korg nanokey studio - thoughts?

kinkujin

Those of you who have one, do you like it? Do you use it outside of the Korg universe? How do the "keys" feel? Would you buy it again or get something different? I've been considering this for awhile now. Your thoughts and advice are always appreciated.

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BiancaNeve

Plasticy but good features. Worth it if you see a 2nd hand one cheap. But not really the thing for a professional keyboard player.

skiphunt

I like mine. Almost no lag in Bluetooth. This sound designer dude Frances Preve uses one in his mobile kit: https://www.francispreve.com/blog/

Mark B

Not that impressed with it. Can’t set midi channel from the device itself, have to connect to a computer to program the scenes. The knobs limit sending CC data in steps of 2 (0,2,4,8 etc). So you only get 64 steps instead of 128.

[Deleted User]

@Mark B said:
Not that impressed with it. Can’t set midi channel from the device itself, have to connect to a computer to program the scenes. The knobs limit sending CC data in steps of 2 (0,2,4,8 etc). So you only get 64 steps instead of 128.

Really! Only 64 steps! That’s a downer.

kinkujin

@skiphunt said:
I like mine. Almost no lag in Bluetooth. This sound designer dude Frances Preve uses one in his mobile kit: https://www.francispreve.com/blog/

Sheesh, that is a dream to travel like that.

Good to hear about the no lag.

Not so good to hear about the CC limits to 64 steps @[Deleted User] @Mark B

Thanks for the advice folks.

kinkujin

@mAxjUlien said:
I’ve gone away from using midi controllers after discovering how brilliant BM3 is made for touch but when I do use one I reach for NKS. It works great with every app and the chord, arp and scale functions are unmatched.

NKS ?

Reid

NKS instruments work with Native Instruments Controllers
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keyboards/komplete-kontrol-s49-s61/

kinkujin

Ah thanks @Reid. Totally different animal.

wim

I like it and use it all the time because it’s convenient and, surprisingly, I actually like the plasticy keys. Thought I’d hate ‘em. Native Gadget integration is really tight and useful. I dropped it once and a couple of keys and knobs flew off. But, they snapped easily back into place and the thing was none the worse for wear. I’d rather have them fly off than snap or crack in a fall.

That said, if I had it to do again, I’d get something else. Mainly because:

• The x/y pad is a joke. That’s the main reason I bought the thing, and it turns out I dislike it mightily. The touch response is crummy. Having pitch and modulation at the same time on the pad is useless because it’s nearly impossible to do just a modulation sweep without affecting the pitch, and vice-versa.
• You can’t change midi channels on the fly. Well, you can hook it up to a desktop, and set the 8 different scenes to different channels. But I’d rather use the scenes for different cc and drum pad setups independently of channel.
• No on-board editing? No iOS editing? I hate dragging the PC out for stuff like that. If I wanted to be in a space where I have my PC when I use the thing I’d probably have a bigger keyboard anyway.
• The arps and scales are nice, but you either have to have a really good memory to remember which pad turns on which scale or arp, or keep a cheat sheet with you.

The biggest deal breaker for me is not being able to change channels on the fly other than by switching scenes.

So, even though I’m glad I have it and I enjoy using it, no I don’t recommend it.

kinkujin

Well, I sorta pulled the trigger and got one. Used at a very nice price. If I hate it it won't hurt too awfully badly. I'm mainly interested in Gadget use and for the keys. Like most things as I've read here, it has limitations but I can deal with them I think. I appreciate everyone's thoughts.

icsleepers

I'm late to the party, it's worth it. I've used it on GarageBand iOS with no issues, plugged into my Mac with Reason, works great. The bluetooth midi is great. I do prefer a nice full bodied keyboard but for the features and portability I understand.

skiphunt

@kinkujin said:
Well, I sorta pulled the trigger and got one. Used at a very nice price. If I hate it it won't hurt too awfully badly. I'm mainly interested in Gadget use and for the keys. Like most things as I've read here, it has limitations but I can deal with them I think. I appreciate everyone's thoughts.

It’s built solid and works a long time on battery. Great using it hooked up via usb too.

Mostly just use it as a controller that happens to have keys though.

This guy makes good use of his:

https://twitter.com/ipod_david/status/1032717713456746496

kinkujin

@skiphunt that is yum. RE-1 is just a fabulous sweetener or spice! Thanks.

stemshade

I’ve had mine for a long time. Use it a bunch. Not crazy about the cc resolution or the xy pad but very glad i have it. Very expressive.

JohnnyGoodyear

Love mine, have various other cleverer things, but from the coffee shop to Europe and back, this is the one that ends up being thrown in the bag.

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wim

Here’s a StreamByter script I wrote to work around the inability to change midi channels in case it can be of use to anyone else. Hit a note starting from A7 to C8 to set the channel.

# Script to change midi channel from keyboards that
# don’t have the ability to change it on-board
# A7 = ch1, A#7 = ch2 ... C8 = ch16

IF LOAD
  ASS L0 = 0 #Start with no channel offset
  SET LB0 S—
  SET LB1 S—
END

# Detect note A7 or higher
IF MT >= 80
  IF MT <= 9F
    IF M1 >= 69
      # Set channel to offset above A7
      MAT L0 = M1 - 69 #L0 = offset from A7
      MAT L1 = L0 + 1 #to display channel starting at 1
      SET LB0 SCH.
      SET LB1 L1 +D
      XX = XX +B #block A7 or above from sounding
    END

    #Display the note if below A7
    IF M1 < 69
      SET LB0 M1 +N
    END
  END
END

# Add the channel offset
MAT M0 = M0 + L0

# Display cc and value if cc message
IF MT == B0
  SET LB0 M1 +D
  SET LB1 M2 +D
END

Telstar5

Sucks that you need a computer to program it though. They should make an iOS app for that

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kinkujin

Wow thanks for the script @wim. Like @Dawdles it is Greek to me.

And thanks for all the answers. I eagerly await my delivery.

Shaken&Stirred

It seems you need the Streambyter AUV3 App. See This Thread
This is the first I've heard of it, so I'm reading up on it, but it looks interesting

Janosax

I love this little all in one keyboard. Very playable keys and with pads you can set notes to have a third octave for bass, nice scale and chords mode, arp is nice too. Knobs resolution is only 64 but they works very well, pads for drumming are excellent, touchpad is not very precise but can be very useful for CC rhythmic stuff. You have 8 user presets. Batteries last long, and BTLE is very fast. A very compact keyboard and a lower price than ever with 115 euros (I bought it 145 euros one year ago).

https://m.thomann.de/fr/korg_nanokey_studio.htm?gclid=CjwKCAjwzqPcBRAnEiwAzKRgS4tPu5bSajN-9fFJ-pZQggTl4AEWZavDk2Jpu4Te1vKW1KsNbvWLSBoC0QcQAvD_BwE

purpan2

@Janosax said:
I love this little all in one keyboard. Very playable keys and with pads you can set notes to have a third octave for bass, nice scale and chords mode, arp is nice too. Knobs resolution is only 64 but they works very well, pads for drumming are excellent, touchpad is not very precise but can be very useful for CC rhythmic stuff. You have 8 user presets. Batteries last long, and BTLE is very fast. A very compact keyboard and a lower price than ever with 115 euros (I bought it 145 euros one year ago).

https://m.thomann.de/fr/korg_nanokey_studio.htm?gclid=CjwKCAjwzqPcBRAnEiwAzKRgS4tPu5bSajN-9fFJ-pZQggTl4AEWZavDk2Jpu4Te1vKW1KsNbvWLSBoC0QcQAvD_BwE

Good info, thanks. Is it possible to do pitch bend and mod wheel stuff in real time with this, do you know?

icsleepers

@purpan2 Yes, there is a set of three buttons that controls what the kaoss style pad does, third button is pitch / mod. I believe left - right is mod and up - down is pitch but you could assign the CC to anything I guess

chandroji

I love my tiny and lightweight NanoKey Studio.
It’s always with me when I’m outside in the wild. No cables, I enjoy this a lot! 👍

wim

@Dawdles said:
Can I hack this in to the hardware somehow and then not need to tether to pc to switch channels? by using keyboard note shortcuts a7-c8 right? If so, is it doable for someone with zero knowledge of coding etc?

Thanks

StreamByter is a specialized AUv3 midi app that can be used to do lots of tricky magic transformations to any midi passed through it. Probably best avoided unless you have at least a little exposure to programming. StreamByter needs to be put in the midi path between the keyboard and whatever will receive the midi. In AUM you would route the midi to a channel with StreamByter in it, then route use the StreamByter channel as the input to the channel you actually want to control. In AB3, StreamByter would go in the FX position between the input and the output on the Midi page.

I’m sure that makes most people’s head spin, especially as a way to get around a simple hardware shortcoming. But it works.

No, it has no possibility of being ported to the hardware, or anything else. It’s specific to the StreamByter plugin, and MidiFire (which has StreamByter and lots of other stuff in it).

purpan2

@icsleepers said:
@purpan2 Yes, there is a set of three buttons that controls what the kaoss style pad does, third button is pitch / mod. I believe left - right is mod and up - down is pitch but you could assign the CC to anything I guess

That’s great - thank you.

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kinkujin

Got it yesterday and it’s a thing of beauty. Connects in a snap to Gadget. Tried with standalones too — Zeeon, Sunrizer, Nave. No luck with Volt, will need to investigate that.

Loads of fun, keys are better than I expected, and midi learn is just fab. Really pleased with this purchase.