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Novation already makes 5 completely different variations of its venerable Launchkey sequence of MIDI controllers, starting from the travel-friendly Launchkey Mini all the way in which as much as the studio centerpiece Launchkey 61. However for some, 61 keys isn’t sufficient. And a severe piano participant would possibly balk on the unweighted keys. However now Novation provides the Launchkey 88 with a semi-weighted keybed.
The most recent addition to the household primarily bridges the hole between the budget-minded Launchkey and the higher-end SL sequence, which begins at $600. The Launchkey 88 retains the price to only $400 by leaving out extra superior options like CV outputs, coloration screens and built-in sequencer. However, for those who’re primarily producing in-the-box you most likely received’t miss the extras that a lot.
That is to be anticipated, and it’s not a con, however the Launchkey 88 is large. It’s not the controller for you if house is at a premium. I truthfully had bother discovering room for it in my small attic studio. That being mentioned, the keybed is great. I’m not a piano participant, and don’t have any specific allegiance to weighted keys, however these had been clearly a step above your common MIDI controller. They lack the springy bounce of the cheaper members of the Launchkey line and I discovered it a lot simpler to get nuanced velocity response.
In any other case, the {hardware} is mainly the identical as the remainder of the Launchkey line. It’s all plastic, however feels stable sufficient. The 16 velocity delicate pads are satisfactory however nothing to write down house about. The faders have a wonderful quantity of resistance, however are a tad wobbly. And the knobs are extremely stable however a tad small. The pitch and mod wheels are pretty although, full cease. The resistance is ideal, they usually’re rock stable. Going again to the contact strips on different controllers seems like punishment.
In fact, the large promoting level of any Launchkey system is its tight integration with Ableton Stay. It’s not fairly adequate to go utterly mouse and keyboard free, however you will get loads completed instantly on the controller. You possibly can launch clips from the pads, management macros with the knobs and blend your tracks with the faders. You’ve got management over ship results, the panning, and there’s a devoted button for looping a portion of your monitor to jam over, in addition to a seize MIDI button in case you play one thing actually impressed however forgot to hit file. You are able to do fairly a bit with wanting on the laptop, although it may be a bit powerful to navigate bigger tasks.
There are some odd quirks proper now, although, that may presumably get ironed out in firmware and script updates fairly shortly. Particularly, Stay will get confused by taking part in within the higher octaves. There’s a few useless zones, from G4 by means of E5, for instance, and a few keys within the highest octave set off numerous recording modes as an alternative of notes.
The arpeggiator remains to be unimaginable, although. The random, Mutate and Deviate options make it straightforward to create distinctive patterns and introduce a bit of unpredictability to a composition. That is the characteristic that has me coming again to the Launchkey line repeatedly in my private studio. And the five-pin MIDI DIN connection means that you can deliver that top-notch arpeggiator to {hardware} synths. Nonetheless, I nonetheless suppose the controller is finest suited to a primarily software-based setup.
The Launchkey 88 isn’t a real luxurious MIDI controller. It’s actually an inexpensive workhorse. However it does go a bit past a few of its extra inexpensive rivals, and even its siblings. The expansive measurement most likely isn’t essential for many producers, however the semi-weighted keybed does make an enormous distinction in playability. And I’d like to see Novation deliver it to the smaller family members just like the Launchkey 49, which might be a bit extra my pace (and simpler to shove on my cramped desk).
The Launchkey 88 is obtainable now for $400.
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