments that you regularly use have you got, right?... Workflow. After you have used a DAW for a few years you tend to use quite a lot of keyboard shortcuts, and so you may find you do not use the transport buttons on the LX49, and maybe you wont use the track control buttons either - I don't - but I *do* use the patch buttons for speed, and I do use the octave buttons in conjunctions with them (especially when auditioning bass sounds which tend to be all over the place in terms of pitch). I have had no quality issues So, am I pleased with this thing? I could not be happier.

I've been using Cubase for couple of years on and off as a hobby to record guitar and make backing tracks. I only ever used the onscreen or laptop keyboard to add instrument parts. I finally decided to look into getting a music keyboard and because this one was not too expensive and supposed to integrate well with Cubase I got it. I'm very happy I did. After creating the nektar account, downloading and installing the software and following a simple instruction to set it up in Cubase (just clicking a couple of checkboxes) it just worked. The way it can be used to control Cubase is magic and I've just scratched the surface. Bearing in mind I'm not a keyboard player the keys feel fine and responsive to dynamics with a little bit of resistance when pushed. The pads are also responsive and there's a good quality feel to sliders, knobs and buttons bearing in mind the price range this falls into. I should have got one ages ago!

This midi controller has 49 keys, not quite full size but near enough. Good playability with heavier touch sensitive keys in lower end and lighter touch sensitive in upper end. Spring weighted keys with piano styling. Very light instrument. Keys are a bit noisy but this may not be an issue for most. Well laid out controls, good quality rubber faders and navigation buttons, nice feel. Oscillator knobs are plastic, better if rubber. No biggy. 8x pads, touch sensitive. Nice feel. This midi controller does everything you need. Integration with my Cakewalk DAW was good. Usability, in terms of ease of use, well its not that easy for a beginner like me, although I expect I will learn with repeated use. This is the case with most controllers anyway. In summary, fantastic value, good DAW integration, good support documentation and good controls. Not bad for the price.

The controller is great, it covers everything I need and performs flawlessly. It's the best value for money midi controller you can find, without a doubt. I've been working in the music/audio industry for most of my adult life (20+ years) and I've tried every midi controller on the market since the early 2000s. This is a perfect controller. Now, onto Nektar as a company. This is truly the best customer service I've ever encountered. The keyswitch board on my LX49+ failed outside of the warranty period. This can happen to any controller, it's a very common fault, usually due to people banging away at the keys harder than they should. I contacted Nektar support and explained the situation. They had no obligation to help me at all, I was more than 2 years outside of the warranty period. They could have told me to get lost. Instead, they sent me a replacement keyswitch board at no cost from the U.S., they didn't even charge me for shipping. They even sent me a PDF with step-by-step instructions, including photos, of how to replace the keyswitch board. The board arrived today and I installed it following their instructions. The controller is now working perfectly again, as good as new. I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am that there are still companies around with such care for their customers. I will be a loyal Nektar customer as long as I live and I encourage everyone to buy their excellent products. This is really a company worth supporting, because you're not just a number to them - they actually care.

Fantastic bit of kit this. gave me more insperation to write more music. A definite to buy item

Nice full sized keys typical synth feel, no aftertouch. Set up easy and works very well with all DAWs I have tried it with. Pads are nice to use and there are enough sliders to control channels and vst instruments ..good mod and pitch wheels. Runs off usb.

Quality piece of kit to add to my mini studio, works ‘out of the box’ with my Mac GarageBand software. 5 star.

great device to learn to play the piano, free Bitwig software licence which was unexpected however a great surprise. happy days all round

Ce clavier MIDI Nektar IMPACT LX-49+ est un appareil vraiment impressionnant pour le prix. L'apprentissage prenant un certain temps, il est tout de même assez facile de faire de la musique. Le contrôle d'un DAW, dans mon cas Studio One, bien qu'intuitive reste à assimiler. Somme toute, un appareil que je recommande sans hésitation. Malheureusement ce n'était pas le type de clavier dont j'avais réellement besoin. Trop gros et trop large pour l'espace disponible de mon petit studio de musique maison, j'ai dû le retourner pour le remplacer par un autre beaucoup plus compact.

I'll order this midi keyboard and this keyboard quality is awesome

Très bon rapport qualité prix et solidité, pour le son ça dépend de votre logiciel

En lo que a mí respecta, estoy SÚPER SATISFECHO, por el precio, te dan un teclado realmente muy bueno, me sorprendió la calidad. Ya lo tengo hace, más o menos un año. El mío es el Nektar Impact LX49+ Este teclado tiene un ALGO que es menospreciado, a mi entender, por la gran mayoría de las personas, de los músicos, creo que es porque no lo saben. ¿De qué se trata? De la INTEGRACIÓN !!! Si lo aprendes a utilizar bien, tienes algo así como una especie de prolongación de lo que es Cubase, es increíble todo lo que puedes manejar, automatizar, rutear, es extraordinario, porque aumenta la velocidad de tu trabajo musical. Es súper liviano en cuanto al software "driver" que se instala, lo que es muy importante. Novation, por ejemplo, suele tener un software muy pesado en algunos de sus modelos, y eso hace todo más lento. los Nektar en general, se atan a tu DAW, (si es que están dentro de la lista de soportados, como Bitwig y Cubase, por ejemplo), de una manera estrechísima. El teclado, sin dudas, es mejor que, por ejemplo, el M-Audio Keystation, que tiene un precio superior y no tiene controlles MIDI casi de nada. Los pads y su tecnología, en los Nektar, son de gran calidad, diría que están en el tope de la lista. Los potenciometros y los deslizables, me sorprendió la calidad que tienen, muy buenos. Realmente, esta gente le ha puesto muchas ganas al producto, me inspiraron tanto que hasta escribí a la central agradeciéndoles por tal creación. NOTA FINAL: Si te pones las pilas, estudia cómo funciona, aprendes sobre la compatibilidad y posibilidades de manejo de tu DAW, el que sea, como en mi caso, Cubase, bueno..., ahí es donde comienza a brillar, y te darás cuenta de que no es sólo un teclado, sino, francamente, UNA GRAN HERRAMIENTA DE TRABAJO, que es lo que yo quería, que se "casa" paso a paso y parte por parte, con tus VST y con tu DAW. No podría estar más contento y más agradecido, es un teclado genial, altamente recomendado.