Novation Launchkey? I went with Arturia Keylab Essential

[ZincT]

In my search for a new 49 key controller with integrated transport, pads, faders and knobs I had pretty much decided on a Nektar Impact LX49+ but for some reason (COVID-19?) in the UK/Europe they are out of stock everywhere and the "stock expected" date seems to keep moving to the right. Maybe a new model is due? IDK.

Anyway, looking slightly higher up the price scale I then found the Novation Lauchkey 49 Mk2  which is in stock at Amazon for next day delivery. It seems to tick all the boxes but I wondered how well its features could be integrated into CbB. 

Are there any Launchkey owners here who are using one successfully with CbB and if so how easy was it to set up and use all of the features in CbB? I'm sure I read that the Launchkey series have fixed configs for specific DAWs (InControl?) which would make it tricky to use in non-supported DAWs. I don't mind doing a bit of manual configuration if that is possible but would only want to have to do this once so that anything that I have manually set up could be saved and recalled for future use.

I do also have Studio One, Cubase, Reaper, Reason and Ableton Live some of which seem to be natively supported by Launchkey but I use these less than CbB .

Edited May 13, 2020 by ZincT

[Tezza]

I've used that one, It was designed for Ableton. The incontrol and scene features only work with Ableton and cannot be configured with other DAW's as far as I know. The transport buttons, faders, pads etc and keyboard can all work, I used it with Studio One and CbB. There was a problem I had with that keyboard, the reason why I moved on to something else but I cannot recall what it was. It might be relevant to you or not. Someone else might know. It would not be my first choice if I were using it in different DAW's. I used the Nektars and they are great for integration with the different DAW's, downloadable set up files. I use the M-Audio 61 Mkiii Keystation now because it has a Keybed I like and is plug and play with all DAW's but it is only a Keyboard, no pads and faders which I don't use anyway.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Tezza

[ZincT]

Thanks for your reply @Tezza.  
 

So annoying that I cannot buy a Nektar. Annoyingly I even found that there were a couple of sales on them before the pandemic with the 49 key version going for around £90.

[abacab]

1 hour ago, ZincT said:

Thanks for your reply @Tezza.  
 

So annoying that I cannot buy a Nektar. Annoyingly I even found that there were a couple of sales on them before the pandemic with the 49 key version going for around £90.

I've noticed quite a few "out of stock" signs on various 49 key controllers at different suppliers and for various brands. I wonder if all the bedroom musicians have been stocking up to stay at home during the Covid-19 outbreak?

It might pay to just wait for what you want, rather than settling for what's available at the moment.

Nektar Impact LX49+ is currently showing in stock at the Amazon US website. Not so just a few days ago...

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by abacab

[ZincT]

5 minutes ago, abacab said:

I've noticed quite a few "out of stock" signs on various 49 key controllers at different suppliers and for various brands. I wonder if all the bedroom musicians have been stocking up to stay at home during the Covid-19 outbreak?

It might pay to just wait for what you want, rather than settling for what's available at the moment.

Nektar Impact LX49+ is currently showing in stock at the Amazon US website. Not so just a few days ago...

 

Yes probably a good idea to wait it out abacab as you say. I should just bide my time.. After all, you know what they say.. "purchase in haste, regret at leisure". 

[abacab]

1 minute ago, ZincT said:

Yes probably a good idea to wait it out abacab as you say. I should just bide my time.. After all, you know what they say.. "purchase in haste, regret at leisure". 

I finally caved on the Arturia Analog Lab 4 deal for 50% off. 😁

Now I'm craving one of those Arturia controllers, such as KeyLab Essential 49 at $249  https://www.arturia.com/products/hybrid-synths/keylab-essential-49/overview

or Keylab 49 MkII  at $499 https://www.arturia.com/products/hybrid-synths/keylab-mkii/overview

 

[ZincT]

Yikes! Keylab Essential 49 wasn't on my radar. Now I'm off to watch a load of YouTube videos on it (maybe in the morning anyway as it is gone half past midnight here in blighty.). Thanks for the suggestion @abacab!

Enjoy AL4! 

UPDATE: It's definitely a contender but, you guessed it, out of stock everywhere in the UK/Europe, including Arturia. Should be good with V Collection as well as AL4.
 

The MIDI Control Centre software also looks very nice for creating your own mappings...

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by ZincT

[ZincT]

My local place (Gear4Music) had new stock of the Arturia Keylab Essential 49 this morning so I ordered it for next day delivery. 

Will post my views once I have it all set up. 

Thanks @abacab for the recommendtion.  Gear4Music also had new stock of the Nektar Impact LX49+ but in the end, as something that I will interact with a lot in the music making process, the Arturia won me over. Plus I can sell my old controller (iRig Keys Pro + ST3 bundle) for a decent amount to recoup some of the cost. Presumably I could also sell my existing copy of AL4 as this keyboard comes with a copy.

Edited May 11, 2020 by ZincT

[abacab]

1 hour ago, ZincT said:

@abacabPresumably I could also sell my existing copy of AL4 as this keyboard comes with a copy.

I was wondering about that with AL4 myself, in case I bought one of their controllers. So I looked into the resale policy at Arturia, and it appears that they have made the process as painless as possible.

https://www.arturia.com/support/askforhelp/reselling

"NEW To speed up the license transfer process, you can now manually unregister a license from your account without contacting the support.

This can be done from your Arturia account MyProducts section.

Once unregistered, the license can be freely registered on another account."

[abacab]

1 hour ago, ZincT said:

My local place (Gear4Music) had new stock of the Arturia Keylab Essential 49 this morning so I ordered it for next day delivery. 

Will post my views once I have it all set up.

Congrats on your find! Waiting to hear how it works!

Also looking at Keylab 49 MkII. On the Sweetwater site they mention that a free V Collection 6 from Arturia will be delivered if you register that keyboard in your Arturia account by June 30th 2020. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KeyLab2-49BK--arturia-keylab-mkii-49-keyboard-controller-black

(And I realize that's VC6, not VC7, but since I don't have any of the full collection yet, that would be a nice bundle...)

 

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by abacab

[ZincT]

25 minutes ago, abacab said:

Congrats on your find! Waiting to hear how it works!

Also looking at Keylab 49 MkII. On the Sweetwater site they mention that a free V Collection 6 from Arturia will be delivered if you register that keyboard in your Arturia account by June 30th 2020. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KeyLab2-49BK--arturia-keylab-mkii-49-keyboard-controller-black

(And I realize that's VC6, not VC7, but since I don't have any of the full collection yet, that would be a nice bundle...)

 

 

Thanks abacab!

That's a good deal including VC 6.  Are you tempted? Maybe if you wait they might include VC 7, IDK. Might be worth an email to Arturia to see if they would consider a free VC 7 upgrade if you were to buy it?

I have VC 6 but the upgrade price for VC 7 hasn't yet fallen to what I consider reasonable for 3 extra models. Still there's plenty to keep me occupied in VC 6.

I looked at the Keylab Mk II but decided that I couldn't justify the extra cost as the Essential version also works well with the V Collection.  Space is also at a premium in my workspace so the Essential version should fit in nicely (leaving more room for guitars  ).

Edited May 11, 2020 by ZincT

[abacab]

5 minutes ago, ZincT said:

That's a good deal including VC 6.  Are you tempted? Maybe if you wait they might include VC 7, IDK. Might be worth an email to Arturia to see if they would consider a free VC 7 upgrade if you were to buy it?

I have VC 6 but the upgrade price for VC 7 hasn't yet fallen to what I consider reasonable for 3 extra models. Still there's plenty to keep me occupied in VC 6.

I looked at the Keylab Mk II but decided that I couldn't justify the extra cost as the Essential version also works well with the V Collection.  Space is also at a premium in my workspace so the Essential version should fit in nicely (leaving more room for guitars  ).

Yes, it's tempting. That keyboard itself is beyond my preferred budget, but if I consider the cost of a V Collection it's probably more like getting the keyboard for half price! My current upgrade offer from AL4 to VC7 at Arturia is $399. 🙄

But with either keyboard, it's a pretty impressive value to get hardware that's tightly integrated to that many sounds!

[abacab]

On a related topic, Arturia is offering a fully registered copy of Pigments 2, that is good until July  3rd 2020, when it will expire. Will probably grab it for the $99 sale price.

I've really been enjoying it, along with studying the tutorials and manual! It's a synth beast, and very intuitive. One of the best UI's I've ever seen!

I tried the Pigments 1 Demo when it first came out, but wasn't sold then. They have added the sample engine,  and other improvements as well, in Pigments 2. With 3 engines to choose from now (VA, Wavetable, and Sample), the sound possibilities are much improved.

Edited May 11, 2020 by abacab

[ZincT]

It arrived! 😃 However, I've only got as far as looking at the box today 🤪 

Edited May 12, 2020 by ZincT

[abacab]

 

[ZincT]

It's now installed and looking good. Excellent piece of kit which feels well put together and looks really nice in white with wooden accents at each end.

Setup was a breeze: Connect via the included USB type B cable, Windows 10 recognises and configures automatically.

The startup light show is also quite impressive and it goes into this mode if left unused after a while.

I have tried Analog Lab 4, a few of the V Collection 6, Pigments 2 and even Synthmaster which all seemed to allow use of the faders, knobs etc. without any further configuration. I need to look up the DAW config for CbB and others to use the transports controls but from the video I saw on this it looks straightforward.

It comes with Analog Lab (which I already own so a spare license to sell), Ableton Live Lite (another spare) and UVI Grand Piano Model D which looks like a Steinway Concert Grand (49 EUR value).

There's also MIDI control Centre to download and a new firmware version (the display shows the version when it boots up). It's on 1.1.2 and 1.1.6 is available which apparently improves knob smoothing 😮). 

I have also downloaded the manual to have a quick look at and make sure I haven't missed anything useful.

The extra octave compared to my old controller certainly makes a difference and it just squeezes into the required space. 👍

Edited May 13, 2020 by ZincT

[Tezza]

Nothing like buying a new piece of kit to brighten your day. To hell with GAS!

[ZincT]

On 5/11/2020 at 2:59 PM, abacab said:

I was wondering about that with AL4 myself, in case I bought one of their controllers. So I looked into the resale policy at Arturia, and it appears that they have made the process as painless as possible.

https://www.arturia.com/support/askforhelp/reselling

"NEW To speed up the license transfer process, you can now manually unregister a license from your account without contacting the support.

This can be done from your Arturia account MyProducts section.

Once unregistered, the license can be freely registered on another account."

Apologies @abacab I missed this post and thanks for clarifying. That should make things pretty painless 👍

[ZincT]

I installed MIDI Control Centre and used this to apply the firmware upgrade which was painless. 

The integration with Analog Lab is really nice as you would expect but the User MAP button should allow quick switching setups for Kontakt, Sampletank 4, Unify etc.