KVR Audio

braincandy · Post by **braincandy** » Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:35 am

I currently have a Samson Graphite 49 and am not entirely happy with it. Love the feel of the keys and the build quality is fine. However, I recently bought both Reason and Arturia's V Collection and want something that already has pre-mapped presets for the instruments in both. Same for my Korg Legacy Collection as well as FM8 and Kontakt The Graphite doesn't really have that and I don't want to have to program every damned parameter to the Graphite for all of those instruments.

Any suggestions on a controller that has these things pre-mapped? I checked out the MPK249 and was impressed by the feel/build quality, but noticed it doesn't have anything for the instruments within Reason (has some of the presets for Arturia synths). The Arturia thing would be ideal for the V Collection but I thought the keys were mush and the pads were not that great and I can't find any info as to whether it comes pre-mapped for anything other than Arturia stuff. The Novation Impulse 49 was a distant second in terms of feel behind the Akai but I'm not opposed to it. Aftertouch is preferred but not a dealbreaker. Thanks!

Winstontaneous · Post by **Winstontaneous** » Sat Mar 31, 2018 6:42 pm

Nektar Panorama/Impact?

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sat Mar 31, 2018 6:48 pm

The Novation Impulse has a pre-mapped preset for Reason for sure. I don't think it has one for the Arturia V-Collection though, but, it's easy to create custom mappings. As for the hardware, i like the keybed (currently using the Impulse 49), but, i had it 2 times now that the rotary encoders became jumpy after short use. Not too happy with the general processing too. So - keybed: good - rest: so-so. Frankly, i'd get the M-Audio Code, for roughly the same money.

zenophilix · Post by **zenophilix** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:33 pm

Arturia stuff is going to have the best mappings for Arturia stuff. Another thing you could do is go prowling used listings on Guitar Center/Reverb, pick up something with plenty of controls, and spend some time working up your own maps.

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:15 pm

Once you have it all mapped you will realize that surfing through pages of 8 parameters isn't fun at all.

Automapping is highly overrated.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:31 pm

Yep, totally agree. It was no fun at all for me, so I switched to normal CC mapping again.

fluffy_little_something · Mon Apr 02, 2018 8:54 pm

How are those Swissonic controllers by Thomann?
The reviews on the Thomann site seem very good, but I don't really trust anonymous reviews...

fluffy_little_something · Sun Apr 22, 2018 9:18 pm

Just stumbled upon a new brand (at least it is new to me; but they seem to have a broad product range), iCon. Is their stuff as crappy as the name?

http://iconproaudio.com/product/ikeyboard-6s-vst/

EnGee · Post by **EnGee** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:33 am

Winstontaneous wrote:Nektar Panorama/Impact?

+1

At first I wanted to vote for the MPK2 but I read that you have Reason, and I have just bought nektar P4 recently, so I changed my vote to other!

The main reason to choose a controller IMO, is how well it integrates with a specific DAW(s). This is the first thing to pay attention to. Secondly, the overall feel and quality.

Nektar P4/P6 is not perfect, but it is a very good controller. I still prefer my old keyboard (Blofeld) about the keys feel because the keys weren't sensitive with AfterTouch (which I hate!), so I could hit the keys strongly without triggering the After Touch shit. With Nektar P4/P5 AfterTouch can be triggered with ease (which is I don't like, unlike many users I guess, who want this behaviour). For the keys feel and AfterTouch I advise you to visit a shop and test it yourself.

Now, for the mapping and controls, the Nektar P4 is a great controller. Almost all the mapping is there. I did installed files that support the DAWs I have (Live also can work with Nektar P4/P6 but it needs more steps than just installing files). Anyway, it works great with Reason, Cubase and Reaper. Those what I installed and configure according to the PDF files (I haven't installed the FL Studio files though, so I haven't tested it).

I have Reason 10 and Nektar P4 maps all the synths/instruments/effects inside it. You still need to change some options in Reason to make P4/P6 works with the mixer and then save the file as the default Reason template, so you don't need to configure the options every time you start Reason.

Watch this video to have a feel how it works with Reason

K-Bee · Post by **K-Bee** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:42 am

The most obvious choices would be Komplete Kontrol or Akai Advance. Neither come cheap though. Unfortunately, the Advance is way too advanced (pun intended) for it's own good. Lack of support, way too few plugin maps and numerous bugs in the VIP software really has ended the Advance being a very expensive piece of crap!

rod_zero wrote:Once you have it all mapped you will realize that surfing through pages of 8 parameters isn't fun at all.
Automapping is highly overrated.

+1 - it's just not good enough at it's current stage.
If you can live without automapping, I highly recommend Korg Triton Taktile for €345. The 25 key version has been discontinued but I own it and it's great. Not really for playing (I have a Kronos a.o. for that) but for quick editing and auditioning, the 49 key version is a definite contender. A big plus: it comes with 512 patches from the original Korg Triton, making it both a controller and rompler. It has good pads and even a x/y pad too, something usually overlooked by it's contenders

KVR Audio

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