ARTURIAKeyStep 32-Key Controller & Sequencer USB/MIDI/CV Keyboard Controller

The Arturia Keystep 37 is a compact MIDI controller that has become a core piece of my dawless setup. Its both simple in its form and interface making it incredibly easy to sketch ideas without needing a screen. Despite its simplicity, it offers deep control over my gear. For anyone aiming to keep things tactile and creative without a DAW, the Keystep is an essential centerpiece.

I'm not a keyboardist. That said, I need a way to get notes into my mixes with velocity and aftertouch. I don't need 37 keys. Heck, I don't need 32 keys. If they made a smaller one with less keys, I'd buy it. I'm usually putting notes in one at a time with a midi tracker. Until they make a smaller one, this is it. That said, it feels great. I haven't made the jump to MPE and honestly probably won't until that industry standardizes on a shape.

Ive been using the key step for years and it's still a great midi controller. Arturia made a solid instrument here and it's still worth it now in 2025. If mine broke today, I would replace it immediately.

This thing is awesome. For the price, you simply can't beat it. Nice build quality, responsive keybed with aftertouch, 64 step sequencer with 8 note polyphony, arpeggiator with 8 order options, capacitive pitch and mod strips, chord mode, swing and gate functions, more than enough midi channels, and plenty of connection options to pair with other gear. There is no screen, so you will have to learn the buttons and their alternate shift function. Thankfully, Arturia put has an excellent user manual that will aid you in this. There are even more ways to program it with the online software, which is simple and easy to install. All in all, it is very fun to mess around on and can take your sound to a new level. It won't have some advanced features, but hey, its $100. Like I said, for the price, you can't beat it.

It is without question that I wanted to love the Arturia keyStep. After all, it offers a compact 32-key keyboard with aftertouch for just over a hundred bucks. And without question, this could be the right controller for some users, I'm thinking anyone who just needs straight up MIDI control for hardware since it does feature actual midi ports.The built-in arpeggiator and sequencer are surely the highlights of this compact controller, Because the keyboard itself is not. The keys are cheap and plastic and have no feel and small. I don't understand all the reviews making excuses for them as being just fine, they are not. This is not a playable controller, it's kind of like a Casio toy. It does have after touch, and that is nice, but at the end of the day you can't really play expressively. Same goes with the pitch bend and modulation controls... They are cheap capacitive touch, instead of proper wheels.But the thing is, I couldn't overlook all of that at this price point. What ruins it for me is that it just doesn't communicate properly with Ableton Live. MIDI communication and transport control are a mess because there's no actual software template for this keyboard in Live. Forget about it.Moral of the story, this could be useful for controlling some hardware, or for controlling software that communicates with it nicely. But, at least for me, just about anything else will do better when it comes to Ableton Live midi controllers. Not a knock on the actual device, so still four stars because I definitely see its pluses, and I'm sticking the caveats into the actual review.

Short if it's small USB connection, it's really sturdy. And that connection is pretty tight, so no drop-outs.I have found this quite handy for working on my laptop when away from the studio. A person not into much keyboard needs will find this adequate for the occasional music-making needs.I was impressed. I had an M-Audio 49 key and this impressed me much more. I love it's small footprint. Haven't twiddled with all the knobs and such. Just use the mod pads and keyboard. It's a bit smaller than a normal keyboard sized keys but I had no trouble adjusting.I've bought a bunch of stuff I returned, sold or gave away but this has a solid place in my music making needs.