Are you looking for a Small and Portable MIDI Controller to travel with, so that you can work anywhere you wish? Having a good small and portable MIDI Controller definitely speed up your workflow as a composer, arranger, or orchestrator.
Most of the MIDI controllers have common features and be able to support most of the DAW. You will have to double-check with your own preferences when selecting a midi controller.
Table of Contents
CME – Xkey Air
– It’s a Bluetooth mobile music keyboard where you can connect to iPods, Phones/Tablets, or MacBooks. There are two sizes options which are 25 keys and 37 keys. It has a great battery life where we can use more than 10 hours of play on a single charge.
Dimension: 388mm (15.27 in) x 135mm (5.31 in) x 16mm (0.62 in)
Weight: 610g (1.31 lb)
Nektar 25-Key Midi Controller
- This controller is compact and portable yet jam-packed with intelligent and expressive performance control. The integration is custom designed for Bitwig, Cubase, Digital Performer, FL Studio, Garage Band, Logic, Nuendo, etc.
- Nektar 25-Key Midi Controller includes 4 velocity curves + 3 fixed, pitch bend & modulation wheels, octave shift buttons, transpose shift buttons. Not only that, it allows us to have 8 potentiometers, one 30mm fader, 6 dedicated transport buttons, and 5 preset locations store control settings.
Dimension: 18 3/4″ (47,6.cm) 10 1/2″ (26,6cm) x 2 3/4″ (7cm)
Weight: 4 Lbs / 1,8kg
Akai Professional MPK-Mini MK3-25
- Latest Gen 2 enhanced dynamic Keybed, delivering a piano key performance fit for the world’s finest keyboard players.
- It has 25 sensitive keys, a 10-octave range with octave up/down buttons, 8 assignable backlit pads, and 8 assignable knobs.
Dimension: 12.5″ (318mm) x 7.13″ (181mm) x 1.75″ (44mm)
Weight: 1.65 lbs / 0.75kg
Novation Launchkey Mini MK2
- 25 Minikeys, 1 Touch Strip for Pitch-bend, 1 Touch Strip for Modulation, 8 Knobs, 16 RGB Backlit (Velocity Sensitive Pads), Transpose Buttons, Octave Up/Down Buttons, Stop/Solo/Mute Button, etc.Â
- Ableton Live 10 Lite is included, as well as Logic’s Script and Reason’s Script; all other DAWs through HUI.
Dimensions: 330mm x 172mm x 31mm
Akai MPK Mini 2
- 25 synth-action mini keys
- 8 backlit velocity-sensitive MPC-style pads with Note Repeat & Full level
- 4-way thumbstick for dynamic pitch and modulation control
- 8 assignable Q-Link knobs for mixing, tweaking plug-ins and more
- Octave Up and Down buttons
Dimensions: 12.5″ x 7.13″ x 1.75″
Weight: 1.65 lbs
Nektar SE 25
– It has 25 velocity-sensitive mini keys, 3 velocity curves (default, soft, hard), 6 buttons
Dimension: 33.5cm x 10cm x 2.1cm
Weight: 0.4kgs
Akai Professional LPK 25 Wireless
The LPK25 Wireless takes portability and feature-rich performance to the next level with its Bluetooth MIDI connectivity. It is powered by 3 AA batteries and optimized for long battery life, it can also be powered with the included USB cable.
- Supports Bluetooth MIDI for iOS and Mac OSX
- 25 velocity-sensitive mini-keyboard keys
- Arpeggiator, sustain pedal input, octave up and down, and tap tempo controls
- Four programmable memory banks
Dimension: 14.37″ x 4.88″ x 1.42″
Weight: 1.8 lbs (0.49kg)
Alesis V Mini
- 25 expressive velocity-sensitive, synth-action mini keys, 4 backlit velocity-sensitive drum pads; 4 backlit assignable knobs, dedicated octave/pitch bend, modulations, and sustain buttons.
- Includes Xpand!2 virtual instrument software by AIR Music Tech
IK Multimedia iRig
- 25 Velocity-sensitive mini-keys (2 full octaves), octave up/down and volume/data knob (assignable)
- Simplest and smallest midi controller out of these controllers, it does not have many features.
Dimension: 301mm/11.85″ x 120mm/4.72″ x 40mm/1.57″
Weight: 420g/14.82oz
In my opinion, there are several aspects that you should be considering when you select a portable MIDI controller are:Â
- Cost
- The Features such as numbers of knobs, buttons, plugins, etc
- The dimensions/weight
- The touch of the controller’s key
Hope this article helps you! Feel free to discuss anything in the comment down below.