Impact GXP88 - USB MIDI Controller Keyboard with Nektar DAW Integration Black

Excellent buy for the price. So, maybe it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that more expensive rigs have, but for the price you get a solid quality rig that will take care of just about anything you can think of asking for within reason. I currently have mine hooked up to an M4 iPad, using Logic Pro for iPad. The setup is extremely versatile, portable and comes through like a champ in all sorts of situations. It’s rugged as a white rhinoceros. I bought it as a holdover until I can scrape enough $ to get a Fantom 8 EX. I’m very pleased, and starting to wonder if I really need to drop 4 & 1/2 bars down for a Fantom 8 EX.

My primary love is jazz piano, but I also play gigs with bands which requires other virtual instruments such as Hammond, lead synths and pads. The GXP line (mine's an 88) uses a semi-weighted keyboard. It has several velocity curves available which I further modify within my acoustic piano app (Pianoteq). With these modifications and practice, it results in a very usable keyboard for acoustic piano. The keybed is perfect as is for Hammond and synth sounds. It is lightweight but sturdy and well built. There are 14 midi assignable buttons as well as transport controls if I use it with my DAW (Logic Pro). It's all laid out in a very logical and easy to understand manner.

For the price point this is an excellent 88 key keyboard. Because it has minimalist DAW controls, it is designed more for playing the keyboard as a piano versus a midi controller. The keys are "almost" full size, are semi-weighted and have after touch. The keyboard has a solid build and weighs almost 20 pounds. Although it is portable, it's not a keyboard that you will want to carry more than necessary. The only negative, and the reason that I did not rate this as a 5 Star review, is the keybed. IT IS STRAIGHT UP NOISY! When playing with any volume, (keyboard or other instruments), the noise in noticeable, but tolerable. However, when playing solo, especially on softer pieces, the keyboard can become an issue because of the "clanky-squeaky" noise of the keybed. However, for an 88 key under $300, it is an EXCELLENT value, and one that I would recommend.

Incredible MIDI controller. Probably the best "weighted key" feel in it's class. Keys are just heavy enough to feel realistic. Still wont match a good hammer-action, but just might be as close as you'll get. The Nektarine software is interesting and works well. Some of the keyboard features seem a little useless or gimmicky, like the "repeat" feature, but it has chromatic transposition, excellent DAW integration, and one of the best features on this keyboard is the aftertouch. The aftertouch is very accurate and easy to actuate, even easier than the Fatar keybed on my Keylab MKii, a far more expensive controller. My only nitpicks are the keybed can feel a bit "crinkly" at times. Also sometimes the black keys need to be pressed with slightly more conviction on the softest notes to register. Like if you want a tiny, tiny ghost of a note, its sometimes easy to press the key too softly and feel like you pressed it all the way. And finally the pitch and mod wheels have just a smidge of travel where nothing is registered, before being picked up. None of these are deal-breakers at all, this is a fantastic controller. Probably the best in this price range as well as another $100 up.

I have owned a few controllers in the past and different brands, some semi weighted, some synth style or fully weighted, personally for my preference semi weighted is the way to go. I really like the feel of these keys and the over all functionality. Works great with Ableton 10, all keys mapped just fine but I had to download a preference file and drop it into the library folder for it to midi map some of the other buttons like, rec, playback and skip…etc, but I really don’t use them anyway, I have a mixer/controller that I use for that or just go old school and press your space bar. Overall for me this is a great controller purely based on the feel of the keys and sensitivity for smooth synth playing and beat making. Plus the price is really competitive for semi weighted.

I bought this Nektar GXP61 for stage performance. It is controlling a Yamaha Motif Rack ES that's loaded with Yamaha's PLG150 Acoustic Modeling synth board. I use this rig, along with a breath controller, as an electronic wind instrument to play woodwind - sax and flute - parts. With the right keyboard this combination produces amazingly realistic results. The Nektar GXP61 is one of the "right" keyboards for this, with an old-school DIN connector for MIDI (it also has USB MIDI, but the Motif Rack Synth can't use it), it can be powered with a power supply (in addition to USB power), it has velocity, channel aftertouch, pitch and modulation wheels and can send program change commands to the synth to change voices/programs. I had been using a Nord Stage 3 Compact for this application, but it replaced it with a Nord Piano that's missing aftertouch, pitch and modulation wheels. There are very few low-cost controllers that have all those features. Here is the surprising part - all of the controller functions, the key bed feel, the aftertouch, and the wheel controllers work great. The default keyboard velocity curve is perfect for me. The key feel is about 80% as good as the Nord Stage 3 Compact and the aftertouch response is actually better; It's an amazing value for the price. I bought this keyboard for a very specific, narrow application, but after seeing its greater potential I think I'll also use it and my iPad (with a virtual instrument app) as an ultra-light performance rig for jams and rehearsals.

only downside is i have one key that makes a slight metalic spring sound when i press it. but doesn't matter when the volumes up or i have headphones on. it feels really good to play piano, synth, organ, everything on. i was afraid of semi weighted because i had a williams legato and hated how it felt, way too springy and you have to continually push hard to keep the keys down. these on the other hand have a little bit of resistance to push down but then they give way and are easy to hold down. aftertouch is easy to trigger in a GOOD way. and you can truly control how much you're pushing down rather than on/off like my sl88 studio was. doesn't intigrate with ableton and the repeat function is a little laggy but i just don't use it.

I love the design. Velocity sensitivity. Connectivity. Buttons. Size. Software. Everything about this board is a ten for me

Je cherchais un clavier dynamique avec aftertouch, pas trop cher, et pas très profond (donc sans potars, pads ou fader) avec port Midi, pour commander un Jupiter XM que je veux placer derrière en position presque verticale (pour accéder facilement aux commandes du synthé). Après des essais sur des claviers en magasin et en regardant des vidéos de tests de claviers maitres, je me suis décidé sur ce Nektar sans avoir pu l'essayer. Et le résultat est très positif, le clavier a un très bon touché pour le prix, meilleur que les modèles que j'avais essayés. La sensibilité à la vélocité me convient (j'ai un Yamaha MODX et je trouve ce Nektar meilleur, la course est plus profonde sur ce dernier) Je n'ai pas l'habitude de l'aftertouch, je ne pas comparer sur ce point. Je le trouve assez sensible, mais ça ne semble pas me poser de problème, il semble assez facile à doser (je manque encore d'expérience).

This is a really nice keyboard, with good feel and aftertouch. Not many controls compared to other models that sport faders and pan pots, but works well. I got this at 150 euros from Amazon retour, which was an excellent price, and it was in really excellent condition, except for the cleaning of the keys, that was done probably with a wipe of some sort and was not properly dry wiped afterwards. Mind you this is not great for carrying around as it is somewhat heavy.

Affordable keyboard with more expensive features

Keys and after touch is good. Seamless integration with Logic Pro and Mainstage.

Product was great but one key wasn't working so I sent it back. Didn't want refund, I wanted replacement but that option wasn't available. The customer service was good but availability of the product in India sucks. They should get more than one distributor