What is it?

Akai's LPK25 is a usb powered midi controller with 25 velocity sensitive keys, octave up and down functions and a built in arpeggiator. The LPK25 is the main competition to the korg nanoseries and the nanoKey.

What's in the box?

In the no frills box you get the LPK25, USB cable and software CD.

Build quality

Well the LPK25 is made from plastic so it's not exactly rock solid. That said it does feel quite durable and there's no knobs or sliders that could be broken off easily.

Keys

The LPK25 has 25 mini, velocity sensitive keys spanning over two octaves (plus an extra c).

The keys are small, mini gives it away really but unless you were born with sausage fingers then you should be able to play them ok. If you were born with sausage fingers go and try it out before you buy as you may end up mashing 3 or 4 keys at the same time.

As far as mini keys go the LPK25 has some nice ones. Nice to play and work great. You can also go up and down octaves using the buttons to the left. There's also a sustain button which mimics the function of an sustain pedal.

Arpeggiator

Not just happy with a 25 key keyboard Akai decided to add an arpeggiator to the LPK25.

The arpeggiator is controlled by the buttons to the left hand side on the LPK25. The arp clock can be set to internal or sync to host. When in internal mode there's a tap tempo button which allows you to set the tempo. Not sure why you'd want it to work on internal mode, maybe if your using free standing synths but nice to have an option.

The arp has a couple of functions to play with all accessible by the multi function arp on and off button. You can select between up, down, EXCL, INCL and random patterns, select the octaves from 1 to 4 and set the quantise from 1/4 to 1/32 T. The arpeggiator also works with the sustain function. I must admit I was quite surprised at how good the arp was and found it useful for synths that don't have one built in.

Software

The software that ships with the LPK25 is simple and easy to use. Not too much you can do with it but it is only a keyboard.

The main function of the software is to control and edit the arpeggiator. It allows you to make presets by editing the mode, quantise and octave range. These can then be used as presets.

Conclusion

The LPK25 is a great little midi keyboard with a very functional arpeggiator thrown in for good measure.

The keys are nice to use and the build quality isn't bad for it's price. Could be handy for live work but it's mini keys could make it a bit fiddlely to use in a live context. That said it's very portable, weighing in at under a KG and no bigger than 13 ".

The LPK25 is better suited to the studio as a quick and easy midi keyboard. Mine sits next to my laptop as my main mid controller is just out of arms reach from the laptop.

Overall a good little midi keyboard and a price you can't beat. O and if your thinking of buying a Korg nanokey, don't their poo and the LPK25 is loads better at the same price.

Akai MPK25 review

Published: 15. 05. 2008     10 comments

We take a look at the Akai MPK25 midi controller, the smallest of the Akai MPK series of midi controller/keyboard/MPC drum pad/trigger. This is a feature packed controller and promises a lot but does it live up to it's creators repretation?