Nektar Panorama T6

Sources split, and it splits on a physical cause rather than taste. The 61-note 2nd-generation Panorama synth-action keybed — dampened, medium tension, multiple velocity curves plus a fixed option, and channel aftertouch — is praised almost everywhere for how it plays: firm, springy, expressive, and unusual at this price for having aftertouch at all. The dissent is about NOISE. A reviewer who tried one in a shop called the action obnoxiously loud, and a T6 owner warns it off anyone who also needs a keyboard to practise or perform on. Through headphones this is a non-issue; in a quiet room with a microphone open it is the whole decision.

The headline feature, and the axis where sources most cleanly disagree — because the answer depends entirely on which DAW you open. Nektar writes bespoke DAW Integration files for Bitwig, Cubase, GarageBand, Logic, Nuendo, Reaper, Reason and Studio One, and reviewers who worked in those called the result class-leading; Nektarine adds one consistent mapped interface across every VST/AU instrument, in any host. Outside that list the picture thins sharply, and Nektar's own support pages say so: Ableton Live and FL Studio get plain Mackie Control emulation with nothing to install, and since Pro Tools 2024.3 the controller is a generic MIDI device there with no mixer, transport or navigation control at all. A Cubase user also reports the integration weakening from Cubase 12 onward.

Split roughly evenly, with a slight negative lean. Owners who got a good one describe a solid chassis with controls that feel properly made and keys that don't wobble, and the largest retail aggregate sits at a respectable 4.2 out of 5 across 77 ratings. Against that runs a persistent minority report of faders that misbehave from new — one buyer documented faders 5 through 9 failing to track on a brand-new unit, found an Amazon review describing the identical fault, and was told by every replier to return it. Nothing here suggests a design defect; it reads as a unit-to-unit lottery, which matters more than usual now that the product is discontinued and buying used means buying without a warranty.

The quiet strength, and the reason the T6 outlives its software story. A real 5-pin DIN MIDI Out plus separate quarter-inch footswitch and expression-pedal jacks mean it can drive hardware and work as a standalone master keyboard with no computer attached; it is USB class-compliant at 500 mA, so it runs on bus power alone and works on Windows, macOS, Linux and iOS via a powered camera-connection kit. The gaps are generational rather than functional: there is no MIDI In, the socket is USB Type-B rather than USB-C, and there is no wireless of any kind.

“you could connect a suitable power supply to the T4's rear USB connector to power the unit and connect to an external sound module using the MIDI out, thus making it into a useful stand-alone master keyboard”

Bob Thomas, Sound On Sound

The clearest point of agreement. At $299.99 the T6 bundled 61 aftertouch keys, nine faders, eight encoders, eight buttons, eight pressure-sensitive pads, a display, a MIDI Out, two pedal jacks, Bitwig 8-Track and the whole Nektarine plug-in-control system — a combination reviewers repeatedly said should have cost more, with MusicTech awarding it their MT Choice badge. The caveat is availability rather than price: with the line discontinued, what you find now is used or old stock, without a manufacturer warranty behind it.

“Add the price in and it’s a very good buy.”

Andy Jones, MusicTech

“For the price you certainly can't go wrong with the T6”

Owner review, Sweetwater

An unusually deep hands-on set for the money: nine 30 mm faders, eight assignable encoders, eight LED buttons beneath the faders, six LED transport buttons, four navigation buttons and ten storable presets, every control MIDI-assignable. Reviewers liked how much of it falls under the hands at once, and one critic who rejected the keyboard still singled out the left-hand fader placement as ideal. The consistent nit is the display: the 128×64 monochrome LCD does its job, but editorial and owners alike found it small and plain next to what rivals were fitting.

“There are nine faders, eight knobs and a host of buttons for assignment or standard control features.”

Mixdown Magazine

“I’m spoilt by reviewing some damn fine keyboards with some damn fine screens, so this one is a bit underwhelming.”

Andy Jones, MusicTech

Two pieces, both counted in the price. Nektarine is the interesting one: a VST/VST3/AU plug-in that hosts other instrument plug-ins, so the T6 gets mapped control and patch browsing across everything you own, consistently, in any host — reviewers found it genuinely well thought through, with one saying he'd use it even without the keyboard. Bitwig 8-Track comes in the box. The recurring caution is commitment: getting the most from Nektarine means an up-front pass of scanning, importing and configuring, and one Cubase owner argues the T-series leans on the Nektarine wrapper where the older P-series talked to the DAW more directly.

“The deeper DAW integration is an absolute joy and Nektarine is genius.”

Andy Jones, MusicTech

“Although Nektarine does require a fair amount of initial setup work”

Bob Thomas, Sound On Sound

Eight large velocity- and pressure-sensitive RGB pads, with a bank button for a second set of eight and eight storable pad maps. Nektar designed them for a very low trigger threshold so ghost notes and flams register, and each pad can be calibrated individually. Reviewers rated them well above the token pads usually bolted to keyboard controllers — one particularly liked assigning notes, chords and separate MIDI channels to them for playing stabs against a bass line — and an owner who switched from an Akai preferred them, though he noted that took some time in the sensitivity settings first.

“I particularly loved having the ability to assign notes, chords and separate MIDI channels to the pads as it made playing chord stabs and/or percussion against a keyboard bass or melody line a breeze”

Bob Thomas, Sound On Sound

“I think the pads are also better here after you've fiddled with the sensitivity option”

Owner review, Sweetwater

Not its strength, and the one place the 61-key version is meaningfully worse than its 49-key twin. At 98 cm wide and 7.6 kg (16.75 lb) the T6 is a substantial desk instrument, and it is taller than photographs suggest — an owner specifically warned buyers with shallow keyboard trays. The consolation is that it needs nothing but the USB cable: bus power at 500 mA, no wall-wart, class-compliant on every desktop OS and on iOS with a powered camera-connection kit.

“My only surprise is that the pictures make it look a bit smaller than it is. It's fairly tall compared with some controllers, so keep that in mind if your keyboard tray is particularly short.”

Owner review, Sweetwater