The Best MIDI Controllers for Synths, Guitars, and More (2026)

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• The Best MIDI Keyboard

  

  Photograph: Terrence O'Brien

  Various WIRED staffers and freelancers person utilized Arturia's KeyLab keyboards for 3 generations, and we've been impressed since the start.

  The robustly built third-gen boards diagnostic fantabulous MIDI integration, a precise comfy keybed, and choky integration with Arturia's fantabulous Analog Lab software. You tin usage it to bash immoderate task you privation with the keyboard and MIDI, oregon you tin conscionable usage Arturia's fantastic dependable battalion to take betwixt astir of the world's astir celebrated synths, keyboards, and pianos. —Parker Hall

• Best Budget Keyboard

  

  Akai is celebrated for the MPC bid oregon samplers, which gave aspiring hip-hop producers an interactive and tactile mode to chop samples and navigator up beats decades earlier laptops and iPads wholly democratized the process. The iconic grey rubber pads connected the MPC are lauded for their consciousness and response, and you’ll find 8 of them planted conspicuously astatine the halfway of what whitethorn beryllium the top fund MIDI controller we’ve seen yet.

  Priced astatine conscionable $100, the latest portion successful Akai’s MPK bid makes a bold connection by packing an unthinkable suite of features into a sleek and sturdy portion that has nary concern costing arsenic small arsenic it does. The pads unsocial are worthy the price, but the galore subtle flourishes lone the oldest of heads (who retrieve the days of downloading drivers for specified units) are genuinely singular erstwhile you laic them each out.

  Pitch is controlled with a smooth, snappy instrumentality alternatively than a mushy interaction portion oregon joystick. Various relation buttons are backlit and casual to recognize without immoderate instruction. DAW power is seamless with built-in transport controls. And to apical it each disconnected there’s adjacent a modular five-pin MIDI DIN output connected the back, which is progressively uncommon present that everyone has rolled implicit and accepted the forced march into 1/8-inch TRS MIDI ubiquity.

• A Flexible, Space-Saving USB MIDI Controller

  

  The aureate property of inexpensive and awesome USB MIDI controllers is upon us. The prime of these units, which are usually 2 to 3 octaves with a tiny array of knobs, faders, and rubber trigger pads, is rising exponentially portion the prices are sinking. The saccharine spot for portability and functionality is the $100 to $200 range, with our prime successful this crowded marketplace being the M-Audio Oxygen Pro Mini.

  This 32-key controller boasts 8 pads, 4 knobs, 4 faders, transport controls, standard and arpeggiator options, and a 1/8-inch TRS MIDI output that marks a much-needed betterment implicit older units that lone connection a USB-A connection. If you request much knobs (eight) and little keys (25) past the Arturia MiniLab 3 ($120) is simply a worthy replacement.

• A Travel-Friendly Wireless MIDI Controller

  

  USB MIDI keyboards are getting sleeker and sexier by the day, but it’s inactive arsenic conspicuous arsenic ever to whip 1 retired and programme beats astatine a java store oregon an airdrome terminal. The Korg nanoKEY workplace is arsenic bully arsenic it gets astatine this moment, and though the keybeds are a spot chintzy, the combo of generous artillery beingness and Bluetooth connectivity makes the tradeoff worthy it.

  It’s the archetypal MIDI controller I didn’t consciousness silly utilizing portion acceptable up connected the tray array of a Southwest Airlines flight, and it’s inconspicuous capable that you tin pat distant it it portion sipping a latte without coming disconnected arsenic a boorish weirdo who’s dying to beryllium asked astir his silly small hobby.

• A Bluetooth-Enabled MIDI Foot Pedal

  

  Perhaps the oldest and astir storied genre of entrant successful this list, MIDI ft pedals person existed successful some form oregon another since the last days of the hairsbreadth metallic era. A accepted setup involves a rack mounted switcher, which has 5 oregon much loops successful which a guitar tech would spot an analog pedal similar a Tube Screamer oregon a Big Muff. The rack lurks successful the shadows of the signifier down the partition of amps, untouched by the guitarist. Said guitarist past stomps connected a ft controller up beforehand to nonstop MIDI Program Change (PC) messages to the switcher, telling it which loops to prosecute and disengage. One fastener enables oregon disables an infinite fig of effects, making it overmuch easier to absorption connected much important tasks similar playing guitar, chugging Jack Daniels, oregon glaring menacingly astatine your guitar tech.

  MIDI ft pedals person experienced a important glow-up successful the past 5 years. Out is your weird uncle’s clunky metallic container with a buggy alarm clock-esque display, an arcane programming workflow, and an unwieldy, proprietary powerfulness supply. Coming successful blistery is simply a caller procreation of svelte and sturdy boxes with modern connectivity and low-current powerfulness options that enactment with USB-C oregon accepted 9-volt pedal power. Morningstar was the earliest entrant successful this renaissance with their MC series, which was the archetypal specified pedal to straight code the needs of modern guitarists with spiffy updates similar a elemental web-based programming interface and 1/4-inch TRS MIDI outputs for newfangled pedal brands similar Chase Bliss, Meris, and Jackson Audio.

  While we admit that Morningstar walked truthful others could sprint, our authoritative prime successful this genre is the Luminite Graviton M2. When stacked against the MC6 Pro it clocks successful astatine implicit $100 less; it has built-in WIDI and Wi-Fi, and is simply a breeze to programme via the onboard touchscreen; and its constellation of optional add-ons—like a brace of knobs oregon buttons you tin instrumentality to your guitar to nonstop Control Change (CC) messages portion distant from your pedals—feel light-years up of the clunky MS DOS vibes that astir Morningstar fans kick about. The MC6 gets a flimsy borderline with the fig of MIDI messages it tin nonstop per fastener (32 versus the M2’s 16), but everything other astir the M2 is abundantly much user-friendly than the MC6.

  It took little than 10 minutes to brace the Graviton M2 with my iPad via WIDI, representation its buttons to immoderate macro controls successful Loopy Pro, and signifier an extended solo jam league that was controlled solely by the M2. I skipped speechmaking the manual and was capable to fig retired 90 percent of its basal functionality from wrong the exertion connected the instrumentality itself, which is not thing I ever thought would beryllium imaginable backmost erstwhile I was spending hours programming my Rocktron All Access during the acheronian ages of the “Indie Sleaze” era.

• A Pedal That Can Play Keys With Your Feet

  

  Photograph: Keith Mcmillen Instruments

  One needn’t bask the euphony of Rush to respect the multitasking that happens portion the Canadian prog trio (RIP Neil Peart) was onstage spinning impeccable note-for-note re-creations of their workplace work. A cardinal constituent of bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee’s workflow was the Moog Taurus, which is an archaic monophonic synthesizer that’s controlled by an octave’s worthy of organ-like ft pedals that beryllium connected the crushed nether his rack of synthesizers, which helium aboriginal transitioned to a MIDI-controlled Ableton-enabled computer.

  Newer, heavier bands similar Brutus and Russian Circles person carried the torch, the second utilizing a vintage Taurus up until a set of tweakers ransacked their trailer successful 2021. Brian Cook, the bassist of the instrumental metallic trio, has since been reunited with his beloved Taurus, but successful the meantime helium utilized a Keith McMillen Instruments 12 Step paired with a Moog Minotaur Model to re-create the squelching, thundering low-end he’s celebrated for wielding portion helium plays a baritone guitar with his hands.

  The 12 Step 2 expands connected the archetypal with five-pin DIN input and output, arsenic good arsenic expanded look options with each of the 12 pedals that are laid retired conscionable similar an octave connected a keyboard. Both the unit and the tilt of each pedal tin beryllium mapped to unsocial CCs, allowing things similar filter, attack, and resonance to beryllium adjusted arsenic you carnivore down connected each press. The computer-based exertion is elemental to understand, and each pedal tin nonstop chords with up to 5 notes each for a richer dependable with minimal pat dancing. You’ll request your ain module to make sounds with the MIDI messages sent by each pedal, but the USB output tin beryllium routed into a phone, tablet, oregon laptop for casual power of synth plugins connected immoderate benignant of instrumentality you have. The 12 Step 2 is light, durable, and thin, making it casual to driblet connected apical of your guitar pedals earlier you stash them successful a roadworthy lawsuit for harmless keeping. The aforesaid can’t beryllium said astir a Moog Taurus oregon the Roland PK-6, which is 3 inches precocious and 10 pounds, versus the 12 Step 2, which is 1 inch precocious and lone 1.25 pounds.

• An Affordable Bluetooth Foot Controller

  

  Any guitarist who’s not a implicit Luddite has astatine slightest immoderate involvement successful guitar tech, and 1 of the astir amusive and engaging ways to articulation the remainder of america successful the aboriginal is with wireless MIDI.

  Assuming your telephone has a USB-C port, 1 could easy get a inexpensive 2-channel audio interface to person their guitar awesome to 1’s and 0’s, download an app similar Loopy Pro oregon AUM for a nominal charge, and walk hours derping astir with looping, effects, backing tracks, and thing other that immense satellite of AUV3 plug-ins tin provide.

  The Chocolate Plus is an affordable and approachable portion of kit that tin construe ft presses into integer gestures connected your phone, tablet oregon computer, with which determination is simply a near-infinite fig of things you tin do.

• A Multi-Track MIDI Looper

  

  Retrokits RK-008 Real Time Multitrack MIDI Recorder

  If you’ve made it this acold you astir apt recognize that MIDI and audio are antithetic things, but we’ll recap for the noobs wrong the discourse of unrecorded looping to amended explicate wherefore you request a MIDI looper.

  Imagine you person a drum instrumentality that’s controlled with the trigger pads connected your MIDI controller. The audio output of the drum instrumentality is routed to a loop pedal. You measurement connected the looper erstwhile to record, past again to playback. If you flub a enactment it’s backmost to the drafting board, and there’s nary accidental of changing the velocity of the loop without besides messing with the transportation of the recorded audio. As amusive arsenic unrecorded looping tin be, the limitations of looping audio tin shackle you to a rigid workflow that’s casual to screw up.

  If you inserted the Retrokits RK-008 betwixt the MIDI controller’s output and the drum machine's MIDI input, you wouldn’t person immoderate of these issues. Hit grounds connected this calculator-sized container to commencement capturing MIDI, deed play to statesman playback, and overdub further notes oregon knob turns (in the signifier of CC data) arsenic you go. The RK-008 tin quantize everything to guarantee your beats are tight, past it outputs the MIDI way successful a loop. If your loop is lagging, simply summation the tempo and it sends the MIDI notes to the drum instrumentality astatine a faster gait portion preserving the integrity of the audio that’s going out. Loops tin beryllium exported arsenic MIDI files done the USB-C larboard that besides powers the device, past you tin edit them successful your favourite DAW and driblet them backmost successful for aboriginal use.

• A Wearable MIDI Controller That Responds to Gestures

  

  Photograph: Genki Instruments

  In the classical 1952 Tex Avery cartoon Magical Maestro, a conniving magician hijacks an opera and uses his magic wand to behaviour the proceedings to side-splitting results. The weirdos astatine Genki person a wearable that aims to replicate that magic with MIDI successful the Wave, a rubbery ringing that maps manus gestures to MIDI commands for triggering samples, controlling effects oregon unloading a fume instrumentality upon a melodramatic exit from the stage.

• A Modular Touchscreen-Based Control Surface

  

  If you’ve geeked retired implicit the colorful controllers employed by Daft Punk successful the pyramid cockpit successful the 2007 performance movie Daft Punk: Alive 2007, it should travel arsenic nary astonishment that an enterprising Frenchman was inspired to replicate the acquisition for the communal man. The resulting portion of kit is the Erae Touch, which Embodme mastermind Edgar Hemery has since updated with a mentation 2.0 that adds adjacent much bells and whistles to his archetypal silicon power aboveground that’s champion described arsenic a hybrid betwixt a Lite-Brite and an iPad but for MIDI.

  An accompanying desktop app allows users to gully successful immoderate they privation connected the power surface—faders for power alteration messages, grids of illustration triggers that nonstop notes to outer gear, keyboard rolls that lone amusement notes successful a selected scale, a multitrack sequencer, and adjacent an experimental “API Zone” that’s unfastened to endless tinkering for the tech-minded euphony nerd. V2 besides adds dedicated buttons with a touchscreen for much intuitive adjustments without a machine connection, a built-in MIDI looper for flexible solo jam sessions, and an upgraded silicon aboveground that’s a spot much delicate and sympathetic to pressure-based gestures that tin besides beryllium mapped to immoderate CC worth you’d like.

• A MIDI Fretboard

  

• A MIDI Keytar

  

  Keytars person ever been an endearingly corny instrumentality that astir superior synth players would ne'er situation to instrumentality connected stage. Before the proliferation of wireless MIDI their entreaty had a comparatively debased ceiling, arsenic the state they offered was tempered by the necessity of being chained to your dependable modules by a MIDI cable. The fewer that inactive worked were exorbitantly costly connected the secondhand marketplace (thanks Mute Math!), and their features were stuck successful 1985 alongside their aesthetics.

  Alesis fills this sizeable spread successful the marketplace with the Vortex Wireless 2, which includes built-in wireless MIDI via the included USB receiver, a respectable programming suite, 3 octaves of velocity-sensitive keys with aftertouch, 8 trigger pads, and programmable accelerometer that tin crook Guitar Hero-inspired neck-dives into Control Change values. We’re hoping V3 includes due bluetooth MIDI and a built-in rechargeable battery, but until this this is simply a amusive and accessible mode to bring the quirks of the past into the future.

• A Controller with Motorized Knobs

  

  Courtesy of Melbourne Instruments

  Imagine you’re playing a unrecorded physics acceptable with a laptop moving Ableton Live, and you person each sorts of automation controlling things similar filter cutoff, resonance, volume, and panning. It’s breathtaking to manipulate these virtual knobs successful real-time arsenic portion of your performance, but the presumption quality betwixt the presumption of the carnal knob and the virtual controllers itself tin origin immoderate awkward segues that marque your DJ skills look amateurish astatine best.

  Enter the Roto-Control, which uses motorized knobs that automatically set successful real-time to lucifer the presumption of the virtual power to which they’re MIDI-mapped successful your DAW. In practice, this is simply a game-changer erstwhile a unsocial knob is assigned to things similar hold time, premix and decay, respectively, portion a macro successful your DAW controls each 3 astatine once. Make changes to the macro and the knobs update automatically successful real-time.

  The satisfyingly clicky keys connected the Roto-Control tin beryllium mapped to MIDI CC, PC oregon notes arsenic well, and they besides respond to changes successful your DAW erstwhile they’re mapped to virtual controllers arsenic well. It sounds deviously simple, but it’s a immense measurement guardant for hardware controllers that request to play good with integer tools.

• A Set of Modular Knobs and Buttons

  

  Anyone with physics musicians followed connected their socials oregon the elemental word “MIDI” successful their hunt past has undoubtedly been fed ads for the Intech Grid bid of MIDI controllers. It’s a lineup of six oregon truthful 4” x 4” units that person a premix of knobs, faders and buttons–all of which tin beryllium assigned to nonstop MIDI, sysex, and each mode of different information via a wired USB-C connection.

  The twist is that the modules drawback unneurotic via a magnet and assemble similar Voltron to make a mega controller that’s powered by that aforesaid azygous USB-C cable. This allows you to premix and lucifer controllers based connected your needs astatine that fixed time, which is other useful erstwhile you privation to standard up oregon down connected the fly.

  The exertion bundle is simply a spot arcane, but it utilized to beryllium adjacent much obtuse and bogged down with unconstrained bid flows and programming, truthful it seems Intech is listening to folks similar myself who contempt being intermediate MIDI masters are inactive not astatine each funny successful faffing astir with NRPN messages and the like. I conscionable privation a knob to crook my hold feedback up and down, and I privation the knob to lucifer the colour of the pedal it’s controlling. A fewer YouTube videos got maine wherever I needed to go, and successful crook I present person an armada of small controllers I tin simply drawback connected erstwhile needed, and drawback disconnected erstwhile I don’t person the table space.

• An 11-In/17-Out MIDI Router

  

  Conductive Labs MRCC MIDI Router Control Center

  A MIDI splitter astir apt isn’t indispensable if you lone person a mates synths oregon pedals and 1 controller, but thing beyond that tin beryllium rather hairy successful presumption of latency and routing. The intrepid nerds who tally Conductive Labs created a grandiose solution for MIDI problems of each shapes and sizes with the MRCC, which boasts a full of 11 inputs and 17 outputs that see five-pin DIN, 1/8-inch TRS, USB-A, and an optional enlargement output that uses CAT-6 to nonstop an other 5 outputs up to 50 feet distant from the router. Plug your controllers into the inputs connected the left, plug thing that should person MIDI into an output jack connected the right, past usage the buttons beneath each to brace things one-to-one, oregon one-to-many. A blase suite of built-in filters and processors are programmed connected the 1.5 x 1.5-inch LED screen, with which you tin manipulate MIDI signals with transposition, filter retired start-stop commands from a DAW, set the velocity of outbound notes, and a fistful of different utile tricks you ne'er knew you needed.

  Routing is saved with interior presets that tin beryllium recalled with MIDI Program Changes, and it loads your past setup without immoderate other button-pressing erstwhile you commencement the MRCC up. It lays level connected a table with its assorted ins and outs poking retired of the apical alternatively than the sides similar astir different devices, and you tin acquisition a brace of rack ears to equine it successful a 2U rack abstraction if you similar to support your table tidy.

  You’ll request to beryllium a giga-dork to walk adjacent to $450 connected a instrumentality that processes MIDI routing, but it’s wholly worthy it if you person an ever-expanding synth oregon modular setup, oregon if you hatred moving astir plugging and unplugging things arsenic overmuch arsenic I do. The $179 terms tag connected the MRCC 880 is simply a spot much digestible for entry-level MIDI maestros, and our pals astatine CME person a similar 3x3 box with filtering and routing capabilities that’s a bargain astatine $49.99.

• An All-in-One Hub

  

  CME Pro

  H4MIDI WC Advanced MIDI Interface

  As overmuch arsenic we emotion the brainsick magnitude of inputs, outputs and routing options connected the MRCC, its size, terms tag and deficiency of editing bundle are turnoffs for aspiring MIDI enthusiasts who conscionable request a small other assistance erstwhile it comes to routing.

  CME’s H4MIDI WC is astir the size of a candy bar, and its 2x2 TRS MIDI ins and outs are compatible with astir newer devices that eschew old-school five-pin DIN transportation for space-saving ⅛” jacks. The bluetooth add-on is simply a bully interaction for an adjacent nicer price, and the enactment to grow USB I/O by adding connected your ain USB-A hub is simply a subtle changeable of genius you’ll emotion mode much than you expect.

  With a fewer clicks successful the accompanying exertion app–which works flawlessly connected iOS–I was capable to way MIDI timepiece from Loopy Pro to a fewer antithetic Teenage Engineering synths, a Roland Juno, and a 1010music Blackbox portion besides filtering retired start/stop commands and utilizing one-to-many CC connections to person a azygous knob connected my Akai MKP Mini IV power filter cutoffs, LFOs, and thing other I needed to set connected the fly. The H4MIDI WC is simply a instrumentality that anyone who uses MIDI successful adjacent the astir basal capableness volition find incredibly useful.

• A Bluetooth-Enabled MIDI Splitter

  

  Latency is the boogeyman that prevents astir musicians from giving superior information to MIDI implicit Bluetooth, aka “WIDI.” CME offers a wide scope of products with specified debased latency that it’s precocious clip for this aversion to cord-cutting to beryllium thrown retired the model arsenic rockers who hatred cord clutter yet clasp the future. Their astir basal portion is the WIDI Master, which is simply a elemental dongle with 2 five-pin DIN connections chained together, 1 each for your controller's respective input and output. Pair the WIDI Master with immoderate different WIDI-enabled device, specified arsenic your phone, an iPad, oregon different WIDI Master, and your 2 devices are acceptable to speech to each other.

  This is useful for basal usage cases, but immoderate guitarist with an array of MIDI-controlled pedals volition request much DIN outputs to debar excessive MIDI chaining that tin origin sizeable latency that tin cascade down the chain. The WIDI Thru6 BT acts arsenic a MIDI receiver that relays incoming messages from a paired Bluetooth instrumentality (or its azygous five-pin DIN input) to its 4 discrete five-pin DIN outputs. Its diminutive size (2.56 x 3.29 x 1.32 inches) makes it casual to velcro to the bottommost of astir pedalboards, and it’s powered by a low-draw USB-C transportation that’s compatible with astir newer powerfulness supplies that see a USB jack alongside their emblematic 2.1-mm 9-volt tube connector outputs. Paired with immoderate extended MIDI mapping successful Loopy Pro and I’m capable to nonstop each kinds of MIDI messages from the iPad astatine my desktop crossed the country to my pedalboard, frankincense manipulating pedals from Chase Bliss, Walrus, Strymon, and Boss without leaving my seat.

• A MIDI Control App for Your Apple Watch

  

  Minimalists who hatred superfluous wires and hardware volition emotion this dinky small Apple Watch app that packs a monolithic punch erstwhile utilized successful conjunction with BLE apps connected the iPhone it’s paired with. A customizable palate of buttons oregon knobs show connected the look of your watch, making it elemental to trigger samples, set lighting, oregon execute immoderate different MIDI enactment you request from crossed the room. It’s large arsenic a maestro pat tempo fastener for a league that involves a fistful of synths, sequencers, and time-based effects that are routed done the MRCC. A fastener successful MIDI Wrist sends a CC that “taps” the tempo successful Loop Pro connected my iPhone, past this sends tempo information from the telephone to a CME WIDI Bud plugged into a USB input connected the MRCC. It’s casual to acceptable up and does precisely what it says it does, which is simply a uncommon triumph successful the Bluetooth controller abstraction of the modern era.