Akai Professional MPK Mini Play3 25-key Portable Keyboard and MIDI Controller Reviews

If you make home recordings, this unit is for YOU! Sound generation is really incredible, looping capabilities are dead on. As a musician and artist, this is definitely a game changer in my wheelhouse for all my projects.

Great product. Built in sounds are good enough to help me loop some live beats. Can't go wrong with customer service and warranty at sweetwater. Matthew K. has a wealth of knowledge in the industry that helps steer me in the right direction. HUGE help.

I bought this bad boy to work on chord progressions and song ideas anywhere. It works great. The sounds in this little thing are literally amazing. The mod knobs are pretty slick too. If I had to complain about anything, its that it is irresistable to my 2 year old, but then again so is all my gear. 5 stars

This thing is great. It's basically a General Midi patch set in a tiny keyboard with a built in speaker and it's excellent for performing live or recording. I've been using it as a drum machine I play live as well as a keyboard, both of which have certain limitations to sounds based on the general midi style patches but they all sound excellent. I have been using it with a loop station as the line in along with my bass guitar to make amazing soundscapes of incredible sound.
If you need a beginners keyboard and midi interface that is completely usable on it's own as well as an interface, this is the best product for it. No other midi interfaces have their own built in sounds especially at this price point. Fantastic unit to have in the arsenal!

TL;DR: Surprisingly good sound for its size and format. Hardware improves upon previous gen in almost every way. Velocity curve for keys can be customized through the editor software, or configured on device using a hidden settings menu (hold down "Full Level"). In addition to pitch bend and modulation, instrument mode adds expression control to the joystick, but unable to implement the same functionality in editor without the ability to invert control change values (127 when centered instead of 0).

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I really like this little keyboard. I wasn't so sure at first, because I felt like I had to really hammer on it to get a response. But as I played with it more and got to understand it better, I began to really appreciate its differences and qualities. When compared to my old MPK Mini Mk2, I think the keybed, knobs, and pads are all an improvement over the previous generation.

If you're familiar with the Akai MPK mini and its quirky little joystick, you know it typically just controls pitch bend and modulation. Normally the modulation functionality is simply duplicated across the axis. The function is basically the same in either direction: you start at 0 and go up to 127 depending how far you push/pull the joystick. But unlike a typical mod wheel, it always snaps back to center when released.

Now this is where the Akai MPK mini play introduces an interesting change in functionality, one that I think makes the joystick more than just a quirky controller. In one direction, you have modulation (CC1). In the other direction though, you now have expression (CC11) as well, allowing you to dip the expression value down to 0, and bring it back up to 127 when the stick re-centers. This is brilliant!

The only trouble is, it only does this in instrument mode. For expression to work with the joystick as a midi controller, the control change value needs to be inverted so that the value is 127 when the stick is centered (full volume), and 0 when it's pushed to its limit (no volume). Currently, the editor doesn't appear to provide any way to invert control change values. Although, this can probably still be done in DAW using some form of scripting.

With regards to the editor for the MPK Mini Play Mk3, it's worth mentioning that it's only available to download through the MPK Mini Play specific version of the software manager. This caused some confusion for me initially, because I was unaware that there were two different versions of the software manager available: one for the MPK Mini series of controllers, and one for the MPM Mini Play series of controllers. By default, the editor software is also hidden from view in the software manager. To access it, you first need to enable the option "Show Advanced Software" under Settings (select the gear icon in the upper left corner of the software manager window to access Settings). This latest editor adds a few nice little feature improvements over previous versions of the editor, including the ability to edit the Sound and Keyboard Sound FX for each favorite, and an interface for visualizing and editing the keybed velocity curve. You can also save these settings out to your computer, allowing you to build up a library of favorite settings so you're not limited to just the eight onboard favorites.

For the most part, I really dig this new editor. I don't like how the Sound FX fields aren't arranged in the same layout as the labels on the keyboard. Consistency in layouts would be nice. I also wish the editor offered some way to invert control change values so that the joystick can be used for controlling expression in addition to pitch bend and modulation, similar to how it works in instrument mode (by sending a value of 127 instead of 0 for CC11 when the joystick is centered).

As for hardware improvements, the keybed of the Mk3 isn't made of a monoform piece of plastic like it is in the Mk2. The keys are individual, and if you look closely near the action frame, you can see each is uniquely labeled with its respective note. The keys also mount to the action frame with springs like some of the more expensive synth-action keyboard controllers. The action is still somewhat stiff, but it does feel better than the previous gen. With the built-in screen of the Mk3, there's a hidden option to adjust the velocity curve and black-key velocity multiplier.

To enter (and exit) the hidden velocity settings menu, hold down the "Full Level" button for 5 seconds. The velocity curve can also be edited from the editor software as well by selecting the "Edit Key Curve" button found under the Keyboard section. This opens a small window with fields for editing velocity values, and displays a graph with the velocity values plotted along a curve for some visual feedback.

After bumping up the velocity curve, and enabling Full Level for pads, I had no trouble playing and getting a descent sound from the built-in speaker, without having to hammer on the keys and pads. The sound from the built-in speaker was actually better than expected. I primarily bought this for my daughters to play with, and they have had no trouble with it.

With headphones on, I actually prefer playing with the original velocity curve values (v1: 96.0; v2: 20.0; v3: 8.0; v4: 2.8; Black bal: 0.9x). The drum pads also feel and sound really good. There seems to be more range in sensitivity with these pads, and I really like the aftertouch on them, too. Especially with note repeat.

The knobs are something else. There aren't many midi controllers available with built-in sounds at this price point, and with such a small form factor. Most usually won't provide much control over the sound other than instrument selection. With the MPK mini play, you have control over brightness, timbre, reverb, chorus, attack, release, and low/high EQ. Having 128 instruments to begin with, there's a massive amount of possibility with that many customization options. And the convenience of having the controls all mapped out and have it just work out of the box cannot be overstated. I think this is a really good first step for anyone interested in sound design without being overwhelmed by the complexities of an actual synth. It can be used to produce some pretty good sounds and samples.

As I mentioned briefly, another big feature to point out here are the Favorites. You have 8 of them to work with, and they each serve a dual-purpose function that can be toggled by pressing the "Internal Sounds" button. While the "Internal Sounds" button is toggled ON, Favorites can be used to load or save instruments, including any changes made to customize the sound of an instrument preset. To save the current instrument, hold down both the "Favorites" and "Internal Sounds" buttons, and press one of the 8 pads. To load up the instrument again, just hold down the "Favorites" button and press the pad associated with the saved instrument. When the "Internal Sounds" button is toggled OFF, Favorites are instead used as a sort of program selection, similar in function to its sibling controller, the MPK Mini Mk3. The default favorites that ship with the MPK Mini Play Mk3 include mappings for some popular DAWs, such as MPC, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, and GarageBand. The remaining default favorites are used to map scales to the pads, which include the Chromatic, Major, and Minor scales. Using the editor software, these favorites can be retrieved from the controller, saved to your computer, loaded up, customized, and sent back to your controller, giving you the ability to work with even more options.

One other thing to note with respect this controller's sibling, the MPK Mini Mk3, is that despite only having 4 knobs, the MPK Mini Play Mk3 still has access to the same number of knob controls with 2 available banks. Both controllers have 16 available pads and 8 available knobs between banks. Although, the MPK Mini Mk3 does have the benefit of infinite encoders, and has options to send Control Change and Program Change messages using pads instead of just notes; features lacking from the MPK Mini Play Mk3. Aside from those differences though, there's really no disadvantage to opting for the MPK Mini Play Mk3 over the MPK Mini Mk3.

With all that said, I think more than anything it's worth saying that this keyboard is just fun to play with. There have been genuine quality of life improvements with this version of the controller, AND you don't need a computer to use it. There's also very little feature disparity with its sibling controller, the MPK Mini Mk3. Aside from the lack of infinite encoders and CC/PC message options for pads, you end up getting a bit more with the built in sounds of a standalone instrument. I would still like to see an option in the editor that allows for control change values to be inverted on the joystick, but all in all I'm pretty darn happy with the MPK Mini Play MK3.

I'm not really a keyboard player, but have been trying to get better.
Have bought a lot of synth gear in the past few years and just wanted something to try and improve my playing.
Getting two or three pieces of gear powered, hooked together and audible sometimes keeps me from getting started.

The Mini Play makes a great option - small, lightweight, battery powered and with a pretty good speaker!
Plenty of presets for exploring different sounds to improve my playing and music theory understanding.
The addition of great pads and a bunch of drum presets provide a huge bonus to work on finger drumming and beats too.

I did hear some complaints on the quality of the sounds but for me they are perfectly fine for learning the basics.
I have plenty of more expensive pieces of gear for higher quality when I need that.
I can keep the Mini Play right next to me on the couch, flip the power switch on, pick a preset and just play.
The arpeggiator is a nice feature and has some nice options, my favorites are the random and inclusive/exclusive ability.
Great for whenever I want to explore & practice melodic ideas or a beat that pops into my head!

Can't forget that you also get the Akai Beats software, so connect up to a PC and you are good to go recording too.
My only real negatives would be the lack of a MIDI out jack and a sequencer if I did want to connect to my other gear.
But I have many other controllers with MIDI outs and sequencers - the Mini Play's price and features fill a nice little niche.

Enjoy the simplicity and reasonable price option!

Good keyboard .really like it, but speaker is not loud enough. Great with headphones. Glad I Got it.