The Impulse 25 feels quite like a piano. Its keys are responsive and seem to have something like aftertouch, which at this price point is rare.
It's perfect for Ableton Live. It maps pretty seamlessly with Automap, and the drum pads are essential to break out of routines. If you want the best of both worlds -- both to have a responsive, realistic playing surface, with the convenience of a 25 key instrument which is small enough to compose on the kitchen table or on your bed, than this is the thing.
Novation stuff is very high quality. I play an old Korg M50, and sometimes a full-size keybed by M-Audio, but I find myself returning to the Novation stuff over and over again. It just works.
In sum, while there is bigger and more powerful, for the price this is a steal. Of course it'll work with other DAWs too, and of course it's only a controller, but hook it up with Kontakt or Ableton or Steinberg and you're good to go.
In sum if like me, you don't want to waste time mapping MIDI channels, and all that stuff, and get on with composing, remixing, and sound design, there is a whole lot worse.
And as a pianist most of my life, I can say that this reminds me of my grandma's piano. Just smaller, and capable of stuff my grandma would love.
