akai mpk mini, novation launchkey mini or arturia minilab?

[Logan-47]

Hi! Could you advise me please what is better: akai mpk mini, novstion launchkey mini or arturua minilab? I heard that arturia has very cheap knobs, akai has arpegiator buy it doesnt work in cubase, and novation has bad quality of build. (Sorry for bad english)

[EnGee]

I have the Akai mpk mini. I bought it about 3 years ago and I'm still using it.

It is ok after all. Not great but I didn't have any problem with it.

The Arpeggiator is a nice addition and working fine. It works with all hosts (it works with Cubase, why not?!) I have Cubase Elements 6 and it works fine.

I took care of it because the usb port in the mpk mini needs some care. The knobs are fine, but there is no Mod/Pitch wheels, so I always map the first knob as a Mod Wheel (cc1). I didn't try to have the pitch wheel for two reasons, first I don't need it, and second it is not that practical to have a knob mapped to pitch wheel, because it doesn't return to the 0 position when you leave it.

The pads are not that good, but I finally opened the case and put two layers of (electrician) tape under them (see some videos about it in Youtube) and now the sensetivity is much better.

The keys are still working! But I don't like them. They are stiff, but anyway they served me well. For a portable mini keyboard it is ok (especially for a travel with a laptop). I don't know about the other ones you mentioned.

[carrieres]

Arturia MiniLab is the only one with pitch and modulation wheel
Novation Launchkey Mini is better integrated with ableton live and come with ableton lite (and Novation Soft-Synth Bass Station / V-Station) if you don't have it

[cron]

For what it's worth, I have an MPK Mini and love it. My only real issue with it is that the knobs don't have quite enough projection and so are a little fiddly. You can't really get hold and twist. It's more of a pinch and roll between finger and thumb affair. I'm very happy with the build quality,especially for the price, although that USB jack does perhaps seem worryingly flimsy. Launchkey Mini was reviewed in Computer Music recently and the build quality was called into question. They gave it 7/10, which is basically calling it crap in CM-speak.

I hadn't heard of Minilab, but it looks really nice. Maybe one for me to consider if the MPK borks at any point.

[Logan-47]

Thank all for your answers. Who has arturia minilab? I want to know about knobs, because i read that there is a problem with knobs sensitivity.

[ghettosynth]

I have an Akai APK mini. I won't repeat what others have said, but I agree. I only like it because it's small, has knobs, keys, and pads. I would never use it as my main or only keyboard. I only use it for dev work and portability. It's nice for dev work because I don't have a keyboard on my desk anymore since I started using push, so, it saves me from either turning around to use the piano.

[Numanoid]

Arturia minilab, those knobs don't have a start or stop point (what is the word for that, continious maybe?), meaning, when you open a patch and start tweaking it, it will not jump to the setting the knob is in, which is one big plus.

And then of course the software you get with minilab, is kind of good.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

i have an akai lpk which is the like the mpk minus the knobs and pads. i really don't like it. there are real issues with the dynamics of the velocity range, making any kind of nuanced performance pretty difficult

i have no experience of the other two you mentioned, but i did once own a novation keyboard which i really enjoyed. am quite interested in the novation launch key 61

[Echoes in the Attic]

Tough call - Pros and cons of each.

I had the mpk mini. Not bad but I want mod and pitch. So I got the arturia minilab. Generally I would rather continuous encoders but with the Arturia one i've found that it has to be used in absolute mode with hosts so that defeats the purpose, and is actually worse because you can't tell where the knobs value is (no rings around the encoders).

The new akai mpk actually has a pitch/mod joystick so that's worth checking out.
The APC keys or mini keys or whatever looks cool too. Mini keyboard with a clip launcher. Nice.

I'd still like to see a mini keyboard with endless encoders (and lights around the encoder) with a proper pitch and mod wheel. Don't really care about the drum pads since you have keys anyways.

[D-Fusion]

i have an akai lpk which is the like the mpk minus the knobs and pads. i really don't like it. there are real issues with the dynamics of the velocity range, making any kind of nuanced performance pretty difficult

i have no experience of the other two you mentioned, but i did once own a novation keyboard which i really enjoyed. am quite interested in the novation launch key 61

I would look elsewhere.
I replaced my Oxygen 61 3rd gen with a Novation launchkey 49 and i have to unplug the usb many times a day to get it to work.

The velocity on it is so hard that you almost need a hammer to reach up on the velocity scale.

I never had any trouble with all the different keyboards i have own the last 16Years, but the Launchkey has given me headache since day 1.

So i went back to my Oxygen.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

i have an akai lpk which is the like the mpk minus the knobs and pads. i really don't like it. there are real issues with the dynamics of the velocity range, making any kind of nuanced performance pretty difficult

i have no experience of the other two you mentioned, but i did once own a novation keyboard which i really enjoyed. am quite interested in the novation launch key 61

I would look elsewhere.
I replaced my Oxygen 61 3rd gen with a Novation launchkey 49 and i have to unplug the usb many times a day to get it to work.

The velocity on it is so hard that you almost need a hammer to reach up on the velocity scale.

I never had any trouble with all the different keyboards i have own the last 16Years, but the Launchkey has given me headache since day 1.

So i went back to my Oxygen.

Ah, that's a real shame. Thanks for the info