Roger Linn Design LinnStrument 128

This is a wonderful instrument. I think it is far more accurate to call the Linnstrument that, instead of a controller. There's a learning curve, just as with any instrument.

I hesitated for a long time - it's a an expensive piece of kit! I do believe it is worth the price, though. (Small scale manufacturing with good quality controls isn't cheap.)

The expressive controls are excellent, Roger Linn provides top-notch support, and unlike most devices these days the Linnstrument is clearly designed to last a lifetime - and wear parts like the silicone playing surface are user-replaceable.

There is an active community of Linnstrument players on the KVR audio forums, and on an independent Discord server unaffiliated with Roger Linn.

Like with all instruments, there are tradeoffs. The main tradeoff is that while being both pressure and velocity sensitive, the Linnstrument has essentially zero travel. You want to use a relatively gentle touch to be able to feel what's going on: the tactile feedback is in how your fingers squish against the surface, not with how the surface moves under your fingers.

I highly recommend looking at the support materials on the Linnstrument website if you have any questions.

I have not tried the LinnStrument with 200 keys, but the 128 is good enough and with a much more affordable price. The LinnStrument can truly provide full expressivity with pressure and X/Y sensors, and is easier to learn (for absolute beginners) than a keyboard layout or a guitar. The LinnStrument has become my main instrument. If you do the math, the 200-key LinnStrument only gives you 9 more notes than the 128-key LinnStrument, so I don't feel like I'm missing out something. Roger Linn treats you well, he's open to direct communication over email, and you get the feeling also with his hand written signature on the instrument, the custom-made bag, and the free content you get with BitWig 8-track, and the open source firmware. The only small disappointment I have with the LinnStrument is that the keys have virtually no "travel", so it often feels like pressing on a hard surface. And it's also a bit disappointing that very low-velocity keys are not detected, so it's less sensitive than (for instance) a touchscreen. That doesn't remove the glory of the instrument, though, it's just room for improvement. I am very satisfied with this purchase.

It still sort of mystifies me that there aren't lots more companies making controllers like this, but, while that's the case, I'm glad the Linnstrument exists.

It does look strangely like it was made 30-40 years ago, even though it's sort of an instrument from the future, but I find the simplicity of the build a huge advantage, because it suggests it will be a lot easier to fix in the long term. It's also nice to know that there's already a large community of people making accessories and modifications for the Linnstrument.

I'm personally about to modify mine slightly, by putting some small plastic rods in the indents between the pads to eliminate the "fret noise" that otherwise often happens when I play slides, but on the other hand, those indents can be very handy when playing sounds that don't have continuous pitch control.

The MIDI specs are fairly basic, but that's because it is primarily a musical instrument, not a general-purpose controller. If you want to do things significantly different from playing music with it, you'll need some sort of MIDI routing device or software, but then one would assume you'd need that anyway.

It's an isomorphic keyboard with a customisable row offset (I prefer 6 semitones over the default string-instrument 5, faster to get used to after a piano keyboard)
Very good vertical and horizontal precision and velocity sensitivity, pressure sensitivity is good
Actuation is instant, the "pads" do not move
Very sturdy
With a tiny bit of midi routing and copying, can be used with full polyphonic expression with any synth
The lights can be changed with CC or you can change the firmware yourself (it's open source)
Very useful pitch quantisation modes inbuilt or you can play "fretless"
Has a fancy step sequencer inbuilt
Well cushioned carry bag with detachable shoulder strap included
Comes with Bitwig 8-track after registration.

Cons: It's expensive; only 3 notes in a vertical column can be played