37/49 key midi keyboard suggestions pls

Bradders

Im in the market for a decent 37 or 49 key midi keyboard. There’s a lot of choice and Ive spent countless hours researching. My budget is £250 max. 

My priorities are:
Keybed - I am a piano player and like some weight to the keys with a dynamic velocity sensitivity
Compact - Im not too bothered about it being feature rich as I mainly use samples and vst instruments
Solid build quality 

Current options I am looking at:
Arturia keystep 37 
Akai mpk mini plus 37 
Korg Microkey 49
Modal Cobalt 5s 

I might think of pushing the budget to include other potentially better options. The Korg keystage 49 looks really nice and fairly minimal which I like.

Any recommendations?

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Less of a keyboard player than a guitarist, but I do have a few synths (ARP Odyssey, ASM Hydrasynth, Roland Jupiter etc) and some MIDI controller keyboards too.

The two MIDI controller keyboards in my studio are a Carbon 49 and a Behringer Swing. As you probably know, the Behringer was a rip off of the Keystep, and whilst it is good in terms of functions and less costly than the Arturia, quality control of it is not great and I had to send two back to Thomann in Germany before I got one which worked satisfactorily (some keys were not working), so you do get what you pay for with the Arturia in terms of build quality and as you probably know, their VSTs are great, so it is a quality company. If I had the choice again between the two, it wouldn't bethat Behringer Swing. Having said that, the sequencer on it is okay and in combination with its very small desktop footprint.that makes it a good thng to have if you are using a DAW on PC and just want to bang in some MIDI notes quickly, so if that';s important, then the Keystep is a good choice as it too is small.

The Carbon 49 on the other hand, has been great, I've had it years and it continues to serve well and flawlessly. It might not have the keyboard feel you want however, which doesn't bother me because I can always tweak the MIDI in Reaper and my ASM Hydrasynth has all that aftertouch malarkey anyway, if I ever felt the need for it.

Of your named choices, since you are a proper keyboard player unlike me who just blags it, if you have the room I'd recommend going for the 49 keys options purely because of the broader octave range. I know with MIDI controllers you can shift the octaves, but for two handed 'proper' playing of long passages, having more keys is always better. That is why I like my Carbon 49, it has full sized keys and a wide enough octave range to be able to play more complex stuff with both hands without faffing about.

Off topic, Bradders is what everyone calls me at work :-)

Heartfeltdawn

Nektar. 

monquixote

If you watch synth YouTubers a very high proportion of them use the Keystep 37.

It's probably what I'd get 

I have a Novation and I wouldn't buy another as the keys don't feel nice.

Other options are the Yamaha Reface series which are fairly compact and have really great keybeds. I have a mint Reface CS which I would happily sell if you are interested 

Bradders

@Musical_Mystery_Tour ; Honoured to meet another Bradders Thanks for the info and suggestions. I do like the Arturia gear, they seem to be well liked and get good reviews on their keybed systems.

Bradders

@Heartfeltdawn I shall take a look at Nektar

Bradders

@monquixote I do like the Keystep 37 it seems to the best compact 37 key with some minimal but useful fanctionality/controls. It looks quite portable too! I am leaning more towards the 37 keys as I am looking for a really compact portable setup. I will take a look at the Reface CS:)

marxski

I’ve had the keystep 37 for about a year and it’s nicely built and the software to control the config is easy and stable. Unexpected bonus was the CV/gate and the clock I/O which works with non midi kit. I also like the touchpad pitch and mod which i honestly thought I wouldn’t.

Snap

For me there is a perfect answer - Komplete A series, 49 key, I have the 61 and its no less than superb mate, and comes with a load of good software.

thomasw88

Maudio keystation 49, Keybed is ok.

I had a Samson carbon for a few days, hated it , if you play piano you will hate the keybed.

just ordered a nektar impact gxp49 which I think is meant to be decent feel wise.

I had a  komplete a61 for a while,  felt ok but I sent it back as I want to be able to use it with an iPad on occasion and it won’t do that.    

Roland a49 is meant to be ok keybed wise.  

None of these are going to be piano like feel, but apart from the carbon, the others were bearable!

Bradders

I went with an arturia keystep 37 which is a fantastic compact little keyboard and the keybed is nice considering its so small. Keys are quiet and touch sensitivity is good. It is certainly wierd trying to get use to playing piano samples on such small keys but I like that it is so portable. I will may pick up a Komplete S49 or 61 just to have as well to tie me over for piano based stuff and use the keystep for synth samples. Cheers for suggestions and adivce