decided to use a bright orange cable.

Or black?The ugly cable is a minor annoyance, but the performance issues are enough for me to consider returning this item to get something else for portable composition.

So get one to carry around for fun, and treat the little silly orange cable with care

It seems to require a proprietary USB cable

It functions just fine, but if you buy this keyboard, and you care about aesthetics, be prepared to rearrange your setup to hide this atrocious cable from sight.

Was looking for a small MIDI keyboard to place in front of the monitor, as well as to throw in a laptop bag for travel.