Best MIDI Keyboard for Beginners

Could anyone recommend the best MIDI keyboard for beginners? I can spend up to about $200. Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

* How many keys? 25 or less? 49? 61? 88?
* How portable does it need to be?
* Do you need full-size keys, or will mini-keys do?
* Do you want to control a DAW with the keyboard?

I have an Arturia KeyLab Mk II 61-key that I like, but it's too big to travel with, so I'm going to buy an Arturia MiniLab MkII 25 Slim-key Controller. The latter is $119 on Sweetwater. It's about the size of a closed laptop.

I spend a lot of time on Reverb and Sweetwater, looking at features, reviews, and photos. It's a big help in narrowing down the many choices.

 

+1 for the Arturia KeyLab series, they're great, but might be over your budget, unless you get a deal on a used one.

What are you using the keyboard for? Are you using at as a MIDI controller for MIDI sounds on your computer, or do you want to learn to play the piano? Because a lot of MIDI keyboards (usually the ones called controllers) will not make any sound on their own, without a software MIDI instrument.

 

Personally, I would recommend getting this AKAI Professional MPK Mini MK3 Black. It's small enough to fit in backpack, this diminutive, USB bus-powered MIDI controller gives you 25 velocity-sensitive synth-action mini keys, Octave Up/Down buttons, and an ergonomic 4-way thumbstick for pitch-bend and mod duties.