nektar GXP 88 or LX 88 ?

[LeesKeys]

Looking for a midi keyboard with a semi-weighted touch which I can pack easily for local gigging. DAW controls would be nice but not essential. Does anyone know if there is any difference in the key beds for these two models (i.e., keyboard "feel")?

 

Thanks

[Justin Havu]

GXP88 has aftertouch.  Haven't played that one, but I had an LX88+ which quickly got replaced with a Keylab 61 MkII.  I thought the keybed in the LX felt a bit stiff, and very uneven as far as velocity, no matter what curve I had it set to.  Also, the black key tops on the LX are at a slight backwards angle, which felt very unnatural to me.  I prefer them to be flat as on a normal acoustic piano.

[ElmerJFudd]

GX61 $130

 

LX61+ $220

 

Panorama T6 $300

 

Panorama P6 $600

 

 I would suggest you can’t expect a quality semi weight action at $130. The question is do they upgrade the action at the $220 LX61?  Or do you have to jump to T6 or P6 for a better action? 
 

I’ve emailed them with questions before, they were very quick to respond.  Go ahead and ask, I’m sure they’ll give you a straight answer.  
 

Side note - on $199 MAudio Keystation controllers the first thing to fail every time is the cheap USB printer port jack on them.  They are made to plug-in and leave plugged in. 

[John H Carter]

I've got the GXP88, action is pretty poor. Nowher near as good as novation launchkey, for example.

[LeesKeys]

from Nektar support:   The Impact GXP series and the Impact LX88+ use the same keybed, so there would be no difference in that regard. The main differences are the number of controls and the positioning of the pitch/mod wheels.

[ElmerJFudd]

  

4 hours ago, LeesKeys said:

from Nektar support:   The Impact GXP series and the Impact LX88+ use the same keybed, so there would be no difference in that regard. The main differences are the number of controls and the positioning of the pitch/mod wheels.

That makes sense, since they are so close in price.  

[Tom Williams]

Nanoreview:

I have the GXP88, and like it a lot.  The semi-weighted action suits me well, and channel AT is one of my goto CCs.  Unlike a lot of low-end controllers, it takes two switches and one continuous pedal -- quite nice.

 

Its USB power draw is low enough that I can power it directly from my PC4-7, for which the GXP is a second keyboard input, through the same USB.

 

However, as controllers go, its  MIDI programmability is limited.  Patch select buttons can select bank-and-patch (which is pretty nice), but I've never gotten it to treat MIDI CCs the way I want.

 

For the price, it's pretty hard to beat.

[LeesKeys]

I agree Tom. I ended up buying the 88. I was unsure how I would like the key bed for acoustic piano, but honestly, after playing it a while and further tweaking the curve within Pianoteq, I think it works about as well as any semi-weighted keyboard can. The unit seems very well built yet lightweight. Haven't played out with it yet, but I have a jam session coming up with friends this weekend and I think I'll take it. My usual gigging setup includes an SL73 on the bottom and a Roland A49 on the top tier; I'm considering replacing the Roland with a GXP61 to give me more keys and allow more key range with splits. We'll see.  

[CHarrell]

On 1/22/2024 at 9:16 AM, LeesKeys said:

I agree Tom. I ended up buying the 88. I was unsure how I would like the key bed for acoustic piano, but honestly, after playing it a while and further tweaking the curve within Pianoteq, I think it works about as well as any semi-weighted keyboard can. The unit seems very well built yet lightweight. Haven't played out with it yet, but I have a jam session coming up with friends this weekend and I think I'll take it. My usual gigging setup includes an SL73 on the bottom and a Roland A49 on the top tier; I'm considering replacing the Roland with a GXP61 to give me more keys and allow more key range with splits. We'll see.  

 

I actually did a whole musical with the LX+88 back in 2018, I used it for everything from the synth and orchestral sounds the book called for, to exposed acoustic piano passages (I used NI Grandeur for the record), including a dizzying take on Puttin' on the Ritz, and a sensitive ballad duet with a singer onstage. I didn't know anything about velocity curves or anything like that back then, I just played default everything on the hardware and software side. I thought it worked really well for the most part! It was too light for those piano parts, I was struggling for control, but maybe velocity tweaking would've greatly helped that. 

 

However, between a year and a half and two years of using it, the mod wheel started to get screwy and stutter up the MIDI performance, which was really weird. Don't know if that was an isolated occurrence with my specific keyboard, or if it was (is) anything more widespread.