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Nektar introduced the Impact GX Mini with 25 mini keys, the small USB MIDI keyboard controller fits in any backpack. You don’t have to do without clever features such as an X / Y joystick and extensive DAW control.
Mini keyboard MIDI controllers for on-the-go often do not offer particularly extensive equipment. With the Impact GX Mini, Nektar now presents an alternative to the in-house SE25 with more features and some good ideas. This means that you no longer have to do without a DAW control and other practical functions on the go.
The new Nektar USB MIDI device offers 25 velocity-sensitive mini-keys that are supposed to offer a defined and expressive feel. The 2-octave keyboard is supplemented by an X / Y joystick with which pitch bend and modulation or other assignable MIDI CC commands can be controlled simultaneously. This enables more expressive real-time control than the modulation buttons found on many other compact mini keyboards. Often there is only one button for sustain. Instead, the Impact GX Mini is equipped with a connection for a sustain pedal, which is a rarity in this segment.
The Impact GX Mini has also copied the other control functions from the big ones. Even the smallest member of the Impact GX family offers direct integration into the most popular DAWs so that you don’t have to laboriously assign the buttons. A block with eight function keys provides direct access to the DAW transport controls and functions such as track and sound selection. In many DAWs, the buttons can also be used to directly control DAW functions such as the mixer, the selected software instrument, or the respective channel strip.
With the “Part 2” function, Nektar has also come up with an interesting performance feature. For example, you can temporarily change the octave using the corresponding buttons – very helpful with 25 keys. But it is also possible to use the buttons to temporarily switch to another MIDI channel or to add another sound, which opens up many creative possibilities. If you let go of the buttons, the keyboard automatically returns to its original state. According to Nektar, the “Part 2” function helps to get the most out of the limited keyboard range. As software, the Impact GX Mini comes with a license for Bitwig 8-Track.
Nektar Impact GX Mini price and availability
The Nektar Impact GX Mini USB MIDI keyboard controller has been priced at $69.99 only and is now available to buy from the Amazon.com and Bhphotovideo.com websites.
Recently, Kurzweil has also released the new KM88, a pure 4-zone keyboard MIDI controller with an 88-key hammer-action keyboard control. It can be configured using editor software to adapt it to your own production style.
