Korg Midi Controller (NANOKEY-ST),Black

If you are looking for a MIDI keyboard, this is not what you want. The "keys" are more like force-sensitive buttons even though they are laid out like keys. The spacing is too close together for a keyboard, and the keys themselves are a bit wobbly. You will play maybe 1 or 2 keys with each hand.That said, as a controller it has everything you could want. With Korg's Kontrol Editor, you can map the keys to send MIDI notes or events. There is a "Scene" button which lets you switch between mappings that you set up in the editor. I also like the fact that the keys light up when you press them. I was thinking I was going to use this as a keyboard when I bought it, but now I am liking the idea of mapping a few keys to notes for pads and drones and using the rest to send events to my DAW to change parameters on the instruments.BLE MIDI worked just fine. I did download the Korg driver before connecting the controller to Windows just to be safe, so I don't know if Windows 11 has a driver. It does work on Windows 11.Since Korg bills this as a controller and not a keyboard, it gets 5 stars from me because of its flexibility and compact size. It is fully wireless and battery operated, so it can go in a backpack and be ready whenever inspiration strikes.

I'd seen some popular YouTubers promote the nanoKEY-ST as their go-to midi controller. Compared to the older wired nano series controllers, this is definitely a big step up in features, but less in terms of quality design. For anyone who wasn't a fan of the clicky rectangular keys, these are about the same, albeit a bit squishier for better or worse. But if the somewhat toy-ish feel doesn't bother you, it really is a great and highly portable option for mobile music making. Still being a bit fresh on the unusual connectivity methods of iOS, I nearly fell into the group of people who "Just couldn't get the dang thing to work", but after some research I found out that the midi-bluetooth connections are done on a individual app basis rather than a standard bluetooth device link. Once I had that figured out, I had no connection issues.Overall, the size is perfect for iPad pro users, and the wireless connection is very handy. It's won't be for everybody, but the number of features under the hood make it well worth it for me.

Excellent bluetooth connection. Good feature set

I were hoping to use this to create song/beat loops for games with iPad/Mac instead of using my full size Roland. Issues I ran into:ConnectivityI keep having bluetooth connectivity issues, especially on Mac where the Korg bluetooth MIDI connect detected the nanoKey studio but would not let me connect/reconnect. I have to keep powering on and off/ exit and reopen the Korg MIDI connect app hoping to pick up the connection. iOS seems to have less bluetooth issues; however, with the micro-USB instead of standard mini-USB most USB MIDI controllers use (even Korg nanoKEY or nanoPad use mini-USB!), most typical lightning/USB/MIDI interfaces would not work without a USB camera adaptor, a $38 overhead plus clumsy wiring.Trigger padI use both trigger pads and keyboard so it seems to be a good idea to have both in one unit. Well, it is not a good trade-off. For those who are familiar with Korg synths, some of them require 16 instead of 8 pads and there is no alt-key for trigger pad rotation. Korg apps are not known for user-friendly. While you can use the keyboard for drums (odd but do-able), unlike other DAW, Korg apps won't grey-out keys that are not applicable for individual synths so you have to guess the key range. You are better off with the nanoPad if you don't need all 25 keys given you can still use the 16 pads as a 'keyboard'.KeyboardI don't expect a full size keyboard feel or construction. It seems Korg uses the same triggering mechanism as the finger drumming pads so keys may stick/skip when playing with all fingers as it expects certain/constant triggering force for individual keys. You may adjust the velocity, but keep in mind it adjusts both sensitivity and loudness so you now have a different issue which is too loud/sensitive for some fingers.8 control knobsWon't work for most apps.You may program those but the 90's-design software and the barely 26 pages manual would make you cry.x-y padOne of the main reasons I bought the nanoKey Studio. It could be more useful if Korg came with a more helpful manual and updated software.Sustain buttonForgot or too expensive to support velocity? It is there in that they can say 'we have sustain feature'. It is not programmable and there is no sustain paddle input jack.Missing basic functionsFader, volume control, record/play buttons ... etc. are all missing from the 'Studio' controller. It is hard to believe a portable size of 'all-in-one' controller is missing all these basic functions. I thought it may be tricky but programmable? No.Battery Life- 10 hours?2-3 hours I would say. Also, the battery storage is semi-hidden and is difficult to remove the batteries without built-in puller.SoftwareThe software for programming the nanoKey Studio is quite 90's, both the design and usability. The software 'bundle' are not full version or severely outdated otherwise. Synth windows are so tiny on my Mac that I thought I did something wrong but no- just severely outdated software that meant for low resolution back in the 90s.Korg synths are iconic and I am a big fan of M1 and other Korg synths. The hardware versions were very expensive back then and I was so excited to own most of the software versions through iOS. So why ruin the experience and reputation with such poor nanoKey Studio controller?

It’s a very solid midi keyboard, I like that it has scale mode that allows you to choose the key type and root note (if that’s correct?) and then lights up the keys to play in that scale. This also allows one to play chords using the pads, in this chosen key. The arp function is one of the best, as to be expected with Korg. I find the arp to be useful on high hats, and sometimes synths. One thing is using it with an iPad, while cool, is a bit limiting in that iPads still haven’t caught up to pc in my experience as far as music software goes. Another drawback is it’s not really a keyboard, more of a representation of one. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but as someone who has played a piano, it can be a bit annoying. It’s overall an awesome product, but I’d prefer a full size keyboard with similar scale and pad functionality, which I’m unsure about existing.One should also note, it’s easy to play this in one particular scale, but it’s a bit difficult to know what that scale is, in my experience.