#25 keys

Have you ever wanted to take your keyboard anywhere but hated lugging around a bulky and cumbersome synth? Akai has made it easy with the Akai Synthstation 25. This 25 key synth controller allows you to hook up your iPhone or iPod directly to the keyboard to act as your brain for the Synthstation 25 controller. The keyboard itself allows you to control all of the functions within the application on your Apple device while also incorporating a pitch and mod wheel for all of your synth creation needs. The synth buttons allow you to easily select between your different sounds and the convenience of the octave buttons make switching keys a breeze. The application is what makes this keyboard stand out among other 25 key keyboards. You can manipulate all of your sounds in the Synth Edit section, create your own beats in the Grid Edit section, or even record your pre-assembled tracks in the Song/Sequence section. The X/Y grid allows for full control over the effects and makes everything you do with the Synthstation 25 completely original. Wether on the go, in your home studio, or jamming with your friends, the Akai Synthstation 25 is worth more than its weight in gold. Once you download the app to your iPhone/iPod you can start laying down a wide range of grooves with ease. With the success of the Synthstation app for the iPad and all of the media we are seeing on youtube and other video channels, we here at Unique Squared are looking forward to the Winter NAMM where we hope that Akai will be presenting the Akai Synthsation 49 with the iPad! If they do we will have a full review live from Winter NAMM 2011. Here's looking at you Akai... Transcript

Hi this is Scott Magno DJ MadFlip and I’m here with uniquesquared.com to show you my iPhone. Actually, with the newly released Akai Synthstation 25 this allows me to change my iPhone into a full production studio. Anyway, this has a built in dock that makes it really easy to just put my iPhone in. And it’s a small lightweight design which makes it really portable. I can make my music or share my music anytime anywhere, super exciting. So you’re going to need to get the Akai Synthstation app exclusively at the Apple app store. And once you do that, get it up and running with this and we are ready to go. First of all we’ve got your pitch and mod wheels here. Then you’ve got your choice of fifty drums and three synths selector right here. Octave up and down for the 25 note keys, and also the program selector right here.

This does come with the headphone out and your two RCA outs, and the volume control is right here. Now this does have a MIDI USB port and it does act as a stand alone controller outside of using the Akai professional application as well. This is powered by batteries, it has an optional 9 volt DC. So you can be really portable with it or if you need it powered up you can plug it in as well. So let’s have a look and see it in action. Get different drums going on here, program select allows me to do that. A lot of drums to choose from there. Alright so I’m going to go ahead and select a sequence. I can save that here or I can start a new one there. Then go to the performance mode because I just want to play a little bit. Now arpeggio. Alright let’s go back to the performance and add a bassline. Just like that you are playing a sequence and just making it crazy.

I first noticed the CME Xkey at Winter NAMM 2014, but I wasn't sure what I was looking at besides just another MIDI keyboard. The booth had what a lot of booths are doing now: obligatory T & A to draw the male dominated musical retail space to their product. I refer you to Exhibit A:

Months later I saw the CME Xkey (without the distracting sex appeal) while looking for a portable MIDI keyboard solution for myself. I was pleasantly surprised at the design, functions, and portability of the CME Xkey. For a 25 note keyboard with aftertouch, it's a pretty great choice for a mobile musician or as a small desktop keyboard solution. Before you make your decision, let's take a look at the features on the CME Xkey.

Features

The Xkey really shines as a portable MIDI keyboard. It is super light weight at around a pound and a half. It is incredibly thin with a thickness of just over a half inch. This keyboard can fit into nearly any backpack or bag where you keep your computer or iPad. It comes with a USB cable and is MIDI compliant for controlling your soft synths inside your DAW. You can connect this to your iPad as well with a Camera Connection Kit from Apple. The XKey has 25 velocity sensitive keys which are a little shorter than standard size but considerably larger than mini keys. If you own an Apple keyboard for an iMac or Mac Pro, then you will be familiar with the shape and design of the XKey. It looks very similar to the Apple bluetooth wireless keyboards. It's probably not the best MIDI keyboard for optimal dynamic performance, but then again that's not really what the price point and build quality would lead you to believe anyways. The keys feel more like a synth and less like a traditional MIDI keyboard, but they lack the same give that a synth keyboard carries. You have polyphonic aftertouch on the Xkey so that after you have touched and held down a key, then change the pressure, a sound effect will be triggered. This way you can have very tight and delicate control over your effects with the keys. While this is not a new or revolutionary feature, it's great to see this included on such an affordable MIDI keyboard. The Xkey features some standard MIDI keyboard features like octave up and down control, but the modulation on this keyboard has abandoned the wheel and replaced it with a button. The button, like the keys, is pressure sensitive so you can control your modulation by how hard or soft you engage the modulation button. There are pitch bend up and down buttons which act in a similar way with pressure sensitivity effecting the subtleness of the pitch bend. There is also a sustain button which works to keep the note playing even after you have stopped playing. The note will decay once you remove your finger from the sustain button.

Review

Have you ever wanted to take your keyboard anywhere but hated lugging around a bulky and cumbersome synth? Akai has made it easy with the Akai Synthstation 25. This 25 key synth controller allows you to hook up your iPhone or iPod directly to the keyboard to act as your brain for the Synthstation 25 controller. The keyboard itself allows you to control all of the functions within the application on your Apple device while also incorporating a pitch and mod wheel for all of your synth creation needs. The synth buttons allow you to easily select between your different sounds and the convenience of the octave buttons make switching keys a breeze. The application is what makes this keyboard stand out among other 25 key keyboards. You can manipulate all of your sounds in the Synth Edit section, create your own beats in the Grid Edit section, or even record your pre-assembled tracks in the Song/Sequence section. The X/Y grid allows for full control over the effects and makes everything you do with the Synthstation 25 completely original. Wether on the go, in your home studio, or jamming with your friends, the Akai Synthstation 25 is worth more than its weight in gold. Once you download the app to your iPhone/iPod you can start laying down a wide range of grooves with ease. With the success of the Synthstation app for the iPad and all of the media we are seeing on youtube and other video channels, we here at Unique Squared are looking forward to the Winter NAMM where we hope that Akai will be presenting the Akai Synthsation 49 with the iPad! If they do we will have a full review live from Winter NAMM 2011. Here's looking at you Akai... Transcript

Hi this is Scott Magno DJ MadFlip and I’m here with uniquesquared.com to show you my iPhone. Actually, with the newly released Akai Synthstation 25 this allows me to change my iPhone into a full production studio. Anyway, this has a built in dock that makes it really easy to just put my iPhone in. And it’s a small lightweight design which makes it really portable. I can make my music or share my music anytime anywhere, super exciting. So you’re going to need to get the Akai Synthstation app exclusively at the Apple app store. And once you do that, get it up and running with this and we are ready to go. First of all we’ve got your pitch and mod wheels here. Then you’ve got your choice of fifty drums and three synths selector right here. Octave up and down for the 25 note keys, and also the program selector right here.

This does come with the headphone out and your two RCA outs, and the volume control is right here. Now this does have a MIDI USB port and it does act as a stand alone controller outside of using the Akai professional application as well. This is powered by batteries, it has an optional 9 volt DC. So you can be really portable with it or if you need it powered up you can plug it in as well. So let’s have a look and see it in action. Get different drums going on here, program select allows me to do that. A lot of drums to choose from there. Alright so I’m going to go ahead and select a sequence. I can save that here or I can start a new one there. Then go to the performance mode because I just want to play a little bit. Now arpeggio. Alright let’s go back to the performance and add a bassline. Just like that you are playing a sequence and just making it crazy.