Alesis V-Mini | Portable 25-Key USB-MIDI Keyboard Controller with 4 Backlit Sensitive Pads, 4 Assignable Encoders and Professional Software Suite Included

I've started making music again after about ten years. I still had all my VSTi plugs and my trusty copy of FL Studio 7 and thanks to - strangely for me - a little foresight I remembered that I had paid for lifetime updates, so I now have FL 12 Producer Edition to play with. Most of it came back pretty easily to me then I realised with horror that I had sold my MicroKorg on eBay when I didn't think I would be doing this kind of thing again. A quick look on Amazon displayed a wide range of controllers and prices. I read a few reviews and still wasn't sure. What swung it in the end was a great bit of Alesis kit I had in the 80s, the lovely HR16 Drum machine, so with good memories of that and mainly positive reviews I went for this V-Mini. Considering how cheap it was I am mightily impressed with it's quality. Although it is obviously plastic it does feel sturdy and reassuringly quite weighty. Not too bothered about the pads but it was nice to have four knobs and they are dead easy to assign in FL Studio. Within an hour of getting it hurriedly out if the box I had quite a few sketchy ideas sorted and saved. I found the keyboard a little on the stiff side at first, but I soon got used to that. I am really impressed with this Alesis and think I made the right choice

Began to create music on my smartphone using FL Studio Mobile, and so far have created three great pieces of music in the past 5 weeks. The last time I created my own music was in the late 1990s on a Yamaha DJX synth. I basically wanted a midi controller, one that had keys, and at least 2 assignable knobs, this unit seemed good value, I didnt want to spend too much on something that might not turn out to be ideal, and I made the right move I think. Everything seems to work fine, aside from pad #2, which unlike its neighbours, it has to be hit hard or it wont activate, the other two work fine with velocity, but not pad #2. The keys are very very stiff, i play a ukulele so my fingers are quite strong, but the keys are way stiffer than anything else I have played before. But it aint a bad unit, for the price, I am enjoying exploring and making new sounds with it, though I stupidly thought you could assign a midi function to one controller and it would stay there no matter what sound or even song you loaded up, no, not at all, but that is useful in hindsight. Good for a noob like me, basic and small enough to stand next to my uke when it is not in use!

Got this for my Son as he is creating his own music. Small, but as a control keyboard to use with studio software it does the job. USB , plug in, job done.

very nice and elegant, extremely portable the idea of the modulation and the pitch bend as buttons is nice and original but I would appreciate a sustain pedal port ( even if I understand that this product is made to be super portable) the only weak spot I've noticed is about the pots, they are too big, I think they could break into a bag

It’s a OK toy. I used it with the browser-based ‘BandLab’ free online music making tool and was picked up right away. Not tried it in other DAWs. The velocity is a bit odd as you need to hit every key hard to keep a consistent volume. Sometimes the velocity will just drop on some keys. It’s ok for simple note changes. You find yourself using 2 hands to play a baseline to ensure you hit each key with equal strength. Works better with fixed velocity (like a switch) though that means everything ends up sounding like an 80’s video game. Even the pads need belting to hear something. Its ok for playing on a laptop on holiday or an iPad to edit or where space is a premium at your desk, but it does feel like you’ve borrowed your 4yr old son’s ‘my first piano’.

great

The keyboard works perfectly fine, no latency, velocity-sensitive and had some great features and overall feels very good to play. My problem is the software that comes with it; downloading it was fine but during installation it froze my computer up and caused the blue screen of death and my computer to fail to boot. The only way I could get back was using the Windows Startup Repair tool, but after trying again and successfully installing the software, it prompted me to restart and I had the same issue again. I had to completely delete the software and will avoid Air Music products from here on.

For the money this is a great little keyboard. If you are using it with existing DAW/VST then it's plug and play and trivially easy to setup the knobs/buttons. Keys are responsive enough for me, haven't used the pads much but they seem ok.

Very good Easy to use Good price too I def recomend

Pads, knobs and size are excellent, but stiff and sub par keys. Software velocity optimization is terrible. Difficult to accurately play without messing velocity.

今まで、楽譜作成をPCのみでやっていましたが、時間がかかるので思い切って購入してみました。 PCの打ち込みより何倍も早く、簡単にオクターブ上下が出来るので、ストレス無く作成出来るようになりました。 軽いし、何より接続は付属のケーブルなので、初心者の私でも簡単です。

Ich habe das V Mini seit einigen Tagen und bin begeistert. Einrichtung und Benutzung funktionieren problemlos, die Verarbeitung ist tadellos. Ideal ist die Kombination von Mini-Keyboard, kleinem Launchpad und einstellbaren Drehreglern zu einem sehr günstigen Preis. Das als Extra mitgelieferte VST Plugin XPand!2 liefert dazu noch einen großen Bestand an umfangreich konfigurierbaren Instrumenten mit. Pro: - gute Verarbeitung - schlichtes, schickes Design - super kompakt; Klaviatur, Pads und Drehregler mit minimalem Footprint - ohne Treiber benutzbar (aber mit optionalem Zusatzprogramm weiter konfigurierbar) Kontra: - Tasten und Pads sprechen zwar leicht an, maximale Velocity ist jedoch etwas schwer erreichbar, die Drumpads habe ich daher auf maximale Velocity fest eingestellt - spezielle Funktionen sind nicht dokumentiert (siehe z.B. LED Feedback unten) - Pitchbend Tasten sind nicht so intuitiv wie ein Bend-Wheel Extra Tip: Die LEDs der Pads lassen sich per Midi ansteuern, ähnlich wie bei einem Novation Launchpad. Dazu einfach Midi-Signale auf einem beliebigen Kanal an das Device "Alesis - V Mini - EDITOR In" senden. Dann leuchten sie nicht nur bei Tastendruck, sondern auch, wenn der DAW die entsprechende Note spielt.

Super easy to use, just plug it in, open your DAW and you're ready to play. The buttons are straightforward and I love that the keys are velocity sensitive so you can play super softly or intensely depending on what mood you're going for. I haven't encountered the issue of the drum pads double-playing, you just have to give them a good solid tap. Overall the keyboard feels sturdy and of good, lasting quality. The only downside is that if you run MacOS Catalina on your computer, the drivers haven't been updated so you're not able to use the Editor program to change the adjustable knobs, rendering them useless. Not a huge deal for me since the basic functionality is still there and all the other buttons work great, but might be an issue if you get the full size keyboard with more adjustable knobs/buttons. Hopefully Alesis will update this sometime to make the keyboard more functional.