Blackstar Carry-on White 88 Keys USB MIDI Controller for Portable Folding Digital Piano with Rechargeable Battery

I arrange music for orchestras and small ensembles, and I need something very small and lightweight that I can put behind my PC keyboard and mouse while I work, and put away in a cabinet when I'm done. For my use, there is nothing better out there, especially since it's a full 88 keys. Pros: - Very portable, very lightweight - I love the emulation of full-sized keys... even if you press down at the edge of a key, the whole key moves down at once which sort of feels like pressing a real key even though they're not as long. - Easy to setup and use - Great feature set... transposition, some demos, accompaniment, MIDI in and out Cons: - Can be a little finnicky to lay out without a relatively flat surface - Light, low-resistance keys means it's easy to make mistakes if you're trying to use it as an instrument for performance and not just a practice tool - bad speakers and sort of chintzy built-in sounds. Fun to mess around with, but not particularly useful - No velocity sensitivity. - Micro USB may be a turn-off for some. I wish it had USB-C My verdict... For a beginner, I'd recommend getting something that can sit out on a stand or table with better keys. More likely you'll play it if it stays out, and you'll develop much better habits with a better keybed. For a music producer, I would go with something with a smaller range and more MIDI controls like knobs and faders for simple note input and portable control, and then have a dedicated weighted keyboard for performance-type recording. For an arranger or on-the-go beginner or non-pianist that just needs a keyboard for practice, keyboard visualization, or other non-performance uses, this is probably THE best option out there since it has full-width keys but is as small and as light as those mini producer keyboards.

In general, I love this product for the value. I’ve had it for four days now. I purchased this for getting serious learning piano with the intention of buying a better piano later once I got familiar with options many digital keyboards offer. So for me, I was looking for something affordable, all 88 keys, and easy to transport so that it may still have a purpose once I upgrade later. It definitely feels like a kids toy being lightweight and lots of clicking plastic, but that isn’t stopping me from learning with it. I’m mostly using apps that recognize audio, and it works fine for that. My biggest gripe is the sticky ‘E’ key on the edge doesn’t always spring back up all the way - but it still works. PROS 88 keys. Easy to store and transport when folded. Less than 4 pounds. Has a tote bag with a snap. 8 hour rechargeable battery. Wires along hinges look well protected. Works great as midi controller over USB. Was automatically recognized by my device. Includes micro USB data cable. Includes 52 stickers to put on keys with note on staff, note letter and number if thumb is on C, dots representing octave, and tiny number of white key. Metronome between 1 and 6 beats with tempo between 1 and 16. Sustain pedal. Has 3.5mm audio jack. 128 instruments 128 accompaniments, with adjustable tempo 30 demo songs to play along with adjustable tempo Tapping power resets to default settings/instrument. Hold power to turn on/off prevents accidental power when traveling. Can change transpose keys by six in either direction. CONS No AC adapter for USB cable. Would prefer USB-C. No ‘normal’ MIDI port (midi over usb only) Keys not weighted. Keys do not detect pressure or speed. Interface to choose between 128 instruments and accompaniments is horrible with arrow kbuttons. Could have used first 10 piano keys as a number pad while holding sound or Accompaniment Buttons. A key tends to stay halfway down sometimes. No Bluetooth as midi controller or headphones. Lots of clicking plastic. Volume not high enough for parties or public spaces. Unable to lock into a rigid position to put on piano stand. Rubber feet look like they’ll fall off over time. No enumerated list of instruments, accompaniments, or demo songs to reference. No pedal for soft notes. Black keys are a bit short in height. Quarter inch lip of plastic in front of keys. Segments tend to slide off pegs when folded. You may want a strap or rubber band to hold it together. No storage IO for music, instruments, or accompaniments such as microSD, USB drive, or Bluetooth.

Note: I’m not a serious pianist. I picked this up when it was deeply discounted because I like messing around and I wanted to have something that wouldn’t take up a lot of room in storage and that I could use as a midi controller. Let’s start with the good stuff: * This folding keyboard takes up almost no room when folded and it only weighs a few pounds. It feels a bit like a magic trick when you pull this full-size keyboard out of its bag. * It offers full-width 88 keys just like a regular piano. * The keyboard feels a bit better made due to the metal bottom plate than its price might suggest. * The folding mechanism feels solid. All wires are carefully enclosed in strong, but flexible plastic. That isn’t likely to be a point of failure later, no matter how many times you fold or unfold it. * 64-key polyphony means you could mash down 64 of the 88 keys all at once and they’d all play normally without being cut off. That’s pretty good for a piano of this price. * The piano offers the full standard MIDI sound set, 128 sound samples. * The internal battery lets you play for a good while before you need to recharge. * There are built-in stereo speakers that are reasonably loud (but they’re not great sounding, so use the headphone-in jack). * The included USB cable charges the keyboard and allows MIDI-via-USB, so it can be used as a MIDI controller for your favorite software. * The piano includes a plastic sustain pedal. * Built-in metronome and included note stickers for first-time players. (You have to manually apply the stickers if you want to use them.) * The carrying bag is cloth and good quality with a snap closure. It is big enough for everything that ships with the piano with room left over for sheet music or headphones or whatever. I don’t think this would be great for someone who is a serious pianist because there are a number of compromises: * The keyboard sections do not lock together when unfolded, so you need to place the keyboard on a solid surface. I suppose this could be slightly positive if you need to play on a curved surface, but who does that and this keyboard won’t work with the typical keyboard stand that just has two or three bars that hold up the keyboard. * The keyboard keys are full-width, but not full-length. This might throw off people used to playing a standard size keyboard. I will say that the ratio between the length of the black and white keys seems to remain the same as a standard piano. * The black keys barely stick up above the white keys. They really should have increased the folded spacing between sections to allow for higher black keys. * The key action tends to be noisy. Sort of like clicking on a mechanical keyboard (though that is a positive in one way because playing near the top of the key is just as easy and reliable as playing near the bottom). * The built-in MIDI sound set is not the best I’ve ever heard. * The sustain pedal uses a non-standard 3.5 mm headphone jack, so you’re stuck using the pedal that came with the unit. Also, the wire length could be a bit longer, though in most seated or standing setups it should be able to reach the floor. * The speakers aren’t the best in terms of sound quality. Not terrible, but not great. Thankfully the headphone output is clean. * Although the unit has something like 30 built-in demo songs, it has no recording memory. If you want to record, you need to use something external or the midi controller functionality. * The USB charging/MIDI output cable is way too short. I wish it had a 6-foot cable at least. It is only 4 feet long, tip-to-tip. * The keys aren’t velocity sensitive, so you won’t be able to vary the sound levels with the action of your hands. All-in-all, if you need a self-contained midi controller that takes up very little room or if this is a purchase for a first time player, it’s not a bad choice, especially on sale. If you’re looking to have pro quality in a portable package, look elsewhere. *** UPDATE 7/23/23: *** I’ve been using this for about a year now and it has held up well so far. Overall battery life continues to be good (plus battery drain when in storage seems to be pretty good, too, the battery doesn’t drain too quickly when charged but not in use). The unit itself has held up well to periodic playing. None of the keys are broken and all functions work. The included USB cable is still ok, but I don’t think it would hold up well if crimped tightly for an extended period of time. Mine is mostly tied up in the included bag. I don’t leave the keyboard plugged in. I definitely recommend getting yourself a longer cable if you’re going to use it plugged in regularly. 4 feet just doesn’t cut it in my opinion. The speakers work ok, with no more distortion than normal and the headphone port continues to work well, with minimal hiss or distortion. I didn’t use the stickers and they’ve been stored in climate controlled areas, and they still seem ok with plenty of stickiness. The pedal still works, though mine doesn’t click when pressed as much as as it used to. I stand by my original rating.

Positives: extremely light weight and small; easy to travel with. The headphone jack is a great feature. Using the organ sound is the least offensive tone/sound in my opinion, but I really don’t care about the sound quality. This is for travel practice only. Cons: it is difficult to play any key signature with more than 1 or 2 sharps/flats. This is because the black keys are very short in length and height. If I’m playing, for example, a full Ab major chord, there's no room for the middle finger/Eb on the black key. The only way for me to play it is to curl my middle finger under and play with the fingernail. On a regular sized keyboard there is room for the fingers to slide up on the keys (closer to the soundboard) so fingers 2 and 3 aren’t scrunched up as thumb and pinky play octaves. I should also mention that the metronome feature doesn’t display beats/minute, just a degree of speed. So, Level 5 is approximately 70 beats/minute. I don’t mind the sound, sing I purchased this solely to keep up practicing while I travel for work (which is frequent). On average I have 6 new songs to learn every week, and every day counts in getting the music ready for the next Sunday morning. I find it perfect for things that are in the key of C, F, G, Bb, and D. Unfortunately, I really need to be able to play in every key and to modulate, and the design just doesn’t allow for much utilization of the black keys. If this were redesigned with full length keys, I would absolutely purchase again. For what it is and at this price point, I’m pleased to be able to literally practice while sitting on a balcony at the beach, headphones in, overlooking the ocean, and unconcerned about the effects of salt air. To be clear, I am not a beginner learning the piano, and I would not recommend this product for learning to play. If you have a decent piano or weighted full size keyboard at home as your main instrument, this travel keyboard is sufficient for some types of targeted practice while away from home.

Only JUST found out about the existence of roll up & foldable pianos in 2024 & after watching a great review by a professional musician named Angelo comparing both. Opted for this between the 2 choices based on his arguments for it being logical & am extremely pleased but there’s a bunch of caveats. His reviews are extremely helpful. I loaned out my very nice weighted keyboard to a family member as the problem w/it was it took up space, got dusty & also hurt my fingers as I tend to play fast pieces. My pianist friend tells me it’s my technique.. in any case, the keyboard took too much space. The reason I would not recommend this for a child learning piano is weighted keys are important for learning expression but for myself my main goal is to learn finger placement for muscle memory. For that reason, one tone no pressure isn’t a problem for my needs. The keys were less clackety than I expected as I was expecting FAR worse based on reviews I watched but they do make some noise. Also because there’s no tone I don’t pound them which helps lessen the clacking. The speaker is atrocious however but headphones or a speaker will alleviate this issue. I have it hooked up to my Apple Hi-Fi or Roland RH-A7 headphones & it sounds incomparably better than the speakers it comes with. You definitely want headphones or an external speaker. I use an incredibly sturdy Rowenta ironing board to put the keyboard on. The ironing board is discontinued but recall the ad showing a gymnast doing a handstand on it. The keyboard looks delicate, however I am INCREDIBLY cautious with my tools so am not too concerned with wear & again I also don’t hit these keys super hard because there is no point. This is just a tool for muscle memory for playing the real thing. My only complaint is the black keys are too short & unfortunately most of the pieces I want to play have 4 sharps or 4 flats… hand size and feet size is proportional & my hands although not tiny, get pretty cramped. Angelo’s review mentioned this but his hands are MUCH larger than mine & he says there’s just certain pieces he cannot play on this. Usually I have hand span envy, but in this case happy for the lack of such. I play mostly Bach, Beethoven & Mozart & these pieces seem to work for this fantastic foldable piano. The foot pedal is meh, but you could probably substitute a full size pedal from what other reviewers have said? All in all I LOVE THIS tool🖤 It’s the coolest invention ever & if they ever make the keys longer, will definitely buy that one too. I’m sure there are more magnificent uses for people who compose music & record, but for myself those aren’t my primary goals so cannot speak intelligently to that. If a child were to use this to learn on, I would want to make sure they also have access at least occasionally to a real piano as habits when learning are important. For myself though the weighted keys aren’t necessary & actually prefer it not to be as plastic hurts my fingers when going super speed;)

The product description claims this device has “full size keys, realistic feel and soft touch keyboard design” yet this is the 2nd most frustrating excuse for a keyboard I have ever purchased… the first being one of those rubber, roll-out keyboards. The keys feel wider than a piano keyboard, perhaps due to the ever-buckling hinges which cannot be locked down despite what it says in the manual. They’re not as deep as normal ivories and only a little higher than tiddly winks! I’ve pressed doorbells that were more responsive than these keys. If you’ve played one of those scaled-down lo-res bargain General MIDI keyboards before, just imagine one that’s been reduced to a bare minimum sound-wise, and then imagine something even worse. There are no usable Rhodes or FM type keyboard sounds, and the piano and percussion patches actually manage to sound worse than the Casio calculator from the song “Da Da Da”. The stereo speakers are almost on par with a greeting card piezo sound chip. It does have MIDI over USB, but it is definitely NOT touch-sensitive. The only way I could get it working on a MacBook was directly though one of the USB-C ports, since the unit relies on phantom power through USB for the MIDI functionality. This is FAR FROM “the ultimate go anywhere piano practice and recording system” advertised. It’s one redeeming quality is that it folds into 4 hinged sections which fit into a suitcase. My family begged me to stop playing it. I doubt I’ll be able to get much work done with this as a MIDI controller. It’s awkward, unresponsive, floppy, and overall just ridiculous. I’ve gotten more use out of the bag than the keyboard. I strongly suggest that you DON’T subject a beginner or Pro musician to this device’s frustrating experience.

Is this a really great sounding keyboard? No. Would I want to perform with, or hear a performer that used it? No. But! That's not what you buy this keyboard for. If you're shopping for this keyboard, it's because you are going to travel, and won't have access to a real keyboard or piano while away. You have kids who would like to keep up daily practice, or you want to accompany your Christmas carols at the family gathering, or you're going to a church camp and want to have more options than guitar for the Sunday morning singing, or something like that. For those purposes, this product will serve you fine. Pros: -Spacing of keys is generally correct and to scale. -Sound is acceptable for a cheap keyboard (this isn't a $900 product, folks, you're paying less than 10% of that.) -You can actually press down on the keys, and feel them move- important for those learning to play. -folds super compact when not in use. -comes with a little tote and all- how cute is that? Cons: -keys aren't full length or height, if that matters to you. -there's some clicking when playing especially if your fingernails are longer. -for better sound, you'll need to add an external speaker set that works with the headphone jack. -instructions are brief and not extremely well written though mostly intelligible. Good to know: You need a flat and sturdy surface nearly as long as the unfolded keyboard to open and use this on. There's no way to "lock" it open (that would be a fantastic improvement!) to use with a stand or anything. Bottom line: compared to other portable keyboard products in this price range this is a fantastic and superior choice. I would recommend it for any hobbyist level player.

This portable keyboard is perfect for travel! My son and I are headed to Paris from the States and he must keep up on his piano skills, even while on vacation. This gem allows him to do just that. It fold perfectly so I can slip it in our carryon without issue or taking up extra space. It’s not a ten grand baby piano, but it truly gets the job done in a pinch. The 88 keys are sensitive just enough for him to do his practice, without issues and the synthesizer features are sophisticated enough that he really unleashes his creativity and the midi connecting is so helpful for laying down tracks. All the pre-programmed sounds are quite useful for making new songs. Plus, it can easily be connected to our laptop. And the battery gifts him eight whole hours of playing time. Yes, this gem can turn any hotel suite into a temporary music hall!

Nice Product

¿Cuál es su mayor limitación? Que las teclas blancas y negras son cortas y muy bajas, aunque con el ancho correcto, que son ruidosas, que no son sensibles al tacto, que los altavoces son pequeños. ¿Cuál es su mayor virtud? Que se pliega y se monta con mucha facilidad, que es sólido, que no pesa, que tiene uno sonidos sorprendentemente buenos y que con auriculares se disfruta mucho. ¿Es excelente? No para aprender a tocar bien, ni para hacer ensayos serios, pero sí para tocar lo que ya sabes, casi en cualquier sitio de manera divertida y con buen sonido. Para viajar sin dejarte la música en casa, para no perder habilidad, para estar con los amigos. Yo lo he comprado rebajado y de segunda mano como nuevo. Ahora han sacado uno igual pero con las teclas sensibles y con bluetooth. Hasta ahora estoy muy satisfecho con la compra y la recomiendo a quienes ya tengan un piano o teclado con teclas contrapesadas y sensibles. Como segundo o tercer piano está genial.

good enough for learning to play the piano, the sound of the keys is decent

What a great product. It does not have weighted keys but for travelling what a great way to practice and keep in touch with piano playing. If you are looking for a piano like experience then it's not the right tool but for a quick practice especially during vacation or trips it's definitely a life saver.

Las ventajas son obvias, yo pedí el de 88 teclas y es asombroso como cabe en mi mochila aún con libretas y otras cosas. Da la sensación de pesar al rededor de un kilo compactado y su tamaño es similar a un paquete de 50 salchichas (no encontré con que más compararlo). Tiene 128 sonidos diferentes y muy bien tiempo de respuesta entre la tecla y el sonido. Lleva un par de bocinas integradas, además de su propia batería y eso lo hace muy portable. Además incluye su propio pedal se sustain (cuídalo mucho porque no tiene la entrada convencional de los otros pedales, se conecta a un puerto Jack de 3,5mm). Puedes practicar usando audífonos o conectarlo a alguna bocina. Le doy 5 estrellas a pesar de los inconvenientes (es muy útil cuando necesitas moverte sin cargar tanto y tienes otro teclado en casa) Las desventajas: 1- Las teclas no tienen sensibilidad (ya sería mucho pedir) pues las teclas dan una sensación similar a un teclado de computadora. 2- Al ser abatible te obliga a tenerlo en una superficie plana cómo una mesa (no se puede colocar en pedestal de teclado), y el de 88 teclas ocupa mucho espacio así que necesita una mesa grande. 3- se carga por un puerto micro USB (¿Porque no lo hacen con USB :C ?... Pero no). 4- Los sonidos parecen de juguete (aunque son decentes para una emergencia) PERO puedes mejorar mucho los sonidos usando el teclado como controlador MIDI y sacarle más provecho con software de computadora, Garage Band en iOS o BandLab en algunos dispositivos Android. También incluye cable micro USB, una bolsita para transportarlo y calcomanías con los nombres de las teclas para quien desee aprender. No lo recomiendo para ser tu primer teclado a menos que necesites llevarlo contigo a todos lados.