Best midi keyboard for VCV?

Yamaha KX88? If you can find one, one went recently on ebay for £210.

I’ve had a Ymamaha P-100 for a long time. It does have “stuff” in it, but when I was in the market (1995!) I thought it was the only thing that had a tolerable action. There were some dedicated keybeds from Fatar, and the Yamaha KX-88, and a bunch of “pianos” from roland and such. But the Yamaha was the only one I could play. You can find stuff like this used pretty easily. https://www.ebay.com/c/1607992638

Thanks for all the replies.

  • How many octaves you need?

not really sure - the PSS-A50 looks a little small and the KX-88 looks huge

  • How big the keys should be?

ideally full size - I have fat fingers

  • Do you need after-touch?

not sure what that is but it sounds useful

  • What exactly is your price range?

around 100 £ / $ but more for a really good one

  • Do you need sustain pedal, bend wheels, breath input etc?

breath input no, sustain pedal yes probably, bend wheels seem to be ubiquitous

  • Additional knobs to control modules (this is the only thing specific to Rack - you can never have enough knobs :slight_smile:

not sure I need this

  • Built-in midi channel picker?

yes probably

I really don’t need an electric Piano. I’ll probably end up getting the KX88 or a version with fewer keys if there is one.

Update: I went for a really basic keyboard with no frills - the M-Audio Keystation 49 Mk3 (which BTW looks identical to the Alesys Q49). As the name suggests 49 keys so its a decent size without being too big. Cheap enough that I could get a stand too so no worries about desk space. If I find I need knobs to twiddle I will get something with knobs and pads like the Arturia Beatstep.

Keylab 49 MK2 / Novation SL MK3 will be of your range They are good if you want to use it to control Eurorack too if you want to expand in future.

I have Pro 3 as my main Eurorack keyboard and personally prefer to use the Keystep. It is so compact that I can move it around for different setup, in front of my PC, outdoor setup.