M-Audio Keystation 88 MK3 – 88 Key Semi Weighted MIDI Keyboard Controller for Complete Command of Virtual Synthesizers and DAW parameters

Really nice keyboard. This was an upgrade from my Yahmaha PSS-780 which I had for over 35 years. The 88 full size keys are great. It says seni-weighted but the fell full weight, The velocity is good, I mainly pay this with the Grandeur Grand Piano. Sometimes I get an errant note far and few between, Keyboard, My playing, software, PC? I don't know but its not been a problem. Really good keyboard for the price. Fun to play. Easy hookup using either USB or Medi cabling. The programming can be a bit confusing but managable.

Works Really Well!

I looked at every digital piano and controller on the market. At the end of the day, I’m not a pianist who needs hammer action.I compose music, do voice exercises and ear training & work on harmony with a piano. Coming from a Novation 61SL mk2, I needed more keys.If the original Yamaha DX7’s action is a 10 and the Novation’s is a 7.4 and an old M Audio Axiom 49 is a 6 then this is about a 6.8. Not much worse than the Novation but definitely better than old cheap keyboards.There’s some lateral wiggle and the keys have a bit of quiet spring squeak until they break in but it’s not a deal breaker.The keyboard is pretty long so make sure to get a measuring tape out and check the specs before you buy. It’s nicely thin, however and seems to be meant to fit between you and a computer monitor. In fact, I have it resting on the foam packing blocks it shipped with and have plenty of room underneath for a qwerty to comfortably type and mouse.Great value if you don’t need hammer action and already have something like a maschine for knobs and pads.

There is a little bit of flex when playing It's not a deal breaker but it is noticeable.The problem I had with the Mk II was some of the keys would be too quiet or too loud even when using the same amount of force. This doesn't seem to be an issue here.There is a weird issue where it will randomly just stop communicating with the PC, easily fixed by a quick flip of the switch. It might not be a problem with the keyboard, but rather the pc it is connected to.If you make the unfortunate mistake of spilling something on it unplug it immediately take it apart and clean it up. You will need to take out a lot of screws, I recommend sorting them. Other than the sheer number of screws, disassembly is pretty straightforward.I run on a windows machine and it was just plug and play. There is software for it but it is optional.

Using my old Reason 10 setup, I thought "Sigh, yep. I definitely got what I paid for. Cheap piano for a cheap price. At least I have 88 keys!"But YOU NEED to use a good sample set! This piano DOES support a LOT of range/expression. You NEED to make sure your digital instrument supports all the levels of expression that this thing offers! For example, yes Reason 10 itself supports 128 levels of expression. However, the sample-set/instrument I was using clearly only had 4 different levels. When I just-so-happened to get the Mini-Grand instrument set up (not gonna lie, the setup is a pain and you do NOT get the actual MIDI instrument for free when it comes to your DAW, you just get the standalone EXE) I realized that this piano sounds BEAUTIFUL under the right conditions. So make sure you save an extra 100 dollars or so for a good sample set! Cheers.

The media could not be loaded. Quality so good i love it and soft

I move around a lot, from country to country, so I tend to buy a new one of these in each country I move to.I bought the MK 1 in 2011. It played very well for the price. When I used a virtual piano with 10 velocity layers, the MK 1 allowed me to play at least 7 of those layers naturally, without having to edit in velocities after playing.This MK3, though? I can only get 4 velocity layers out of it- pp, p, ff, fff. Pianos go straight from fairly soft to very loud with only a little additional pressure. I've tested it on several virtual pianos. The ones that allow for an adjustment of the velocity curve can give you a *little* bit better performance if you curve it toward a forte bias.Overall, totally disappointed. Each new version of a keyboard is supposed to get better, not worse.

Was looking for a keyboard to work with my piano software - Playground Sessions. I'd ran out of notes with my old M-Audio keyboard in the songs I wanted to play. Looked at all the great electronic brands - Roland, Yamaha, etc. Wanted to make sure the keyboard was responsive to how hard I played. Just couldn't justify the high prices. Even the M-Audio Hammer was above my budget. Saw this 88 MK keyboard and felt like it would fit my niche especially since I already knew it worked with the software. Haven't looked back on the purchase. Am very happy with the keyboard's performance. Probably the hardest thing is figuring out where to use it since there isn't a stand. There are a lot of good stands out there and in the beginning, it goes great on a long table. Remember there is no audio built in - it is midi only. Will need to connect to a computer or other device with USB. USB powers it so no reason to plugin to a wall outlet. Also, there are sustain pedals available, but they are not included.