This little keyboard, with its tiny keys, plays so silky smooth. I can almost reach all my fingers across the key bed with ease, which is excellent for using the pitch wheel while performing. It's ultra light and very stylish. Imo. The programs that came with it installed, within about 2 hours total, and they run beautifully... Maybe not so much the kontakt program, as it will start up once and then never again after I shut it down... Idk. But maschine covers that problem as it has all the sounds on it as well. I haven't been able to use it directly through my DAW, the latest version of Waveform pro, and that may not even be possible, as the programs are clearly set up for Ableton, and I really like my DAW so I'm not about to change. However, you can create whole songs on Maschine, or just loops, etc. And export them for use on any DAW. It works quite well as a midi controller, with the exception of the play, stop, record buttons which can't be mapped. I use a novation launchkey for that purpose anyway. All in all, a beautiful, well made product at an equally beautiful price point. Props to Native instruments. Oh, and the sounds I've found in the programs are outstanding. I highly recommend this keyboard.