Nektar Impact LX49+

Made the decision to upgrade from my teeny-tiny controller to a 49 with normal-sized keys for my sausage fingers, and after having looked at some of the other options available, I'm glad I spent those extra pennies on this.

For starters, the actual aesthetics of the keyboard are nice, a lovely matte-finished grey that'll fit right in with any contemporary setup. The LEDs or display aren't too obnoxious either. Everything feels sturdy and well built, can't see anything breaking soon, even with expressive or extensive playing. The keys are "synth action" which despite not being weighted; feel great to play on. The addition of velocity sensitive drum pads is also a nice touch, and are pretty fun to use and easy to program.

The I/O is fairly straight-forward, albeit limited with only a USB port and a 1/4 sustain pedal input. For folks like me it's enough, but having more ports for expression pedals or MIDI output would be nice. Not a deal-breaker though.

The area where this keyboard really shines however, is it's DAW integration and compatibility. Following the easy setup and registration guide, I was able to install the appropriate drivers and manuals for Cubase, and was up and running within a matter of minutes. Being able to use it as a generic controller is all fine and well, but having the option to optimize it for maximum control within your DAW is a very nice touch.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this controller to any aspiring producers or hobbyists looking to get more mileage out of their VSTs. Despite the lack of weighted keys or I/O ports, there's positively nothing I can fault about this controller. Good job Nektar.

Ten-outta-ten.

I bought this MIDI Keyboard to use with Omnisphere / Keyscape for my church.

I had a strict budget and I was a bit skeptical at the beginning. I called Thomann and a person from Keyboards suggested this keyboard and I'm Really thankful that I bought it.

I'm thinking of switching to a LX61+ because the extra keys make the difference and I can map more sounds to a larger area.

So, if you're deciding between 49/61 keys, I'd suggest the 61 if you don't mind the extra length and cost.

The pads are Awesome, really good pads for this price.
4 Banks of Pad Memory is really handy and quick to switch.

The keys are smooth and the velocity curve is good by default, but I switched it to suit my needs (really easy steps to switch it).

The DAW integration is another aspect of it, being top notch with multiple DAWs.

I use it with a nanoKontrol 2, so I don't use the sliders on the MIDI very much, so I can't review those in depth, I can only say that the fact that it won't change the sound unless you are at the current level is helpful and a nice feature.

Software is downloaded from their website once you register the product and is a straight-forward installation process, where you pick your product.

The Control Source settings are automatically set (if you choose the keyboard as a control source) and you don't have to modify anything.

Overall: Really Impressed for the money and it does the job.

This keyboard does what it is made for, and easily so.
I just plugged it in, and it worked well. Just find it in the list of controllers in your DAW, and voila!!
I had expected the keyboard to be a bit more plasticky from some reviews, but it feels and looks as solid as any four octave synthesizer I have played on.
This is definitely a keyboard I can recommend to anyone who does not wish to spend hundreds on a MIDI keyboard, but still wants enough sliders, knobs, assignable buttons, AND MIDI pads!!!
This keyboard has just enough of everything. Great for beginners, but definitely also for the professional it is a good budget choice, I think.

I use this in my home studio as a midi input device for notes/ drums and for quick mixing of drums and bass, depending on how many tracks I have.
Pros:
Instant integration with Studio One, probably my favourite thing. No mapping of faders or knobs to parameters.
Easy to understand layout and cool visuals (the most important part of course!)
Cons:
Some of the faders are slightly insensitive. For example, I've figured out 0.97 is the fader value for +0.2dB in studio one, and some of the faders are tough to get at that value.
Keys are not exactly grand piano feeling, but for the price, they work really well
Summary:
This is by far the best money I have spent on my home studio. It really made my workflow faster and took as long as the download for the driver did to set up. Very happy with my buy!