Akai Professional MPK Mini Play - USB MIDI Keyboard Controller with a Built-in Speaker and 25 Mini Keys

Got this for my 13 year old daughter and let me tell you she has already learned so much with this unique instrument! I am very happy with this item, the quality is a+++!! She can plug her headset right into it and I don't have to hear it either! It's awesome! Being mini she can take it on road trips too! All around great product!

This AKAI PROFESSIONAL MPK Mini Play keyboard works great for my 17 year old daughter who loves music and creating her own beats. It's seems to be very well made for the price. It's small and compact, which makes it very portable, easy to put into a backpack or tote etc. The speaker is not very loud, but it works quite well with headphones or and amp. (Speaker, is the only reason, I rated this as a four star vs. 5 star rating). It runs on 3 AA batteries or the included USB cord. There are instructions but they seem to be lacking, but we just watched YouTube tutorial videos, and found that quite helpful. It has 128 sounds and 10 drum kits. Has an OLED display for easy sound browsing and so many more options. It does have included software, but my daughter pretty much uses it with Garage Band with her iPad. All in all, I've been impressed with what all my daughter has done with this midi keyboard. It does way more then I expected.

I honestly didn't know wheat this was when I bought it. It was on my nephews wish list. Gave it to him for his birthday and he absolutely loved it! He was trying to show me some of the features and it looks like it can do a lot. It's not just a keyboard but a drum set iPhone. There seem to be a huge amount he could do with this!

I really wish I could post a video instead of just pictures for this review so you know what I'm talking about better. My first thought was how nifty it looks! It's compact so it can travel very easily which is perfect since it can be plugged into a computer OR run on batteries so you can take it with you and plug headphones into it. The drum pads are also very responsive and so soft, you can favorite sounds and then assign them to the different drum pads for ease of use. The one knob at the upper right side is used to cycle through the sound bank and there is a small led thing letting you know which sound you are on, I wish it had a bigger screen area so you could see more than just one sound at a time. Until you memorize the list it's kind of like scrolling in the dark to find the sound you want. The sounds are also your normal average keyboard sounds, nothing really stood out as super unique to me and you cannot import your own sounds into it either. The speaker could also be better, it's not very loud even at full volume and sounds a little cheap. You also can't make loops. So it's nice to start out, it does have a sound bank built in but if you want something that is more for music production I would go for the AKAI MPK mini instead of this mini play.

Keep in mind that I am not at all musical, but got this as a gift for my teen son. Sounds are varied, clear, and great quality. The compact size PERFECT for small spaces and makes it very portable. Sturdily constructed. Great value! He seems to have figured out the software and how to use the instrument pretty quickly without any help from the parents. My son is having so much fun creating music and plays on it daily! 100% would recommend