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CME Xkey, QuNexus or Korg Nanokey 2... What would you recommend?
I am looking for a smallish type keyboard. Something to throw in a backpack and go. I have narrowed it down to these 3 keyboards. CME Xkey... which is the largest of the three. The QuNexus and the Korg Nanokey 2.
Just curious to see what people would recommend or if you have one, what your opinions are.
Comments
I don't know about the others, but the QuNexus is great, solid as a tank, configuable, and works with all of my iOS midi apps without a hitch.
I was in the same boat. Tried the x key at the music store and wasn't overly impressed. So I ordered the au exits and could not be happier. This thing is so much fun. It's like an instrument in itself.
au exits?
I love my QuNexus. For all the reasons that Funjunkie mentions.
It's also very expressive, and it's so small and light that it can live in my overnight bag and travel with me wherever I go.
Just remember that it doesn't feel or respond like a regular keyboard, so you have to accept that you'll need to learn/discover some new playing techniques if you get it.
Oh, and the keys light up ;-)
I had the opportunity to try both the CME XKey and QuNexus. I found the XKey to be easier to control the polyphonic after touch but the QuNexus has tilt and side to side functionalities to allow it to send midi CC messages to your apps plus CV (control voltage) capability to run analog synths that use CV. It can work as a translator to transmit midi messages to CV only hardware.
The QuNexus software setup which allows you to make custom adjustments to what signals are sent based upon your touch is not the easiest software to use and you'll need a Windows or Mac to set it up on. I'm not sure about this end of things for the CME XKey.
Neither keyboard is going to be like a traditional keyboard in terms of its action but if more expressive playing in a small relatively inexpensive package is what you're after, it may be worth your time to get the feel of a new way of playing. Developing the new muscle memory to get consistent control will require considerable practice.
What is polyphonic after touch? Imagine every key having a mod wheel you can turn after you've pressed the key rather than just one mod wheel for the whole keyboard.
I went with the QuNexus because of its CV capabilities and that it's from a company that's been around awhile. I'll receive it in about a week.
If you just want to hit notes with keys or have drum pad velocity functionality at minimal cost, I'd go with the Korg Nanokey 2. I have the Nanokey and it works as advertised. If you have large fingers, none of these solutions may work for you.
At this point in time not all synth apps or patches are setup for polyphonic aftertouch. Nave, Animoog, iSEM, WaveGenerator, and Thor are some that are plus you maybe able to do some midi learn in other apps to get this functionality.
Some apps/hardware combinations may become overwhelmed with the volume of polyphonic after touch midi data being sent and the QuNexus has the ability to auto-rotate through the 16 midi channels like the Cantor app to minimize this problem.
There are some other polyphonic aftertouch keyboard solutions that have been crowd funded that haven't gone commercial yet that maybe worth considering depending upon your budget and how long you're willing to wait.
You may also want to check out the C.24 that Miselu should be shipping sometime soon. Pretty much as compact as a keyboard can get since it folds flat and is the size of an iPad.
http://www.miselu.com
+1 for QuNexus too. No worries about its (no-existant) delicate bits bouncing around in the bag. Its with me every day. And you can start witha simple mapping and work your way up with practice.
Not sure if you need knobs and pads on it. If yes then akai mpk mini 25 is compact and rugged. Keys are a little spongy but most of these keys have playability issues. I've owned/tried arturia minilab, maudio axiom 32 mini and novation launchkey and always gone back to akai. Also, it is cheap!
I got the QuNexus and love it. No regrets. I'd narrowed it down to the 3 you mention as well as iRig Keys Pro. Since having the QuNexus, I feel no regret. The one thing is that I accept the size of the keys cause there is so much expressiveness in the pads. Kinda of a different way of thinking about playing a keyboard. I almost don't think of it as a keyboard. More like a hugely creative controller that I can used like a keyboard if I need to. If I were wanting to play it more like a piano, I might be a little disappointed since I'm use to the feel of real piano keys. In that case I might go for the iRig Keys. But as an all around controller, that is easily programmable for doing all kinds of expressive modulation, I could not be happier.
I am curious about how well the poly aftertouch works on the CME Xkey. The way it works on the QuNexus is through a thing called channel rotation where it rotates the midi channel to accomodate up to 10 fingers playing at the same time. I haven't used it enough to figure out how will work out for me. One kinda buggy thing came up where I was trying to figure out why it wasn't playing midi channel specific tracks and I suspect it may have been due to channel rotation but was not able to confirm if this is the case or not.
You can turn channel rotation as well as poly AT on or off with Qunexus, it's not fixed like that.
Add me as another vote for the Qunexus too, it feels a lot better than the price would suggest and is extremely durable. Once you get it confirgured for your playing style, super expressive too. I like that I don't need to mash the keys to get good key response, though it's certainly a much different feel from a normal keyboard too.
Thank you everyone for the great help.
I decided to go with the QuNexus, as well as, the CME Xkey. One that is more a controller style and one that is more the tradition keyboard. Whichever one I like the best, I'll keep and the other will go back to Amazon. Or I might keep them both. Who knows.
I'm very interested in any keyboard that has maybe 37 keys or more that has polyphonic aftertouch - for controlling synths like Animoog, Nave, Magellan etc. that have a touchpad keyboard that will respond to that. I looked at the QuNexus and Xkey but they are too small for what I want - more octave range. Any suggestions for such a beast? I'd love to get a TouchKeys overlay but they're very expensive (but brilliant technology!). Thoughts?
I just got an Xkey 25...I'm in love!
If you don't have a classical training in piano and/or you like lightweight keys, this keyboard is amazing. If you can type fast, you'll slay on this.
The app is awesome too. I just sent the dev an email requesting whole key profile saving. If that happens and I can have all premade cc profiles instantly there for recall and then be able to quickly switch back to a regular keyboard mode, this will be my favorite controller ever.
Hi, just curious if anybody has additional info/feedback on these keyboards or new ones such as the Keith Mcmillen k-board or the iRig keys? Also, finding a camera connection kit is in a pain in the you know what. Guitar center and the Apple store don't stock it and it's an integral component to make it work. I know I could order it online but I'd prefer to buy it to start playing right away.
Thanks in advance
I very much like the XKey37. It's a bit more expensive than the 25 version, but it's worth it. Also the modwheel and pitchbend buttons are surprisingly useful.
QuNexus is brilliant for CV-MIDI-OSC conversions. Its 16-bit CV converter are really good to generate audio rate voltages. As a playing keyboard it is a bit different, one learns a special technique to get most out of it, mostly with patches that have polyphonic aftertouch controlled parameters. So instead of using velocity one can create special patches that focus more on aftertouch. I like it too because it's small.
Two fine keyboards, I recommend both (in every version).
Direct LFO CV input is a bit difficult because the voltage is bipolar (half of the cycle negative), and the keyboards expect positive voltages. Here the XKey37 is a bit better, it only cuts the negative part and accepts the positive voltage, while QuNexus doesn't accept any direct LFO CV input at all.
Question about polyphonic aftertouch: Isn't this feature really only valuable and useful for really good keyboard players? I ask as a bass player.
Nope ,it gives another dimension to the sound if the synth supports it...
Thanks guys. Will youtube more info on this polyphonic aftertouch.
Okay it's pretty cool.
Point taken. I guess I wrote my question wrong. My impression is that for musical material that is more sophisticated than a solo line or the above video which is atmospheric or drone-like, is that you need to be a good keyboard player to take advantage of polyphonic touch. No?
I would even say it's the contrary. If you're not a seasoned keyboard performer, polyphonic aftertouch can give some expression to the performance that wouldn't be there with only velocity.
I have the CME and QuNexus (and tried out the Korg in a store) and I'm always going to the QuNexus first. I find that playing it leads to expressive ideas better, maybe cause it feels all fleshy and tactiley manipulatable... I MUCH prefer it over the Xkey.
Thanks gkillmaster. Are you using it only with a CCK direct into ipad or are you also using some sort of powered/unpowered HUB?
@gjcyrus yes, I use CCK and also use a powered hub when I use it with my iMac
@gkillmaster - thanks, appreciate the feedback. But you only need the powered hub when using it with Mac? Not with your ipad?
The QuNexus is fully powered by the iPad/iPhone
@gjcyrus oops yes, I meant to say I use it without a hub directly with my iPad. realize I didn't quite say it clearly
Poly after touch is nice, but I don't think it's a necessity if you're just looking to bang out some melodies on the beach.
I presume poly aftertouch will also need to be supported by the software.
Correct. Sometimes with the Qunexus it can be more hinderance than help I find. When apps support it and you can map it to what you want, or it defaults to mod wheel, awesome. When they don't or only have to support it with no mapping, then you can get weird results if you don't switch to a new preset with that turned off on the Qunexus.
If you're the kind of person who mainly sticks with one synth and really gets into mapping your own controllers to everything your way, it will be awesome for the apps that support it. If you just want to have some fun and still use normal velocity and such for playing your sounds, then poly aftertouch really doesn't bring you much.