AKAI Professional MPK Mini Plus White

Akai Professional MIDI Keyboard at a glance

The MPK Mini Plus from Akai is a combination of a USB keyboard controller, CV/Gate interface and step sequencer. The keyboard, featuring 37 mini keys, is a newly developed Gen 2 Dynamic Keybed keyboard which, despite its size, is velocity-sensitive and, above all, a pleasure to play. In its role as a USB keyboard controller, the MPK Mini Plus offers eight rotary controls and a joystick, which can be assigned to any parameters in a DAW, making it much easier to operate the software. The eight colour-coded, velocity-sensitive pads offer a defined pressure point and are ideal for dynamically playing percussion and triggering samples; with Note Repeat and Full Level, even MPC pad features are integrated. Beneath the knobs are the transport buttons, which provide direct access to a DAW’s main functions such as recording, rewinding, stopping and playback. To assist with playing, there is a simple chord function that remembers the last notes pressed simultaneously, and an arpeggiator with an extended repertoire of playback patterns ranging from 1 to 4 octaves, including shuffle. Thanks to the MIDI inputs and outputs, the master keyboard can communicate with external equipment and also functions as a USB/MIDI interface.