Akai Professional APC Key 25 – USB MIDI Keyboard Controller featuring 25 Piano Style Keys, 40 Buttons and 8 Assignable Encoders, for Ableton Live

Simply put this seems to be a great little controller especially for the price.Now for a bit more detail.This controller is really for ableton only as its mapped out perfectly for it. So I would suggest other options if you want to use it for another or multiple DAWs. For me that's exactly what i wanted. Within a couple of minutes of plugging it in to the laptop worked perfectly with no hassles with drivers etc. With a quick 20 min session I had some good sounds coming from it. So great for ableton.Size is perfect for a small workspace or for travelling/gigging. Pianists may struggle with the small keys and the feel of them.The keys are a little spongey but for playing bass lines and simple melodies and chords it's perfectly fine. As a non pianist I don't have any issues at all here.The 40 pads on this AREN'T really for use as drum pads they are for triggering you clips in ableton. I assume if you want to you can remap in the software if you want. But for the intended use they are excellent. Aping some of the more expensive controllers like the akai apc40 or abletons own push for a fraction of the price.Finally build quality. Basically its exactly what I'd expect from a company like akai and the price. Yes its plastic but doesn't feel flimsy in any way keys are level and have a consistent feel to them and the pads buttons and knobs feel good.Oh and one last thing. It's a midi controller and WON'T work as a standalone keyboard. So be warned.

I'm a complete beginner to making electronic music so was a bit anxious about buying something since I really didn't know what I was looking for. Well I got a new job and decided to treat myself to this. Amazing for the price - has everything you need to get up and running out of the box (obvs you need a computer too...). But it has software, a couple of synths (the Hybrid sounds really nice), and of course the hardware. I've found it great helping me get to grips with Ableton using the dedicated pads. The keyboard isn't the best but it is touch sensitive (the harder you kit the keys the louder the sound) and good enough to get down some melodies. And plenty of knobs to mess about with. The interface is a little complicated but once you understand the various shift functions it's fine. I disagree with one of the reviewers here and find it MUCH easier to control Ableton using this device than a mouse (in part because my laptop doesn't have a huge screen so I need to keep scrolling around which is a pain - you can move through your clips and scenes easily using the controls on the APC).Just a fantastic bit of kit if you want to get started - has finally got me making the music I have been thinking about over the last year. It's not professional standard equipment but it's cheap and it does what it says on the tin.

It was easy to set up and mapped automatically to Ableton Live. I thought it would be great using it to sequence scenes in session view or twist the knobs for automation, but in reality I find it easier using a mouse, so I went back to my simpler LPK 25 Akai keyboard. Would be good if you DJ with Live and don't like people to see you use a mouse.

Highly compatible with Ableton. Actually it has probably got the highest level of compatibility with Ableton in the market. This product has helped Whisperboy.com and wendyjuno.com intro music production. We made our podcast music with ease and we are also very impressed with the quality of the item. A little bit expensive for what it is and what it does however the good quality makes up for the high price. Also, hopefully the usb cable will be changed from the current model to USB c on both ends and this would improve the satisfaction levels too.

Brilliant device, I bought this as my first-step towards producing my own music after djing for a few years, came with loads of software which can be used to make full songs without having to purchase any additional software, also came with a three month trial of a music tuition programme which I found invaluable. I would advise this product to anyone; I have made quite a few songs now and have been playing them in my dj sets.If you do purchase this product, I would also advise searching online for free samples of the genre of music you wish to produce; although they can't be used as your own material they are great for learning how to use the APC Key 25 to construct and play songs.The version of Ableton Live Lite that this device controls is excellent, it obviously doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the full version but it is more than capable of fulfilling it's purpose, the software can be used to both produce pieces of music which are then loaded to the launch keys for playing as part of a song. The software itself is intuitive and easy to use, and there are plenty of videos available online to help when you get stuck!This also comes with a few plug-in applications which are used in the Ableton software, these are immense and can turn a basic melody into a behemoth of a noise easily, I have used the Hybrid application in every song I have made so far and have found it to be excellent, it has hundreds of preset effects already loaded and you can quickly and easily make your own effects (again, a quick browse through some online tuition is advisable here to get a feel for what to do to get the type of effect you desire).I would highly recommend this product to anyone thinking of making their own music, it has been a brilliant addition to my set-up and I am considering using it to play live songs as part of my sets instead of recording them at home and playing them through my dj controller. Quite possibly the best £70 I have ever spent, it really is that good. Kudos to Akai, this product is fantastic.