What is it?

The Akai MPK25 is a midi controller with 25 full size semi weighted keys, 12 mpc style drum pads (4 banks), 12 knobs (2 banks), 4 assignable buttons, transport controls and an arpeggiator.

What's in the box?

Well you get the MPK25, Ableton Live lite Akai edition, quick start guide, manual and a USB cable. No external power supply but that shouldn't matter as the MPK25 is powered by USB anyway. There is an option to buy an external power supply though.

Build quality

Unfortunately the MPK25 is made from plastic. Molded plastic at that but it does feel quite solid and strong. Although at this price tag you'd expect something a little bit more hard wearing. The knobs also feel a little bit cheap and might break in transit.

Keys

The MPK25 boasts 25 full size, semi weighted keys. 25 keys is ok if your just writing bassline's or lead parts but of course any two handed stuff is out of bounds. There is an octave up and down function which gives you a little bit more flexibility but if you want more keys take a look at the MPK49, MPK61 or MPK88. The keys however do feel ok to play, better than most other midi controller/keyboards of the same size.

The pads

Now to the fun part! The MPK25 has 12 mpc style velocity sensitive pads. The pads are taken straight from an mpc so they feel just as you would, excellent.

There are four banks of pads easily selected from buttons on the main control panel to the right of the pads. This gives you access to 48 pads in total, more than enough to create a full scale beat with.

Akai decided they were going to try and squeeze some mpc features into the MPK25, probably in the hope of it being labeled as an MPC with knobs and a keyboard.

The functions are included are MPC swing and MPC note repeat. There's also the rather strange inclusion of an arpeggiator, although useable it just seems a bit weird to include it in the MPK25.

Knobs

The MPK25 has 12 Q-link Knobs positioned to the right of the machine. The knobs are made from plastic and really don't feel that good to use or durable.

There are 2 banks of knobs which gives you a total of 24 knobs. Not as many as I would have liked to see on a midi controller at this price. Switching between banks is easy with a dedicated button to the left of the knobs.

On the left side the knobs are fully assignable, send continuous midi data and turn 360 degrees.

Buttons

The MPK25 has 4 assignable backlit buttons. Again i'd expect more but 4 buttons the job ok. Each button can be assigned to any CC# and send toggle on/off, program change and momentary midi signals. Could be useful for turning on and off effects or soloing channels.

Main control section

The main control section of the MPK25, centred in the middle of the unit, holds many of the buttons for the functions.

The pad banks, knob banks, MPC note repeat, MPC swing, octave up/down, arpeggiator editing and on/off buttons are all set here. Most of the buttons double up as other controls as to save space.

There's a tap tempo function which allows you to tap in a tempo and automatically reassign it. The preview button previews the value of a control without changing it. Which can be quite handy. The full level and 12 level buttons activate velocity settings for the pads. Full level makes each pad play at full velocity. 12 level, when activated, uses the pads to set the velocity of a sample in 12 steps.

The display is a nice feature and shows the preset, midi channel number, control value and preset name. The display also serves a purpose when using the menus. It looks bright and is clear to read too.

Transport controls

Last but not least the MPK25 has transport controls built in. Nice little touch for controlling a sequencer or DAW.

Conclusion

Overall the Akai MPK25 is a good midi controller with a host of features and little touches. The pads are a breath of fresh air and really do feel like MPC pads, unlike many cheap pad midi controllers.

There are bad points to the MPK25. The price is high for a midi controller and I would have expected a few more features, like sliders and a better build quality.

If you want a midi controller with real MPC pads, a small keyboard and some knobs then this is for you. If you don't mind the price and at times cheapish build quality.

Zander

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?