K-Board Smart Keyboard

I bought this unit to use as a lighting control surface. I needed something that was sturdy, sensitive and easy to get around. This little guy fit the bill perfectly. It can definitely take a beating- the manufacturer claims it will hold up against spills as well! I haven't tested this, but it seems likely, the build quality is high. Ergonomically, the K-board does a good job of walking the size/layout line. Its a pretty small unit, I managed to fit it into little amount of space I had left in my lighting world. Even with its size, I find the button layout easy to get around and not overly cramped. If anything, I could see this unit being overly sensitive. Thought the layout is pretty comfy, the buttons react fast and without very much pressure, so there is a risk of accidental triggering by brushing a finger over the wrong area. I'm not willing to count this against the unit- sensitivity is rarely a bad thing. All this plus the fact that it was pretty quickly and easily recognized by my control software (Martin MPC), made it the right purchase for me. Now if only MIDI mapping was just a touch simpler in MPC.......

The product itself is great. It's a great size, it's durable enough to throw in a backpack and take anywhere, and it's surprisingly playable and expressive. I really wanted to love it from the start, but as other reviewers have pointed out, it has some issues. The first is that the cable that comes with it is absolute junk and I could never get it to work. From what I could tell, it didn't make a strong enough connection either to my MacBook or iPhone and kept saying that it was drawing too much power. I tried another micro USB cable that I had and it worked fine. The second issue is the random notes bug that others have mentioned. I had this issue at first too but then I updated the firmware and now it works great. These issues are annoying, but they're fixable so I would still recommend the product overall. There's really nothing else like it out there.

I was hesitant to buy this based on some of the negative reviews but I'm so glad I didn't listen to them. You can definitely play music on this. I bought this specifically so I can play music on it. If you're good on a piano or synth you should have no problem and it's really comfortable. A lot more comfortable than I imagined. I like to take a break from work every once in awhile (I'm a programmer) to play music and this is perfect. I positioned it right below my computer keyboard. One thing that I found I like it much better when the velocity "velo" on the keyboard - is turned off. Also I had to monkey around with the editor you need to download to get the sensitivities to work to my liking. One thing I don't like is how when you change the octave (to lower or higher) the led blinks forever, that is pretty annoying and I wish there was a way to disable that. But other than that this thing is amazing and is built like a tank and I would consider it an essential tool for musicians. Larger midi controllers are great and I have several, but they're a pain to go from quickly typing on your keyboard to playing something or testing things out (synths and drums). Also, I needed something small and unnoticeable so I could play in my office cubicle. :) This fits the bill.

It looks sturdy and well built but it came defective on arrival. I connected it to my iMac and tried it on Logic. I played all the keys chromatically once and then the keyboard was dead! It wouldn’t play any key that had been played once already. If I disconnected the cable and reconnect it then the same thing happened. All the keys would play only once and then they would become dead. I tried changing the cable to a different USB A to Micro USB cable and that didn’t fix the problem. I tried it on my MacBook Pro with 3 different USB C to Micro USB cable and it did the same thing. And sometimes it appears that the sustain has been pressed (even though the button is not lit). Now I have sent an email to their customer support.

It is a fun and inspiring controller. I love the lighting, the durable indestructible nature of the board, the pressure keys which add a new dimension for expression especially with some software instruments. The one only flaw/gripe i have with this is velocity sensitivity. While this keyboard is great for synths, and soft instruments the way they keys handle velocity is absolutely HORRIBLE for piano playing. I tried different settings and the best advice I can give is set the velocity curve to logarithmic and velocity sensitivity slider to taste (somewhere between halfway and original factory setting). I was really close to returning the unit but I am having too much fun with it using the pressure control to play other soft instruments i have. For a portable controller it is great in terms of form factor, I just wish they would come up with better velocity curves, or allow the user to customize the velocity curve a bit more and have better sensitivity. Once again do not get this for portable velocity sensitive piano playing. I have CME Xkey as well (25 key version) and that is great for fullsize sensitive keys on the go. However I find myself reaching more for the k-board quite simply because it is fun and inspiring to play.

for the price its a perfect entry level, durable unit. works with everything, love the design. its a little funky sometimes but after playing with it for a bit you get the hang of it. i would highly recommend this

Address the “glitching” / erroneous note triggering with a firmware update.Note: The website does not list “updates” as such. You accomplish firmware updates by downloading the “Editor” and doing it from within it.Wish someone had told me that before I spent time chasing it down.Unit works fine now.Peace

the pads light up when you hit them. could be nice to capture attention for live performance. feels great for drumming. which is unique, because they are drum pads but in the form of mini keys. it's super silent when you're playing. compared to other mini keyboard which can click too loud. you can easily play this in a library with headphone and you will not disturb anyone.

J'étais sceptique en recevant le K-Board, mais franchement, c'est un produit solide, esthétiquement beau et fonctionnellement super !Si seulement Keith Mc Millen pouvait sortir un Synth/Sampler basé sur le K-Board/QuNexus dans le même genre que l'OP-1 en mieux... je serais le premier à me jeter dessus.

Come da descrizione, ottimo prodotto ,ben fatto, unica pecca e l’essere privo di connessione Wi-Fi.. perché privo di alimentazione alternativa ( batt.)...

Using this with Reaper as a midi controller. Fantastic kit with a very competitive price. This board is so tactile that it begs to be played; it's immediate and hassle free interface with my DAW has augmented my workflow massively. The creative parameters like TILT and PRESSURE can be turned on or off more greater tweakability, and the bundled software to edit parameters is beautifully basic and simple to implement. To be critical, the BEND key could use some work (it tends to be unresponsive, and often jumps to max value before then bending the note) which is something to be considered if you are banking on that for predictable swoop effects. Also, the octave buttons could get moved to the top left corner of the board, away from the playing keys. I have more than once changed octave mid performance. Minor gripes however. This thing should be eating up the market - surprised more folk aren't aware of it.

Hard to make-it work ne reconait pas window8

Erst einmal zu den positiven Punkten des Gerätes:- Es scheint wirklich sehr solide verarbeitet zu sein- Gerät ist ohne Treiber sofort einsatzbereit, auch unter OSXDas war es leider schon, denn es gibt umfangreiche Probleme, die eine vernünftige Benutzung meiner Meinung nach unmöglich machen:- Die Velocity / Tastenanschlag ist extrem ungenau. Die Werte können bis um die 60-70 Punkte variieren bei gefühlt identischem Anschlag. Das habe ich mit einem Midi-Monitor getestet. Das ändert sich auch nicht wirklich nach Einstellen der Empfindlichkeit über die Software. Der Anschlag ist also mehr oder minder zufällig.- Und nun die meiner Meinung nach an Betrug grenzende Einschränkung: Der Channel-Aftertouch/Press läuft offenbar über denselben Sensor wie die Anschlagstärke! D.h. es ist unmöglich nur Velocity zu erzeugen und etwas später Aftertouch. Wenn der Aftertouch aktiviert ist, wird die mit jedem Anschlag immer gesendet. Auch die Einstellungen ändern daran nichts. So funktioniert Aftertouch normalerweise nicht.- Das Pitching, egal ob mit Bend oder per beliebiger Taste, ist extrem ungenau. Meiner Meinung nach nicht zu gebrauchen.Das Gerät habe ich nach nur einer halben Stunde Testen eingepackt und zurückgeschickt.Meine Empfehlung von daher: Finger weg, hält nicht, was es verspricht. Herstellerangaben irreführend!