KVR Audio

roman.i · Post by **roman.i** » Sat May 09, 2020 1:27 am

I was looking at Arturia Keylab MK2, is it the best controller for Ableton right now?

Pacific05 · Post by **Pacific05** » Sat May 09, 2020 12:56 pm

No, except Push, the best midi controller for Ableton is Novation Launchkey

MMaarrkk · Post by **MMaarrkk** » Sun May 10, 2020 12:02 am

Arturia Keylab MK2 is great, but the mentioned Novation Launckey would cut down on the price quite heavily. Well, there's also NI Komplete Kontrol S61 MK2. All up to your preference.

roman.i · Post by **roman.i** » Sun May 10, 2020 7:01 pm

Launchkey is a cheap keyboard, not what I'm looking for.
NI kontrol doesn't have enough controls :/. No pads, no faders.
Stuck between Akai mpk249 and the Keylab Mk2.
Two most important criterias to me are a fast workflow and expressive controls for recording ideas to Ableton.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sun May 10, 2020 7:06 pm

Novation Remote SL works seamlessly with Live straight out of the box ... as does PUSH2 (obviously).

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Sun May 10, 2020 7:11 pm

Depends what you want a controller for.

roman.i · Post by **roman.i** » Sun May 10, 2020 10:08 pm

The Novation SL MK3? It looks great but mostly advertised as a standalone controller for external gear. It has a lot of functionality onboard instead of trying to utilise tools that the DAW provides.
Forgotten, the controller is for a home studio usage, for recording ideas with the piano keyboard and pads, with an intuitive workflow.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Sun May 10, 2020 10:20 pm

OK, so keyboard playing and drum pads? That narrows it down, and there are quite a few things on the market that cover those two.

What kind of keyboard are you looking for? Weighted hammer action or more of a synthesizer type action?

roman.i · Post by **roman.i** » Sun May 10, 2020 10:28 pm

Forgotten wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 10:20 pm OK, so keyboard playing and drum pads? That narrows it down, and there are quite a few things on the market that cover those two.

What kind of keyboard are you looking for? Weighted hammer action or more of a synthesizer type action?

Synth type keys, velocity sensitive, and after touch.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Sun May 10, 2020 10:35 pm

So then it’s really down to price range. If by “best” you imply that money is no object, then something like the Arturia Keylab or the Novation Impulse would be a good fit.

roman.i · Post by **roman.i** » Sun May 10, 2020 10:51 pm

Forgotten wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 10:35 pm So then it’s really down to price range. If by “best” you imply that money is no object, then something like the Arturia Keylab or the Novation Impulse would be a good fit.

Money is no object. How the Akai MPK 249 compares to the Arturia Keylab MK2?
They have a very similar specs and layout.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sun May 10, 2020 11:29 pm

roman.i wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 10:08 pm The Novation SL MK3? It looks great but mostly advertised as a standalone controller for external gear. It has a lot of functionality onboard instead of trying to utilise tools that the DAW provides.

I get the impression that the SLIII is configured to work with Live 10 without any setting up. I have an original SL25 which automatically configures its controls for Live when you start the program.

Novation wrote:
SL MkIII's velocity-sensitive RGB pads have multiple functions too: they can be used for launching clips, as steps in the sequencer, for finger drumming, and have polyphonic aftertouch.

We've worked with Ableton® to create an unprecedented integration with Live™. SL MkIII truly pulls your sessions out of the box. The full colour LCD screens give you full visibility of your parameters, while the pads, buttons, eight faders and eight knobs get you hands-on with your music - and in any major music software, using InControl.

roman.i · Post by **roman.i** » Mon May 11, 2020 4:45 pm

thecontrolcentre wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 11:29 pm I get the impression that the SLIII is configured to work with Live 10 without any setting up. I have an original SL25 which automatically configures its controls for Live when you start the program.

It is, as the rest modern keyboard controllers. Nothing special in this.
But it seems that Keylab nailed it with relevant features for studio daw use.
For example, why I need four screens on the keyboard if I have a computer monitor right above?
The pads in Keylab are placed in the right position - below the drum rack and first column of session view, with the same layout as the drum rack.
Nothing wrong with the SL, but the Keylab's design make more sense to me.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Mon May 11, 2020 5:01 pm

The screens on the SL show you which control is assigned to what function, and what value its set to. Sounds like you've already decided on the Keylab anyway ...

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon May 11, 2020 6:06 pm

arturia knobs are shite.

Best keyboard midi controller for Ableton?