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For Korg nanoKEY 2, 274 customer reviews collected from 2 e-commerce sites, and the average score is 4.

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16.11.2017

I'm really impressed with this. I wanted a portable controller with knobs, pads, and keys (and the XY pad was a very alluring bonus). I got so much more. Korg squeeze every bit of functionality out of their beautiful backlighting array. I didn't expect to find things like scales useful, but combined with a highly customisable arpeggiator (for which you can tap tempo on the fly) and note bending/XY parameter control, things really take off. The backlighting is also used to great effect as visual feedback for various settings and options, from selecting pattern banks to transposing.People mention the toy-like construction of the keyboard, so I wasn't expecting much but also didn't require much.Actually, I really like the feel of the keys. A full keyboard it ain't but they have a pleasing bounce to them and their velocity response is pretty nice. The pads (which I use mainly for launching clips) require a bit too heavy a touch to trigger for my tastes, but then most drum pads do. The whole thing is compact, thin, and extremely light, without feeling too flimsy. The bluetooth functionality is great - anything to take the strain off my limited USB ports.My main quibble is the responsiveness of the XY pad. It takes a bit of pressure to register touch, which also makes it prone to error about position some of the time. Now that we're all used to incredible capacitive touch screens, this feels like a bit of a step backwards. (Perhaps if it was super-sensitive we'd be moaning about accidental touches though.) I've also found that sometimes there is simply some noise in its transmission. Finally - it's in the wrong place! It should really be in the top left corner, where you can get at it with the left hand in an instant without craning over the knobs. But despite all that, it is really promising for what I can accomplish with it, especially given all the XY parameter controls Live offers.My secondary small quibble is that the bluetooth connect software Korg offers isn't available for Yosemite, and in lieu of that I have to manually reconnect it every time I turn it on. But hey, I guess they did their best...The customisation software is a whole other portal that I haven't had time to wade into yet. I can't wait.
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13.2.2018

This is a great little keyboard. I hoped that it would be set up in Windows 7 without drivers needing installing (as a USB composite device) but the Korg software needed installing before my DAW (Reaper) would recognise it.After that it was just a case of letting the DAW know what it was and I was entering MIDI note data into the program literally in minutes. It's obviously nowhere near as lush as a proper controller keyboard, and there's no niceties like aftertouch available, although there is rudimentary velocity sensing, and the small keybed needs careful playing if you're after any kind of subtlety or nuance - but it does try.For me, its a way of entering melodies into the DAW as a kind of MIDI notepad,and it does a grand job of that. It's small enough to slot into your laptop case, probably along with the other Korg nano controllers.So long as you're not expecting to emulate Chopin using this keyboard you'll not be dissappointed. It will be pretty good for entering basic synth elements into club music and electronica - it just won't offer you the expressive capabilities that aftertouch can provide. If you're good with that limitation and need a go-anywhere keybord this is certainly worth a look.Korg also offer a download code for various software components to get you going, together with introductory versions of DAWs like Ableton Live Lite. This bundle isn't quite as good as the one I received with a NanoPad a year or two ago. If you buy this you might want to check what the bundle presently is. It's possible that Korg changes it from time to time, or perhaps there's a different bundle depending on whether you buy the NanoKey, NanoPad or NanoController.I already have a Samson Graphite full-function controller keyboard, and also use a Yamaha digital grand piano (88-key) for playing, but realised I have a need for something that is as portable as possible for a mobile setup. This is that keyboard - basic, useable, sometimes even fun!
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23.8.2015

I've been a bedroom musician since 1980 and over the years have had many instruments and recording tools. In the early 00's I switched to Fruity Loops and then FL Studio and VSTs and was happy making music that way with a Korg MicroKontrol. In the mid 00's we had a kid so all my stuff was sold to pay for the little blighter. Nine years later on a whim I decided to install the new version of FL Studio (luckily in 2004 I'd opted for the lifetime free upgrade package) and was amazed that we had reached V12; it had been V5 last time I'd used it. I listened to some of my old tracks and started to get the bug again, so I decided I needed a controller.I didn't want to spend too much as I wasn't sure - and am still not - if I'll have the time I used to have.Looking on Amazon there were quite a few choices but in the end I decided to go for this. I know a few have remarked on the keys, which do take some getting used to. However, they are fine for me and actually took me on a nostalgia trip. In 1981 I saved up weeks and weeks of dinner money (sorry Mum) to buy a VL-Tone and the keys on the Korg are more or less the same feel of that old classic; obviously the size of the keys is better on the Korg, they are more weighty and have a better "bounce". Not quite as intuitive maybe as a "proper" keyboard, but after a while you don't really tend to notice.This worked fine out of the box on my Windows 10 laptop and was recognised by FL Studio without any problems at all. In fact the only issues I had were installing the free software from Korg. It was a right nightmare and I had to sign up to too many different websites for my liking.All-in-all, I'm really pleased with this controller, it's nice and small so I can use it on my lap and I can pop it on a shelf after use.
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2.11.2012

My nanoPAD2 arrived this morning and I must admit I was intially caught out by the packaging. The USB lead is tucked neatly at one end under a cardboard flap so it appears the box is empty, hopefully that tip will save you a couple of minutes.Installation was swift, the drivers seemed to install well on Win7-64 even though the site suggests a fix would be needed for Win7 32/64. My tool of choice is Propellerheads Reason 6. Adding the nano2 to the Reason set up was simple and I was tapping away drums and messing about with synths in no time.The construction seems solid and the device itself is bigger than I expected which makes it very comfortable to play (for scale purposes the touchpad is similar in size to that of a notebook's).The 'Kaos' pad can be used in a number of modes which will be fun to play with even though I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet... The note-pads themselves have a decent - velocity sensitive - response and I had a lot of fun tapping out beats with it and I'm no drummer.One thing that seems to be a bit of a gripe is the apparant inability to change the octave of the pads themselves. While the touchpad is in 'touch scale mode' it is affected by octave shifts. This may be a limitation of my understanding of how to use this but I thought it was worth mentioning as I didn't even think of this when I bought it. I is perhaps possible to do this within the Korg Kontrol Editor but my brief experience with this software wasn't plesant. I will endeavour to flesh this part of my review when I have more experience.All in all though my 4* is based on the fact that this seems a quality bit of hardware for a very reasonable price.
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19.8.2016

So why am I so enthused about a slightly expensive 2 octave keyboard that feels a bit like a toy?I needed an all-in-one 2 octave midi controller keyboard with drum pads and pots as I don’t have a lot of space and I’m running low on available usb ports. I also wanted to be able to use it with Logic X Pro and my iPad — especially with Korg Gadget.I have had it for a 2-3 weeks and these are my early impressions. I will update them if I encounter any issues.Pros:• It is small and lightweight (see the photo attached to this review)• It does not require wires, and the bluetooth setup is hassle free for iPad and Mac• The Chord pad and Arpeggiator modes are useful and fun to use• The integration with Korg Gadget on the iPad is amazing,if you are working a a certain key, e.g. F minor, the notes from that key are illuminated on the keyboard (backlit) — ideal for musically challenged people like myself• It has a Kaos pad!!!• It integrates into Logic X just as well as any other cheap keyboard that I have tried (they mainly seem to be about Ableton integration)• All I need is this, my iPad, headphones and favourable weather for a great day on the beachCons:• It does feel a bit like a cheap toy, the keys do not feel like a normal keyboard• It costs a bit more than the alternatives from other manufacturers• If feels a bit flimsy• No channel volume slider (unless you buy its sibling the nanoKONTROL —which is an appealing prospect)In summary: I have really enjoyed using it. It has been hassle free and enhances rather than obstructs the business of having fun making music.
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4.5.2017

Great Product I bought to use with Reaper running on Windows 10. However it does need setting up and there's conflicting advice on the web of doing this for Reaper. After following these instructions it worked perfectly:All you have to do before connecting the nanoKONTROL 2 to your computer is hold down the SET MARKER button along with the main RECORD button, and then plug in your USB cable. This will load the template for Cakewalk Sonar. You’ll notice the record button blinks a few times after it’s connected, to let you know you’re in Sonar mode. Although that template is designed for Cakewalk Sonar, it works perfectly for Reaper, if you set Reaper correctly:1.Start Reaper of course… and then go to Reaper’s PREFERENCES (CTRL-P), go into Control Surfaces (left menu, near the bottom).2. Click ADD and Reaper will ask you what kind of Control Surface Mode…. choose “Mackie Control Universal.”3. Then choose your MIDI input and output to be “nanoKONTROL2”. Done.Now, once you’ve exited Preferences, you’ll see that the nanoKONTROL2’s buttons respond perfectly in Reaper… all mute/solo/arm record buttons work for every track, the faders work for the track volumes, and the knobs work for the track panning. You’ll also notice the transport controls (RECORD, PLAY, STOP, REWIND, FF) all work in Reaper as well, and of course.. the SET MARKER and marker left/marker right buttons all work, too.If you have more than 8 tracks loaded (say, 16, or 24), you can use the TRACK < > buttons to navigate your track groups
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26.9.2013

This is a great little bit of kit, I bought this to use alongside my existing setup, as it was recomended by one of my favorite DJ's James Zabiela.I use this with Ableton when I am producing and with Traktor when i am DJ'in. I would give this 5 stars, but the KORG software that comes with it is terrible. It is a pain to install and when you manage to do so it's even harder to ste up. I actually bought this, spent about two days unsuccesfully trying to get it working and got so frustrated with it, I put it back in its box and didn't come back to it for about 3 months! That being said when I eventually figured it out it works great.With Ableton, it works a dream,its pretty much plug and play and it works great as a midi instrument, the buttons are really responsive and you can quickly put together drum riffs and base lines with ease.With Traktor its a bit of a pain, it does work, but it takes an age to set and it's easy to mess up the settings and controls across your entire setup. Again when you get it working, it is a pretty awesome piece of kit.You can have up to four 'scenes' or groups of controls which you can assign different things to, meaning you can get pretty creative. I mainly use it for setting up and firing of Hot Cues and Cue points in my tracks and for sound effects, but you can use it for pretty much anything you want.
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6.2.2019

This little midi controller is excellent. The keys are perfect for learning new scales as the can light up specifically which notes are in the scale. The Bluetooth latency is unnoticeable when using it with Apple iPhone XR and Apple iPad Pro 11” (2018). Keys take a little getting used to however they’re perfect when considering the price and also the form factor, this is designed to fit in the same space as a table anyway. The drum pads are very responsive and feel good to play and give visual feedback when played, the X/Y pad and knobs also do as expected. Syncing is almost instant with IOS and apps like Korg Gadget, simply turn the unit on and Bluetooth on your device and the software shows the NanoKey Studio.What is very nice is that the NanoKey Studio is very well intergrated with Gadget, it’s the perfect little combo.For the price it’s hard to find another controller that’s 2octaves with velocity, 8 velocity drum pads, 8 rotary knobs, an X/Y pad that’s assignable to parameters or pitch that’s also the size of a tablet and has Bluetooth midi.Battery’s also work very well, still using the original batteries that came in the box.There are a few nit picks, keys are pretty clacky, it’s not an issue in a studio or noisy location but it might annoy other members of the public on the train or quiet locations.
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19.6.2013

It's ok as a basic note input device, only if you don't have any midi keyboard with proper keys available.It's compact at (32.5 x 8.3 x 1.6 cm), fairly robust device, weighing in at 247 grams (not including cable). The keys are hard plastic and have the feel of a laptop keyboard. The six rubberized keys on the far left control Octave up & down, Pitch up & down, Modulation, and Sustain. A white LED in the top left corner confirms that your device is receiving power from the USB port.With Windows XP/Vista/7, the standard USB-MIDI driver will be installed automatically. You can download the Korg USB-MIDI driver from the Korg website to provide more functionality.The Korg Kontrol Editor software (also available from the Korg website) allows you to edit MIDI messages transmitted via each controller on the nanoKEY2.What really makes this product stand out is the free Korg M1 LE software emulator, which does sound like the real thing! Further more you can obtain an upgrade to the complete Korg Legacy collection for $99 (about £65 as the crow flies) which is great value!Box contents:KeyboardUSB cable (1 metre)InstructionsVoucher to claim your free Korg M1 software emulator (LE version, i.e. cut down version)
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28.4.2017

Firstly, I am blind so please excuse any errors due to dictation. Anyway, I saw several reviews of this product on the main Amazon website and noted that quite a few were bad reviews. I really can't see why.The main reason why I purchased this item is because it has a jog wheel which is very handy for me. That being said, the installation was absolutely no problem at all. Are you Sonar cakewalk and the instructions on their website to get it up and running properly was spot-on perfect. If a blind person can do it, I don't see what the issue is.Okay, so the build is not rocket, but what do you expect for the price. Anyway, are you likely to throw it down the stairs or treated in any other way than it was designed for?As long as it sits on your desk there is no problem. The buttons are great, easy to navigate around by touch and the LED light which is something that I can just about notice it's very handy for me. I have three mixing desks and this particular one is just purely for track management. It does the job, it does it well and for the price, it's very acceptable.
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1.6.2017

I bought this as an inexpensive midi controller just to mess around some synthesisers in Logic, but I was very pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of this product! While the keys are essentially buttons they are very responsive to pressure, changing the velocity of output midi information. The modulation buttons also prove mildly useful, these are often mapped to pitch bends in software synthesisers, though a pitch bend wheel would clearly offer more fine control. The octave buttons are neat, lighting up different colours to signify the current octave selected. Overall I would recommend this product mostly to musicians like me who can't really play the piano,as anyone proficient would probably get the benefit out of a larger traditional keyboard based midi device (For example the 'black' sharp notes on the Korg do not extend past the 'white' regular notes, perhaps off-putting for a keyboard player). Of course it is also worth noting that this is about the smallest usable midi keyboard one is likely to get ones hand on, perhaps one for the traveling producer.
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9.4.2019

First of all - bluetooth and windows PC? Forget about it. But I didn't get it for that reason.I wanted a small controller with decent keys - this is the best part, the keys are more-so like buttons which make it unironically better than low quality plastic keys you'd find on other smaller keyboards of the same class. Much more comfortable to use, better to press and it's easier to control for the velocity.All knobs and sliders are assignable and so is the small touchscreen - I'm not using it much as I prefer physical sliders. Connectivity issues? Yes, though it may be related to my laptop. If you leave the keyboard plugged into USB and turn off and turn on your computer, you may find the PC buttons,the 8 ones on the top right, to not work properly though in all other respects the keyboard works.If you're interested in an extremely portable WIRED controller with decent tactile control - this is the best I have tried so far, and I tried several others. Outside of it, it's lacking due to the issues I described.
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22.1.2012

I bought this NanoKontrol2 to use with soft synths and mixing software on Linux - works great.It was recognized and in use straight away with Jack, AmSynth, Hydrogen drum machine and Ardour mixing software.I haven't been able to find a native Linux app to change the control codes that the device sends out, but the editor software for Windows from Korg's site worked fine under Wine 1.0.1 on Debian (current version - squeeze, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions).Editor, driver and firmware upgrade for Windows and Mac need to be downloaded from Korg's site.For Linux, you only need the Windows editor software. The driver is not required and, if you try to install it under Wine,the editor will not find the device (it will not install properly anyway). I didn't try the firmware upgrade as the device works perfectly.The editor can load and save settings as files so mappings can be sent to the controller in seconds.Versatile piece of kit, with accurate controls and a nice amount of friction to them. Recommended.
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9.8.2013

I bought this as a cheap conrol surface for my DAW (Cockos Reaper). it was as expected, if you use in Reaper though, select Mackie control surface in the preferences and you will be greeted with all kinds of slider movements on the screen!.. well, to overcome this, first select "Sonar template" in Korg Nanokontrol, then search cockos website for "clinke's mackie control surface" and install that in Reaper (see help files on how to do) and then hey presto, that will work on each slider independently along with pan, controls like mute, record, solo, play, rewind, forward, markers (you cant insert markers with nanokontrol, but you can by pressing M on keyboard, and then selecting with nanokontrol marker button.It works well,and does what it says, it's cheap, cheerful, and fairly well made for the price.Some people say they never got USB cables included, they are stuffed in a compartment at one end of the box and could be passed by if you dont open both ends!.. so check before throwing the box away :o)
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29.10.2020

At this price, I doubt you would find anything better. The one other budget mini keyboard I found was the Akai LPK25, and the rest are around double this price. So that is a really big pro.Velocity sensitivity is great, it's the most portable out of everything that I can see, and the octave buttons etc are useful. The only issue is the layout of the keys, which make playing some chords really difficult coming from a classically trained pianist. If you are just using this for single melodies, you will not have any issue.I heard the keys on the Akai are stiffer with less velocity sensitivity, which is the main reason I chose this one over it. Whilst the inability to play chords is very annoying,I won't swap it for stiff and insensitive keys. Also portability is always a plus!!Edit: after trying it for a few days I have returned it in favour of getting the korg micro key 25 instead. It is more bulky but still portable and has way way better keys
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