EMU put their XK-6 keyboard though its paces at NAMM this year. Yes, you read correctly: the XK-6 is a keyboard, and it’s by EMU. It’s an EMU keyboard. But really, that shouldn’t be too surprising for any student of music technology history. Back in the day, before they made their name as a leader in sound generation modules and sampling, EMU designed some pretty sophisticated analog synths. So there’s definitely a precedent there as far as EMU keyboards go, even though the 61-key XK-6 isn’t analog and packs a degree of power and performance that would have been terrifying a couple decades ago. The XK-6 is a performance production synth with many of the features common to EMU’s incredible sound generation modules. You get EMU’s exclusive SuperBEATS performance mode, plus an included the Electronic/Techno soundset that features cool lead, cutting edge drum and pad sounds so you can hit the beats right out of the box. Realtime control enables you to bring beats in and out of your mix on the fly, while 12 controllers let you tweak filters and keyboard parameters in realtime for performances that will literally never be the same twice. Other features include 64-voice polyphony, 4 programmable realtime control knobs, a 24-bit dual effects processor, plus 24-bit analog outputs and two footswitch inputs.