****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I bought this Nektar GXP61 for stage performance. It is controlling a Yamaha Motif Rack ES that's loaded with Yamaha's PLG150 Acoustic Modeling synth board. I use this rig, along with a breath controller, as an electronic wind instrument to play woodwind - sax and flute - parts. With the right keyboard this combination produces amazingly realistic results. The Nektar GXP61 is one of the "right" keyboards for this, with an old-school DIN connector for MIDI (it also has USB MIDI, but the Motif Rack Synth can't use it), it can be powered with a power supply (in addition to USB power), it has velocity, channel aftertouch, pitch and modulation wheels and can send program change commands to the synth to change voices/programs. I had been using a Nord Stage 3 Compact for this application, but it replaced it with a Nord Piano that's missing aftertouch, pitch and modulation wheels. There are very few low-cost controllers that have all those features. Here is the surprising part - all of the controller functions, the key bed feel, the aftertouch, and the wheel controllers work great. The default keyboard velocity curve is perfect for me. The key feel is about 80% as good as the Nord Stage 3 Compact and the aftertouch response is actually better; It's an amazing value for the price. I bought this keyboard for a very specific, narrow application, but after seeing its greater potential I think I'll also use it and my iPad (with a virtual instrument app) as an ultra-light performance rig for jams and rehearsals.
