Arturia MiniLab 3 controller

[chk071]

New mini keyboard controller from Arturia: https://www.arturia.com/products/hybrid ... 3/overview

[chk071]

It looks like a decent controller. I like that it’s compact. I wish it had CV control but now I’m wondering if there isn’t a new version of Keysteps coming soon.

Have the mini labs always had arp and chord features built in?

I don't think so. Seems like new functionality from their keystep controllers. The firmware of the mk2 MiniLab was quite rudimentary compared.

[rod_zero]

i would have like they keep all the encoders instead of 4 sliders

[GaryG]

i would have like they keep all the encoders instead of 4 sliders

Yeah, never seen the appeal of little sliders on controllers, always seem fiddley. Big proper sliders on desks etc are lovely but little ones always seem a bit sticky, imprecise.
Maybe having four pots would be interesting, a mix of endless encoders and trad pots.

[loachm]

I agree, going for four sliders instead of another eight encoders limits the unit's usability in comparison to its predecessor quite a lot.

For this price segment the MkII has been and still is an excellent controller - 16 encoders (vs. 12 available controls now), very good build quality and keys, (only two encoders out of 16 aren't as tight as the others on my unit) and the pads and touch strips are also nothing you can complain about (for an 89€ controller).

At the time (and still today, I think) similar products from e.g. Akai and Novation weren't as as well-equipped (for my needs) - less controls, no endless encoders, inferior built quality etc. But the main reason I chose it over comparable products, is, that the MkII is the only one, that can adress (almost) all 128 available Midi-CCs via its additional seven user presets (the first of the eight available presets is locked for the use with Analog Lab).

Which brings me to the new unit - less controls and less user presets (due to the new arp functions on some of the pads) - I think, it's quite a step backwards (the unit can only store 60 Midi-CCs, if I'm not mistaken). I'm also not sure, if encoders on it can work with the Shift-function and are clickable like the first two on the MkII, which is also extremely useful.

And finally, I'm quite sceptical about the sliders - if they work in a pick-up/soft takeover mode or if you get parametre jumps. With the MkII you can even control Arturia plug-ins and use their preset browser without even using them in Analog Lab (which is brilliant - even better, you can add almost any parametre to the midi mappings and you can also set them to different midi channels). But you get parametre jumps, when changing the presets, which makes me wonder about the sliders.

I'll wait and see, what a new Beatstep version might bring - hopefully still 16 endless encoder (some clickable), coloured pads, that new arp (with a scale lock while transposing the arp ), a note repeat function (if it already hasn't one), more than eight user presets and the ability to tie notes like on the Beatstep Pro - I,think, that would make a good compact pad controller (competition in that segment isn't that exciting/comprehensive as well).

[chk071]

i would have like they keep all the encoders instead of 4 sliders

As long as they don't keep the same encoders they had on the MiniLab mk2. Those sucked big time.

[GaryG]

i would have like they keep all the encoders instead of 4 sliders

As long as they don't keep the same encoders they had on the MiniLab mk2. Those sucked big time.

Yeah, the reason i bought the microlab instead of the mini, wanted the keyboard but knew I'd probably not use the knobs.

[vurt]

i would have like they keep all the encoders instead of 4 sliders

Yeah, never seen the appeal of little sliders on controllers, always seem fiddley. Big proper sliders on desks etc are lovely but little ones always seem a bit sticky, imprecise.
Maybe having four pots would be interesting, a mix of endless encoders and trad pots.

some folk find them useful, specifically for adsr control, as you sort of see the envelope shape.
but as most synths now use mseg 4 might be too few

for mixer faders, have to agree, the short run doesn't work imo. needs more physical range for finer control.

[GaryG]

i would have like they keep all the encoders instead of 4 sliders

Yeah, never seen the appeal of little sliders on controllers, always seem fiddley. Big proper sliders on desks etc are lovely but little ones always seem a bit sticky, imprecise.
Maybe having four pots would be interesting, a mix of endless encoders and trad pots.

some folk find them useful, specifically for adsr control, as you sort of see the envelope shape.
but as most synths now use mseg 4 might be too few

for mixer faders, have to agree, the short run doesn't work imo. needs more physical range for finer control.

oh for sure, sliders for classic adsrs are cool. I've just yet to see any short throw ones on anything really that didn't feel sticky or jumpy.

Conversely, I've been playing with touchosc on an old android tablet and faders seem much nicer than rotaries.

[AdvancedFollower]

The problem with using sliders to visualize settings in plugins (or even hardware synths with patch memories for that matter) is that they almost never correspond to the actual values inside the instrument. Switch presets or change from controlling the Amp Env to the Filter Env and their physical positions are suddenly meaningless.

[chk071]

Well... motorized controls are expensive.

[chk071]

Some more info:

[perpetual3]

I wouldn’t personally use the faders for any of that, but for DJ style performance of effects where I set the upper bound on the effect send to correspond to the full throw of the fader. Useful for both quick bursts of dub style effects or riding the feedback.

[BONES]

Akai strikes back! This looks about as close to my perfect conventional MIDI controller as it's possible to get. The only thing missing is aftertouch but I have my Erae for that. Honestly, this seems like the controller I've been after for the past 20 years.