MIDI ControllerOverreview

Alesis Vortex Wireless 2

The keytar most people end up recommending — and the one whose wireless link many of its owners have learned not to trust.

24 sourcesUpdated
$449Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

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Alesis Vortex Wireless 2

The short version

What to know.

A 37-key keytar MIDI controller with aftertouch, eight velocity-sensitive RGB pads, eight lit faders, and a neck carrying a pitch wheel, a touch strip with three banks, a sustain button, octave and zone buttons, a thumb volume slider and a switchable tilt sensor; it weighs 2.9 kg, runs on four AA batteries or USB power, and connects through a proprietary USB wireless receiver, a USB-B socket or a 5-pin MIDI Out — there is no Bluetooth and no sustain-pedal jack. Sources agree it is class-compliant and needs no driver, that the neck is unusually well laid out, that it is light and frugal with batteries, and that its feature set is generous for the money it has usually sold for. They split on four things. The wireless link: press tests and many owners found it seamless, while a large minority of owners report hanging notes and dropouts on stage — a split owners themselves tie to battery voltage, crowded radio rooms, receiver placement and a 2018 firmware fix. The Preset Editor, which every customisation depends on: praised at launch, and since listed by Alesis itself as unsupported on several recent macOS versions. The keybed, springy and well liked by most owners but called clacky by AMAZONA. And the build, solid to reviewers and plasticky to some long-term owners. Everything on the unit beyond presets is set from a computer, and the US price has risen from roughly $250–300 at launch to $449.

About this product

The 2018 third-generation Vortex — 37-key keytar controller in gloss black with eight faders and RGB pads. Not the 2012 wired Vortex or the earlier Vortex Wireless (three knobs), whose reviews were excluded.

Keytars nearly vanished after the 1980s, and for most of the years since, the Vortex has been the inexpensive one that stayed in production. Alesis's third version, shown at NAMM in January 2018, kept the gloss-black body and the receiver dongle of the earlier Vortex Wireless and swapped its three knobs for eight lit faders, with RGB pads, a pitch wheel, a touch strip and a tilt sensor that turns a swing of the neck into MIDI.

It makes no sound of its own: it is a strap-on MIDI controller that talks to a laptop, an iPad or a sound module, either through a small USB receiver, a USB cable or a 5-pin MIDI cable. Reviewers and owners agree on what it does well — the neck, the weight, the price-to-features ratio — and keep arguing about the one thing in its name: whether the wireless link can be trusted on a stage.

A good fit for

  • Players who already run sounds from a laptop, iPad or USB-host sound module and want to move
  • Keytar newcomers who want lots of assignable control without a Roland-sized price (in markets where it still sells near launch price)
  • Players who will use the neck — sustain, pitch and ribbon under the left hand — more than the tilt sensor

Think twice if

  • You want a self-contained keytar with built-in sounds
  • You need wireless you can't afford to troubleshoot — or plan to run it on rechargeable NiMH cells
  • Your only computer is a recent Mac and you need to change assignments
  • You want to plug in a sustain pedal or connect wirelessly over Bluetooth

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

4 / 9topics divide opinion
controlsintegrationportabilitypadsvalueconnectivitykeybedsoftwarebuild
5 Mostly agree4 Divided opinions

Common ground5

  • Class-compliant: it works on Mac and Windows with no driver, over the receiver or a cable
  • The neck is unusually well designed — sustain, octave, ribbon banks, pitch wheel and volume all under the left hand
  • Light at 2.9 kg, and frugal on four AA batteries

Points of contention4

  • Wireless reliability: seamless for many, hanging notes on stage for others — tied to batteries, radio congestion, receiver placement and firmware
  • The Preset Editor: easy at launch, but listed by Alesis as unsupported on some recent macOS versions
  • Keybed feel: springy and quick to most owners, clacky to AMAZONA

A closer look.

9 topics · 4 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Connectivity

Leans positiveDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment15 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split: both German magazine tests, DTM Station and many owners found the USB receiver seamless — no perceptible latency, rooms away from the computer — while a large minority of owners report notes that hang or drop out, sometimes every few seconds, sometimes once a gig. The split is not random. Owners trace hangs to low or rechargeable NiMH batteries, crowded 2.4 GHz rooms, a receiver hidden behind gear, and early firmware that Alesis patched in 2018; a powered USB hub and fresh alkalines help in many reports, though some owners still see stuck notes over the USB cable. Beyond the radio, the wired options are plain: USB-B and a 5-pin MIDI Out, no sustain-pedal jack, no Bluetooth, and the receiver needs a computer or a USB-host port on the other end.

Measured

Maker: a proprietary USB wireless receiver that is “always paired”, class-compliant with no drivers, plus a USB-B port and one 5-pin MIDI Out (Alesis FAQ and spec sheet). Hands-on checks: AMAZONA felt no latency anywhere within 10–15 m; DTM Station felt no difference between wireless and USB; Airwave Music hit trouble beyond 3–4 m and advises staying within about 2 m; IbandUK advises about 5 m with the keytar facing the computer.

vs. listeners — Most of the split has a cause owners can act on: hangs track battery voltage (NiMH rechargeables run 1.2 V per cell against alkaline's 1.5 V), 2.4 GHz congestion, receiver placement and pre-2018 firmware — two Thomann owners report Alesis's 2018 update ended the hangs, one of them revising a 2018 one-star in 2022. It doesn't explain everything: owners in 2021 and 2026 still report stuck notes with the USB cable.

Where it splits
Seamless — no perceptible latency, solid range55%

“Die Bedienung des Keyboards ist sehr intuitiv und der kabellose Betrieb funktioniert einwandfrei.”

bonedo.de, Christian Frentzen (German: “operation is very intuitive and the wireless mode works flawlessly”)
Hanging notes and dropouts make it a risk live45%

“However, I find it to be very unreliable, as sometimes, when the batteries are low, the sound hangs.”

r/Keytar owner, “Trouble with Alesis Vortex Wireless 2”
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Playing surface

Keys
37
Pads
8 velocity-sensitive, RGB
Faders
9
Display
LCD

Connection

USB
USB-B
MIDI
DIN out
Power
USB bus power, Battery

Physical

Weight
2,900 g
Dimensions
894 × 254 × 74 mm
Released
2018

Eight faders on the body plus a thumb volume slider; pitch wheel, touch strip and tilt sensor on the neck. Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from alesis.com, alesis.com, thomann.co.uk.

Follow the evidence

Sources 24

1–6 of 24 sources

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 5

  1. A read of where reviews and owners land as of October 2026. Most magazine coverage dates from its 2018 launch, so newer keytars aren't part of the comparison.

  2. Owner star ratings skew positive — they mostly come from people who chose to buy it — though here the low-star reviews are unusually consistent about what goes wrong.

Where to buy Product & retailer links

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