I’m looking for a new midi keyboard , been using the Novation SL mkII but I’m looking for a new one … with good integration with Cubase midi remote.
been considering the Novation Launchkey mk4 , Arturia keylab mk3 as well as the essential edition.
as well as Native Instruments Kontrol S61 MK3.
I did consider Novation SL mk3 but I have some reservations …
its a little old , and has too many things I don’t think I’ll use …
but I’m open to recommendation.
It’s almost totally dependent on how you prefer to use it & what capabilities are important or not. Kinda like asking other folks to advise you on pizza toppings…
I’m specifically asking about the midi remote functionality
having a few banks of controllers is good … specifically high resolution encoders with feedback.
I have an old bcr2000 that is long in the tooth but it does have 14 bit midi.
now I’m not sure how newer controllers work …
most have incremental encoders but I suppose there is a way to choose the step resolution?
having a screen with feedback is nice but not necessary.
and the keybed doesn’t have to be the best .
if a cheaper keyboard can do the job then its more then enough
Hi,
Both Keylab Essential MK3 on Launchkey MK4 are good and have a nice integration with Cubase midi remote.
If you’re not looking for a quality keybed, these two will do the job perfectly.
In my experience with the Arturia Minilab 3, the MIDI Remote function, although really good, has to be redone every time, Cubase loses it every time I close the software.
Martin said this is a known issue that should be fixed on the next maintenance. Not a big deal, just a bit annoying.
But Arturia products are excellent imo.
I’ve got a Keylab Essential 49 MK3 and a Launchkey 37 MK3.
No issue at all with both of them.
The Novation LK MK4 has the best cubase script and some unique features that even the much higher priced arturia mk3 doesn´t have. I am using cubase 13.
The mixer section in cubase has light controls. Whatever sound is selected there is always the right slider highlighted by a red light. In arturia mk3 there´s a problem with the recognition of the knob control and mapping to the right slider. So if you navigate with the knob to a different sound the mixer volume slider is always on a different sound. I also found that the knobs for the arturia synth have limited support in cubase, I checked for example jupiter 8 synth vst and there you have only 4 knobs working for ADSR-control on env2 but when you work with the Stand-Alone App Arturia Lab then you get 8 knobs supported (ADSR for env 1 & 2), even sliders in DAW-mode don´t work by default for editing in cubase but in the stand-alone version they do. Finally layering on arturia also only works outside of cubase in arturia labs, I think this could be better.
On the novation mk4 you also find chord progressions functions, very cool. This is missing on the arturia mk3 as well.
None of the YT influencers tell you this…
Beside these cubase limitations for the arturia I can say that it has the best keybed I had so far. It is great to play and the quality of the materials are very good, the novation keybed is ok but far less good and the unit is very plastic…well it has a different price of course.
Indeed the integration with Cubase seems more advanced with the Launchkey (the light control is a real nice feature).
I suppose that the Keylab MK3 Essential and the MK3 behave the same way. However I would like a better quality keyboard so I still think to take the Keylab MK3.
I can also tell by testing out both controllers, that on the arturia mk3 the track buttons (play, stop etc.) produce a very loud clicking noise which is annoying. On the novation they use these soft-touch buttons, you don´t hear anything when pressing. I wonder why Arturia went that way although the buttons look nicer, but that´s all.
Careful with the Minilab 3 if you want a full working encoder functionality (specially with feedback - it can’t do that). When I use the encoders, the value often jumps to zero out of nowhere. Really bad experience and hours of finding working settings etc.
I switched to the new Lunchkey mini MK4. The encoders work fine here - with visual feedback while using the encoders. If the Keys are important to you - the Arturias are slightly bigger and also better. Still, the Launchkey Keys are good, too.
If you just need a bunch of good working encoders I can totally recommend the Midifighter Twister from DJTechtools. Works like charm and has great visual led feedback (if you move a fader in Cubase itself, the led ring will be updated in realtime). It has 16 Encoders (x4). They also work as buttons (or switches to even more encoders)
I use it for volume fades, mutes, sends, and much more. This thing is kinda old, but they really figured out, how to do it.
what about Novation Impulse ?
yea I know its kind of old …
but the keybed seems to be better then the average and the encoders support NRPN.
did anyone have any luck using its encoders with 14 bit\nrpn mode to control parameters ?