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Recommend me a MIDI keyboard :-)
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To save you a few bucks I suggest you consider these two options:
Casio CTX700 61-key Portable Arranger costs $175 and has:
61 keys - light organ-keys
USB Midi support via the CCK Adapter
Accepts Audio in so plays the keys and hear the IOS Apps on the Casio Speakers
*via the CCK connection
Runs ion batteries or Power Adapter
It has 600 built-in instruments
For a solid MIDi-only controller in the 61-key range without breaking the bank:
Arturia KeyLab Essential 61 Keyboard Controller at $249:
hands-on controls include 10 encoders, 9 sliders, a 6-button transport section, and 4 command switches
Perform with 8 pads, Chord Play mode, and a sustain pedal input for added expression
Includes about $400 in sound software from Arturia and UVI
USB MIDI
Good luck looking at the range of options and increases in pricing.
M-Audio makes some decent budget MIDI controllers too.
The Casio has limited connectivity, check the manual. Otherwise, I agree with @McD. Good sound and good value. Bought one for a friend. But I think the Arturia is a better choice for you as the Casio has no sliders, knobs to assign midi controls to. It will integrate a lot better with your setup ( I think).
If you want that simulation of a real piano then these are must haves. If that's the case...
you want to improve your piano keyboarding skills then consider entry level digital pianos from Casio, Yamaha and Korg. Watch YouTube Videos on them and something will jump out at you. Check the spec's for USB MIDI.
Watch IOS Music Producer videos and you'll rarely see weighted keys but often smaller form factor keyboards and buttons to send Preset changes. I'm coveting a 49-key Bluetooth Keyboard to loose the USB Adapter or save the Lightning port for my guitar input. Then you might start to consider the benefits of MPE and you start looking at the Roli Seaboards.
Those Roli MPE devices are as far from a real piano and a keyboard can get but they allow glides, vibrato and after "note on" volume changes: Like a singer or violinist but with chords and polyphonic control.
Used Komplete Kontrol Mk2, great keyboard feel, light guide, chord mode and arpeggiator with PC. I have mk1 but I recommend mk2 because it's USB powered vs mk1 which isn't.
For those following along:
$729 Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S61 MK2 61-Key NKS Compatible MIDI Controller
61-key Controller with Fatar Keybed and Custom Controls Designed for Total Integration with NKS-ready Software and the included Komplete 11 Select Plug-in Bundle
You can add more Komplete 12 software to the bundle up to the Ultimate $1,728 level.
I really love being addicted to IOS Apps... I can live with the guilt.
Get this when it comes out. Isomorphic.
https://www.dodekamusic.com/stellar/
Or a Linnstrument
The Yamaha P-series pianos have a nice weighted action. I waited until my local guitar center got a used one for $250.
For the money it is easier and cheaper to just get a separate Korg Nanocontrol for the buttons and faders rather than find a controller that is weighted and also has midi knobs and such.
You might want to go to a brick and mortar music store to look at and try out various keyboards to see what you like in terms of size and touch.
Many people who use their keyboard more for MIDI control than playing may even use keyboards with as few as 25 keys and use octave shift buttons. The trade off is having more functions such as sliders, knobs, faders, and xy pads versus having more keys and fewer functions at a similar price point. Many keyboards come with software which could be significant if you have a computer as part of your music making. In addition, some keyboards can be designed to work with specific software and DAWs to control their functions from your keyboard.
Without more specific information about what you hope to accomplish with a MIDI keyboard, it’s hard to know what would be appropriate for you. It would also be a good idea to watch a wide variety of MIDI keyboard videos to see how various people use them to see if their workflows match up with yours. Once you have a clearer idea of your needs, you can then look for MIDI keyboards that will fulfill them.
If you should ever want to learn how to play, there are certainly apps and keyboards that can help you to do that.
If you don’t play, I don’t think a weighted keyboard is necessarily the way forward.
There’s nothing wrong with learning on a keyboard with a synth action; it’s faster and easier to play.
A weighted keyboard is for those that are used to a real piano and need to have a similar feel.
Unless you are planning on buying a real piano there are no advantages to a non-player having a weighted keyboard, just disadvantages. They’re bigger and more expensive and the feel only approximates that of a piano until you get to expensive hammer action keys anyway.
Make a shortlist of keyboards by going to one of the big music shops websites and using their filters to narrow down what you want.
AsMcD said you can get some decent controllers for not too much, like the M-audio and artutia key lab 61 se.
Any more than that would be wasted unless you need specific features.
Its not just the feel that is different. With weighted keys you can controll the dynamic range of a (sample based) piano way more acurate than you‘d be able with a simple (semi weighted) midi keyboard.
This.
What is that thing. It doesnt even have a real keyboard.
All of this depends on your goals. Telling people you have goals helps them help you
achieve that goal.
If you goal is the learn to use a real keyboard then invest in something that player's feel is
somewhat like a piano (weighted keys at a minimum). The Casio action is decent for a low cost ($300-500). Yamaha and Korg above that and then the Kawaii action is amazing and heads into the $3000 range so.
For just making music a 25-49 Bluetooth keyboard is what a ton of pros use because most instruments tend to stay within 2 octaves on a track and multi-tracking allows you to never really need 2 handed input anyway. You can built orchestral sounding tracks in layers of sparce sounding instruments that sound very dense.
Based on what you said so far... nobody should sound like they know the right answer for you. If they do, they're probably just opinionated. I always think it's better to start with cheap
solutions and upgrade if you feel limited by your first product.
Do you have a budget for example. "What's the best answer for $500 with 61 weighted keys?", for example, would help us help you. We will still disagree but you have fewer opinions to sort out with some boundaries around the solution space.
Doesnt really leave room for speculation or opinion
I have a few keyboards for different use cases. There is no keyboard what is perfect for all situations.
Cuckoo made a nice new video what keyboard he would recommend and why. He takes a closer look of the key action...
Have a look, it’s interesting!
I’m considering getting a Roland Go:Keys at the moment - I already play keys but this provides a lightweight keyboard with good built-in sounds and a playable full size keyboard. It has bluetooth midi so can easily connect to ios music apps (no knobs or slides though). $300 or less. Worth considering I think (plus if anyone has any views on this before I buy...)
Keystep from Arturia could be a good choice.
It has 32 mini keys, but since you say you're not a keyboard player smaller keys could be easier to play for you. Unlike many other keyboards with mini keys the Keystep reportedly has a good quality keybed, and it even has aftertouch.
It has no knobs for CC control (just a pair of touch strips instead of pitch/mod wheels), but it can interface with hardware using standard MIDI connectors and CV/Gate outputs.
It's also very affordable.
61 keys seems like overkill if you don't know how to play and aren't planning to actively learn. 49 keys should be more than sufficient for your first one in order to save some money and up the quality. Unless you need to travel,make sure you get one with full-size keys with good "action" (don't have to be perfectly weighted etc.) and definitely with aftertouch.
Personally, I'd put the Nectar T4 at the top of your list, but probably too expensive. The Novation SL MK3 would be above that.
With regard Novation keyboards..
Launchkey is a fairly decent keyboard, I use the 25 key version and am having a good experience with it. Draw back on the Launchkey is that it is USB only, so if you want to connect it to a synth of any kind you will need a USB host...as you are wanting to connect it to your CCK this should not be an issue.
Impulse has a better quality keybed, very similar functions to the Launchkey, but has USB AND has 'real' MIDI ports to enable easy connection to other hardware.
SL MKIII - A beast, includes an 8 track sequencer, has USB, MIDI and CV connections
What I hate about MIDI keyboards is that none of them look cool, sleek, or stylish. I would think that some company would've filled that void by now. That white Nektar one is the only one I've seen that isn't an ugly husk. If I'm buying a husk, I want it to look good.
OP I don't own any currently, but based on the details you've provided, I think you would be just fine with 49 keys. I fretted about that for a while and thought I needed 61, but I returned the M-Audio I got (it was excessively large). I know this post has all sounded very shallow, but the way you're describing things sounds like where I was a couple years back. So I'd recommend the 49-key Arturia as a starting point to try out. It's what I had settled on before I doomed myself to a Korg Minilogue instead. Sadly, it currently serves as my MIDI keys while the synth insides slowly rust away.
What is that crock of crap. When the second frame of a four-frame 'about' overview is "look unique ooh" then there doesn't seem to be much substance there. The company may feel free to prove me wrong,
I saw some m-audio midi key boards, 25 keys on eBay for about £10.
Peanuts really, quite small , but as said above, you get dials, and buttons to go through the octave's, not expensive , try that for a few weeks then choose the right size keyboard with the right features for you
Good luck
Nektar keyboards are inexpensive and well made, full size keys but not super weighted.
https://nektartech.com/products/