By aspect — in detail
Sources split, and not gently: this is an 88-note semi-weighted action with medium tension and no aftertouch, and reviewers who came to it as producers mostly find it even, quiet and properly playable, while a real minority of owners find it springy and plastic-feeling — with a handful reporting velocities that drifted after months of use. Everyone agrees on the scope: it is not a hammer action and was never meant to be one.
Measured
Nektar specifies 88 full-size, velocity-sensitive semi-weighted keys with medium tension, four velocity curves plus three fixed levels, and no aftertouch. A hands-on velocity check on the shared previous-generation keybed found the default curve reaching the high 30s at the softest touch and a little over 120 at the hardest, never quite hitting 127.
⚠ vs. listeners — The spec settles the part that sounds like a disagreement but is not one: this is a semi-weighted synth-style action, so 'it is not a piano' is a fact both camps accept. What they actually disagree about is how good the action is on its own terms — and Nektar itself answered by shipping a 'newly redesigned keybed' in the mk3 that replaced it.
Where it splits
an even, genuinely playable semi-weighted action for the money76%
“perfectly playable in any case and the keys have a good solid return”
Sound on Sound
springy plastic keys — usable, but no substitute for a real action, and a few drift24%
“the keys - esp lower end keys - could be stronger/have more resistance”
John E, verified owner · zZounds
Pads
Strong consensus · 5 srcThe most consistently praised part of the board after the control count. Eight velocity-sensitive pads, calibrated for a light touch, four-colour lit and reassignable in seconds with Pad Learn — reviewers and owners alike call them better than the price suggests. The only real limit is arithmetic: eight pads means banking to reach a full kit.
“The drum pads feel fine, and I like the soft rubber buttons.”
Sound on Sound
“the pads have been overhauled and are now more sensitive”
MusicRadar
“These pads feel nice and are reasonably responsive for most use cases.”
Higher Hz
Measured
Eight velocity-sensitive pads with four velocity curves plus three fixed levels, four-colour LED illumination, four storable pad maps, and Pad Learn — hold the mode, tap a pad, play the sound you want on the keys.
Controls
Strong consensus · 6 srcThe reason to buy it. Nine 30mm faders, eight knobs doubled to sixteen assignments by the Page button, nine assignable LED buttons and six dedicated transport keys — a count almost nothing else at this money matches, with soft takeover so values do not jump when you grab a control. The recurring gripe is the interface for editing them: a three-character LED display and key-combination entry that reviewers call old-school.
“The Nektar LX+ series controllers come with nine assignable faders, and very few manufacturers match that in the budget price range”
Higher Hz
“Among these are the Track Selectors, which are easily my favourite and most used buttons”
Sound on Sound
“Editing settings via LED display and key entry straightforward but somewhat old-school.”
MusicRadar
Measured
Nine 30mm faders, eight potentiometers, nine assignable LED buttons, six dedicated transport buttons, five user presets and a three-character LED readout. Knobs and faders use two-way soft takeover — the display shows Up or Dn until the physical control catches the software value — with a Null mode for one-way MIDI setups.
Integration
Contested · 9 srcSources split on something concrete rather than a matter of taste: which DAW you use. In a host Nektar supports, the controls map themselves — mixer, instrument parameters, transport, track and patch navigation, with assignments standardised across a hundred-plus plugins. In Ableton Live or Pro Tools you fall back to generic MIDI plus a remote script that Nektar itself describes as far less complete, and owners have been asking for more since 2020.
Measured
Nektar publishes custom integration for Bitwig, Cakewalk, Cubase and Nuendo, Digital Performer, FL Studio, GarageBand, Logic, Reaper, Reason and Studio One. Ableton Live and Pro Tools are not on that list — the maker's own product page calls them DAWs with limited integration options, and its Ableton guide ships a Live Remote Script covering transport, eight mixer faders, arm buttons and drum-rack pads. The 2026 Impact LX88 mk3 that replaces this board adds Ableton Live Suite to the supported list.
Where it splits
in a supported DAW it maps itself and simply works71%
“In this regard the LX88+ is powerful, yet disarmingly simple.”
Sound on Sound
outside that list — Ableton Live, Pro Tools — you are back to plain MIDI29%
“This template is not as comprehensive as our integration for the other DAWs which we support but it will give you a place to start”
Nektar support knowledge base
Thin but not empty: a free copy of Bitwig 8-Track, which the DAW integration fully supports, and nothing else. One reviewer counts that as part of the bargain; another marks it down against rivals bundling instruments and effects, and Sound on Sound notes there is no editor or librarian app for the board itself. The mk3 successor answers the criticism directly, adding Komplete Select and a synth plugin.
“and with a free copy of Bitwig 8-Track bundled”
MusicRadar
“some additional instruments or effects beyond anything that comes with the free DAW”
Higher Hz
“No software editor/librarian.”
Sound on Sound
Connectivity
Moderate · 5 srcA genuine plus and two genuine gaps, which is why this lands near neutral. The plus is real and unique in its family: the LX88+ is the only Impact LX+ with a 5-pin MIDI output, so it drives hardware without going through the computer, and it runs off USB bus power or an optional 9V supply. The gaps: a single assignable footswitch jack with no expression-pedal input, no MIDI in, and a bus-powered design that Nektar's own troubleshooting page ties to mid-session dropouts on weak USB ports.
“The one exception is that the LX88+ also offers MIDI out.”
Higher Hz
“No expression pedal input is a shame. You have to head into Panorama territory to get that.”
Stephen Rees · VI-Control
“If your Impact LX+ stops communicating with your computer and music software during use”
Nektar support knowledge base
Measured
Rear panel: USB (data and bus power), 1/4-inch TS assignable footswitch jack, 5-pin MIDI output routable from the board or the DAW, power switch, and a 9V 600mA barrel socket for the optional supply. Class-compliant, no driver needed; 500mA over USB, or 100mA in low-power mode with the LEDs off — the mode Nektar recommends when a host cannot deliver the current.
Portability
Strong consensus · 4 srcAn 88-key board that behaves like a much smaller one. At roughly 18 pounds and three and a half inches deep it slides under a desk or onto a stand, travels in a soft bag, and takes its power from the USB cable — no wall wart required, and it will run from an iPad through a camera-connection kit.
“the LX88+ is light and trim; narrow enough to slide under my desk on a keyboard stand when not in use”
Sound on Sound
“Light but solid with slim build, making it pretty portable.”
MusicRadar
“Every model in this series is very lightweight, with the LX88+ being just 18 lbs”
Higher Hz
Measured
50 1/4 x 11 x 3.5 inches and 18 lb (about 8.2kg) — near-identical to the 7.7kg mk3 that replaced it — and USB bus-powered, so a laptop or an iPad is the whole power supply.
Solid where it counts, thin where it shows. The chassis draws consistent praise as substantial for the money, and the knobs, wheels and pads are called better than expected; the faders are the weak link almost every source names, and owner reports divide on durability — most fine, a minority describing fragile internals or a key section that started misbehaving inside a year. The dark finish with sparse labelling is also hard to read in a dim room.
“The LXs can’t help but look utilitarian next to the gorgeous Panoramas, but the build feels solid.”
Sound on Sound
“The action is smooth enough, but I’d have liked to see something more substantial as they feel a little flimsy.”
Higher Hz
“Customers have mixed opinions about the keyboard's build quality, with some finding it very solid while others note that the internals are fragile.”
Amazon customer reviews
Value
Strong consensus · 6 srcThe least contested thing about it. Every editorial source and both owner aggregates reach the same verdict: for the money there is nothing else offering 88 full-size keys plus this many assignable controls and this depth of automatic DAW mapping. Sound on Sound could not name a direct comparison. The one dissent is about resale rather than purchase — owners report it does not hold its value.
“an 88-key USB keyboard with drum pads, knobs, and faders that’s surprisingly affordable, yet still has much of the advanced DAW magic of the luxury models”
Sound on Sound
“AMAZING value for the money, I doubt there is another semi-weighed piano type 88 key controller with this quality and features, I highly recommend it.”
Stephen R, verified owner · zZounds
“they pack maximum functionality into a budget package”
Higher Hz
