Donner Mini MIDI Keyboard N-25 25 Key MIDI Controller for Beginner with Velocity-Sensitive Mini Keys Light-up Rocker Music

The short of it, and I'll fill in later... I got this NOT to use with a DAW. I got it to control my mini synth stuff like, say Roland P6, that typically have 1/8" midi connectors. This keyboard uses MIDI Channel 1 and has a "Type B" 1/8" MIDI output. To connect it to gear that has Type B, such as Artura, for example, you can simply use a 1/8" jumper for MIDI connection. Done. To connect to a "Type A" device, such as my Roland Aria devices, it's much more complicated: Keyboard -> Type B 1/8" to MIDI DIN Adaptor -> Male-to-Male MIDI DIN jumper -> MIDI DIN to Type A Adaptor -> Roland Type A device That's the essence of it. That said, this keyboard works flawlessly without a DAW, and the MIDI Functionality and connectivity is fine. This is a small, cheap keyboard. But it works in small spaces in my road kit and for DAWless recording. SInce I'm not part of a huge show entourage, the LAST thing I want is to be dragging around a laptop as part of my stage setup. All that leads to is more problems, and a beat up laptop... a situation I can't afford anyway. I don't know about the DAW software included, or the learning programs. I will definitely use it with a DAW on latop later, but it's not my priority. Great price and it does what I want. No way it replaces a weighted 88 key keyboard, of course. Read more

This is a great little keyboard. Entirely functional for making music, and a great value. The action is the cheap, springy, spongy action typical of lower end electronic keyboards, but as keyboards of that sort go, I found it well designed and very usable. I did not find it stiff at all. If anything, the touch was a bit on the soft side, making the volume on the keys all or nothing until I got used to it! But I found it very functional and responsive once I had some time with it, and had no trouble making music. I was worried it would feel like some of the cheap keyboards I've used, with no resistance, but that's not the case - there's definitely a springy resistance to the keys. It's not a fantastic feel or anything, but it is perfectly functional. For the class of action that it is, and at the price point, I was very pleasantly surprised. The keys are a little narrower and a lot shorter than a full size piano, so it is easy to accidentally strike them near the top. Attention needs to be paid to that while playing. This does have the tremendous upside that the keyboard itself is surprisingly small. Smaller than a computer keyboard. In terms of portability, this means functions more like a large tablet than a small piano. It can go *anywhere*. On the couch, in a chair, in my lap at the computer, even holding it with one hand and playing with the other. It is a tiny instrument. I am not used to being able to carry a keyboard around like a little flute or something. That's very fun. It has an abundance of features at the price point, too, including an octave button, pitch bend, and sustain button. I was hoping the pitch bend would be a wheel, but it is a 4-direction joystick like you might find on a game controller, which I found a little difficult to control when I had it mapped to a full step and wanted to bend a half step. Usable with practice, I think. I found the pitch bend and sustain worked out of the box with a couple pieces of software, without even mapping them. Very nice. It was plug and play via USB with my linux system, which was lovely. It was also plug and play with my (Android) phone, and even came with an adaptor for that! Throw a $3 synth on the phone (DRC) and now I'm truly grooving on the go and for cheap. Thanks, Donner! Truly. For serious recording, of course, I'd want equipment that costs 10 times as much, if not more. But for casual grooving and cheap entry into the world of midi controllers, this is a great little piece of kit and it was clearly made with thought and love. Read more

My goal with this was to have a tiny, cheap but functional device I could use to peck out tunes while sitting at cafes. I'm a bit odd in that I'm not connecting this to a DAW, but instead writing my own simple software to capture piano keystrokes. Pairing this MIDI keyboard with a linux laptop running aseqdump gives an insanely easy way of capturing keyboard data. It only gets 4 stars since I just got it and it seems a bit cheap (which I admit is fair for the price). I may upgrade to 5 stars if it lasts a long time. My only regret is that I didn't get something with a few more (non-piano) buttons. Read more

I can play acoustic (with full sized keys) by touch, so I've avoided mini keyboards like this. I am glad I bought this cheap keyboard with few octaves to carry in my backpad. Works great with my iPad (garageband, free synthetic from the App store, AUM) as plug and play. I didn't expect much for the price (and I got exactly what I was expecting). I spend more time playing this mini keyboard on the go than my full size keyboard at home. There are better keyboards obviously, but if you want cheap and portable that you don't mind if it breaks (cause you're haven't lost hundred of dollars of equipment) then this keyboard is for you! Read more

Great midi keyboard works perfectly. Has 2 octaves. the octave switcher is left.right w the joystick plus the octave button being lit up solid. Switches octaves seamlessly in logic. Great size fits perfectly with my desk setup. has dynamics. I personally made the dynamics less in logic by making the velocity way higher. In logic this has the effect of reducing the dynamic range making the light hits much louder. I thought the dynamics stock are a bit unrealistic/extreme; light hits were almost making no sound, but I was able to correct this in my daw. interfaces perfectly with all of logics software instruments. pianos,drums etc. very nice keys. very responsive. I would say equal or better than the akai which is much more expensive and also made in china. I had an akai one and it stopped working after very short use. Donner is to me typically known as a get things a lot cheaper brand, and for this the trade off is its made in china, and made cheaper. But in this case I will say it competes with the akai brand and for a very reasonable price. I use it to interface with midi piano so I was able to get rid of my bulky analog casio small keyboard which was way too big for my setup. This midi keyboard now works as my piano for tuning and vocals. Does the job for a nice price. Look no further. Read more