Amazon.com: Customer reviews: AKAI Professional MPK Mini MK3 - 25 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller With 8 Backlit Drum Pads, 8 Knobs and Music Production Software included (Black)

Top positive review

Absolutely Amazing!!!

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2020

The brand new Akai Professional Mini MPK MKIII is absolutely amazing! Everything about it feels great, including the 8 touch pads, 8 nobs (which are infinite turning), the buttons, and the 25 keybeds. The software included is also very easy to download and install, while being compatible with the new MACOS Catalina update. I would definitely recommend this MIDI controller to anyone who is interesting in creating music. It is also very straightforward and easy to work with for beginners, such as myself!

93 people found this helpful

Top critical review

All critical reviews›

Rick

Not for beginners at all but the hardware is cool

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2020

You're forced to follow outdated instructions that lead to nowhere, sign up for accounts on multiple crap websites so that you can download specific required installers which allow you to download sound studios that require free activation codes that fail to generate. Due to this you have to download trial versions of their studios but even after all that the sound has a full second delay from when you play a key and Im running it on a brand new gaming PC. Their support is hard to reach and so far unresponsive. The keyboard itself is cool but what waste of time

295 people found this helpful

Sort by

Filter by

Filtered by

Verified purchasesClear filter

14,766 global ratings | 1,294 global reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

Rick

Not for beginners at all but the hardware is cool

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2020

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

295 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kori

Beautiful Disappointment

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2020

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

The good:

- I love the aesthetic. The all black color way with the red accents looks fantastic.

- The endless encoders feel great when turning and have the right amount of resistance in my opinion.

- Keys feel solid considering the size.

- Screen is a nice addition. Visual feedback is always nice to have.

- Daw templates.

The bad:

- The joystick always returns to zero no matter what your starting value was. For example, if you have your filter cutoff at 50% and use the joystick to sweep your cutoff once you return to the default position it will set your cutoff to 0 instead of returning to 50%. Might as well just use the encoders instead.

- Buttons feel cheap and toylike with the audible click and hard plastic feel.

- Could not get Arp and Note Repeat to sync to anything other than MPC Beats. I tried Ableton and FL Studio 20 and followed their instructions to turn on Sync for MPK midi out in midi preferences, but it’s definitely not syncing the correct bpm. I made sure to change the sync to External on the MPK itself and also tried the MPK editor as well, but still no luck. When I change the tempo in Live and FL Studio it changes the tempo on the MPK, but they are still not at the same bpm. The MPK is always at a slightly lower bpm at all times. Very frustrating. The only workable option I can see is to set the bpm manually on the MPK to match the bpm in Live, set auto quantize in Live, and hope you have good enough timing playing your patterns.

The out of sync ARP and Note Repeat is highly disappointing. I don’t understand why it works in MPC Beats, but not in Live or FLStudio. I can work with the other things, but that might be a deal breaker for me.

146 people found this helpful

Helpful

Alexander M. Garcia

Absolutely Amazing!!!

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2020

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

93 people found this helpful

Helpful

C K

mpk 2 vs mpk 3. Worth the upgrade in my opinion.

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2020

Color: BlackVerified Purchase

Being an owner of both the akai mpk 2 and now the mpk 3, I can see upclose the improvements that akai has made. The most noticeable improvements would be (1) the keybed. The mpk 3 has more of a natural bend in the keys than the mpk 2. This is a good upgrade because the it makes a difference when trying to play chords or playing quicker melodies. (2) I would say the continuous knob upgrade. The mpk 2's knobs stop at an upper and lower limit. This can be a slight issue when making adjustments within your DAW. On the mpk 2 if your knob is set on a value different than what your controlling in your DAW, when you move the knob the parameter will jump values, which can be a nuisance to your workflow. (3) The tactile buttons, which in my option are better than the rubber buttons on the mpk 2. (4) The LCD screen on the chassis of the mpk 3. It's helpful to see "what" your actually changing when using midi controllers. It's not a deal breaker not to have the LCD screen, but I think it's a bonus to see what the mpk 3 is doing as your press buttons and move knobs. The mpk 2 does not have the LCD screen. I think all these factors combined make the upgrade worth it to me. It's a good solid product.

75 people found this helpful

Helpful

Thatoneguy

Pads are amazing

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2020

Color: WhiteVerified Purchase

I'm writing this review as an owner of the Arturia Keylab Mk2, a $500 61-key controller, and the MPK mini Mk2, the older version of this controller. I bought this controller for the portability and aesthetics, and I use it for jamming sessions where I can use both controllers together.
My favorite part about the MPK mini Mk3 is the PADS. Finger drumming on the classic MPC pads feels awesome and responsive. The key bed is a massive improvement from the Mk2, but they're not objectively incredible... you're not going to find awesome keys on almost any midi controller. That being said, I was impressed by how nice the hardware feels. I use Ableton Live 10, and my least favorite part was mapping the midi controls on the MPK mini. It's a process, one that you can skip if you buy Arturia or Native Instruments controllers.
Objectively, I still think this product is NOT the best mini controller you can get for this price. For me, the pads were worth it though. I absolutely love the MPC pads, and the way this thing looks on my desk.

56 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Ignorant people leaving negative reviews are the worst.

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2022

Color: StandardVerified Purchase

This review is inspired by ignorant reviews, ESPECIALLY the one that somehow made it to the top, for other ignorant people to read.

This person complains of audio latency regardles of how powerful his "brand new gaming pc" is. And also how difficult it is to get the software bundle installed and setup.

I notice this behavior from people who do not do any research prior to purchasing the product.

For anyone reading this and looking to buy any midi controller, Asio4all is what you need. It's an audio driver that simulates an audio interface(probably not correct). It's a given that if you're producing music, you should have a USB Audio Interface like a Focusrite Solo but if money is tight, this should work. The only downside with Asio4all is that if you have your DAW running, you will not hear any audio from any other programs on your computer like Youtube on your browser. There are workarounds like Voicemeeter Banana. It's kinda like a mixer. If you're on Mac, you don't need any of these.

In your DAW(Ableton, Reaper, Garageband, Fl Studio, Logic etc), set the audio to ASIO and under that option you can select Asio4All. Set it to 44.1khz. There should be a green icon on your taskbar that you can open to set your audio preferences. Click the gear icon to select your audio playback (headphone, speaker etc) Then on the bottom is a slider for your buffer size. The lower the number, the lower the sound delay. But that can also introduce audio glitches if you have a weak computer.

For the software, just register the MPK on the Akai website and it'll have everything ready for you. 15 minutes tops.

Other stuff:
If you're a streamer and you're trying to get your DAW audio to OBS, you need to install REAPLUGS. One of the plugins is called ReaStream. Basically you drop the plugin on the master volume as an fx then set it to "send (to local broadcast)". Then in OBS open an audio input source. Then you apply Reastream as a filter and set it to receive audio.

10/10 Product. Works as advertised. Reasonable price. Looks good. Feels good, for the price.

I'm done pooping now. Rant, over.

PS Ask for help before you leave a dumb negative feedback.

28 people found this helpful

Helpful

Cecil Stradford

AKAI out did themselves this time around!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2020

Color: WhiteVerified Purchase

Everything has been upgraded and it feels great overall... they really took time to listen to people and update the keybed and MPC pads!!! 5/5 this way

56 people found this helpful

Helpful

David Diaz

Exactly what I needed

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2020

Color: WhiteVerified Purchase

Nice little midi controller for the price and size for a small recording studio, definitely a must have for recording drums or making drum beats

47 people found this helpful

Helpful

D. Johnson

Plug and play MPK3 with MPC Beats software -- plug and play doesn't work

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2020

Color: WhiteVerified Purchase

I was so excited this is my first Midi Controller. I suspect the hardward is fine, but the Hybrid 3, Mini Grand, and Velvet software, after creating an akaipro account and Lok account, after that there were no activation codes, I opted not to buy licenses for what I though was free software.

The MPC Beats software installed fine, recognized the MK3 keyboard, but the keyboard was dead for most preset projects. This is Akai's plug and play setup. The knobs didn't work in any project, the pads wordk, the midi keys worked in one project called keyboard. So its getting returned to Amazon, sad I wasted a day and a half and signed all these license agreements.

I tried to get this to work with Bandlab's Cakewalk DAW which is free and the MK3 keys worked, I could get the knobs to control some of the Cakewalk sliders, those knobs didn't work with MPC Beats at all even after uninstalling, rebooting, and reinstalling MPC Beats.

I bought this to have a starter Midi Controller with their 1500 sound library and the 3 audio software packages.
Would be interested to see if anyone can plug this in and play the keyboard and hear notes out of the preset project, and turn the knobs and see something happen.

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ambar Roman

GREAT!! but...

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2020

Color: StandardVerified Purchase

I received it really fast and it was on good conditions. It's perfect for what I need and it's great for beginners or pros. It's compatible with most daws out there (including the free ones).

BUT... BUUUUUUUUUTTTT... (and this one is for you my fellow beginner that doesn't have much space on its computer and may not have a good internet speed);
I have to be honest, dont waste time or space with the software...
First you have to make an account at Akaipro to register your device, then download the software to download what's included (Hybrid 3, Mini Grand, MPC Beats and much more). After I downloaded all of them IN THE SOFTWARE, you have to install EACH ONE OF THEM, AND EACH ONE OF THEM RESTARTS YOUR COMPUTER...
Ok no problem. BUT HOLD IT RIGHT THERE...
Cuz somehow it downloads ILOK License Manager and you have to make ANOTHER ACCOUNT IN THERE so you can SOMEHOW try to get the license for each plugin...

Don't take me wrong. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's a small uncomfortable process for a beginner like me and I don't recall having a hard time with other free plugins around. But it makes you wonder if it's worth it... is it?
Aside from what I just said, it's REALLY good for most daws and for beginners, even if I upgrade my computer I don't think I need to replace this midi for a better one because THIS IS THE BETTER ONE and really good for it's price. The mini piano doesn't have a hard hammer and the quality of material is good. About the pads... you can see at the mini screen how much pressure you're using when pressing them. I highly recommend this midi.

And as I said, think if the software is worth it or is what you're looking for... and if you are willing to go through that process.

25 people found this helpful

Helpful

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Need customer service? Click here

‹ See all details for AKAI Professional MPK Mini MK3 - 25 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller...

5 star		80%
4 star		12%
3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

AKAI Professional MPK Mini MK3 - 25 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller...

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

AKAI Professional MPK Mini MK3 - 25 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller With 8 Backlit Drum Pads, 8 Knobs and Music Production Software included (Black)

Top positive review

Top critical review

Filtered by

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

AKAI Professional MPK Mini MK3 - 25 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller... › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

AKAI Professional MPK Mini MK3 - 25 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller With 8 Backlit Drum Pads, 8 Knobs and Music Production Software included (Black)

Top positive review

Top critical review

Filtered by

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

AKAI Professional MPK Mini MK3 - 25 Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller...

›

Customer reviews