Gotcha, thanks
Does anyone know how to have the pads on the launchkey trigger a different track than the keyboard? My old mini Mk3 did this, but I havenāt been able to replicate it.
If you mean the midi channel then hit settings, arrow down to drum channel and hit the drum pad for the corresponding channel number. The current channel number pad should be lit up. You can have three different channel numbers for keys, drum pads and chords. This is on the mini version.
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Really interested in the 37 mini, but mainly for the scale modes to combine with my A4MKII.
But I also wonder, is there any other midi keyboard with multiple scale modes (not just major and minor) to use for the same purpose?
Does anyone have a recommendation for a cover for the Launchkey 49? Iām looking for an inexpensive dust cover, or a hard cover if itās reasonably priced.
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Not a direct answer to this but for anyone looking for a Decksaver, they only made one for the LK37 last time, which also fits FLKey37.
I ended up getting a Novation bag for my LK49 for want of better alternatives.
Digital deck covers. They are great. Based in denver, co.
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Agreed. Get the double sided quilted black nylon covers from Digital Deck Covers for best quality.
So do we know if these new keyboards are covered with that stupid rubber coating everyone hates?
I recently recommended Digital Deck Covers for quality covers for your gear. Unfortunately I can no longer recommend this company. (see note below)
I just received a couple of their most expensive double side quilted nylon covers and the quality of their materials has drastically decreased. The covers I just received have almost no padding and are a pale imitation of the last set of covers I purchased in April.
Iām disappointed as this is a company Iāve been using for years!
UPDATED 23 October 2024: I reached out the Digital Deck covers about this. They told me that sometimes as they reach the end of their fabric and padding rolls that the material can become highly compressed and may not spring back to its normal fluffy state. They sent me an RMA and I returned to disappointing covers and about 10 days later I had a replacement set of covers that were indeed up to their previous standards. So Iām happy to say, they stood behind their product which is a thumbs up in my book.
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Got the mini and mini37 to compare sizes. Thoughts below
- The keys are absolutely horrendous for me. After trying the Keystep range then Novation and NI mini keys just are such let down.
- I donāt feel any rubber coating - so I think it will survive for some time
- I havenāt dug into the manual yet but played a bit with chord mode - just gives fast access to some ideas without overthinking
- Ableton integration seems as expected
I will keep the mini(25) for
- ultra compact / lightweight keys and ableton control for travel. If I have more space and travelling for longer I would still prefer the keystep.
- play around with chord modes and whatever else might come as an update
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Iāve seen 61 key version in the shop and took a closer look at it. Knobs and faders definitely have some stuff over them which has potential to cause stickiness over time. Not sure about buttons. Surface itself is hard plastic so that should last. Build quality felt ok, knobs have some resistance to them, faders also felt ok and can be operated quite quickly. Buttons are nice to press with a little click, I liked them much better than ultra hard and loud buttons on my NI A61 (which btw. recently got sticky).
Iām generally not a fan of semi-weighted keybeds and prefer synth action, but this one was really nice, it was actually quite light to press and not too loud, again in contrast to keybed on NI A61, which subjectively feels a bit more quality, but I find keys too loud and too hard to press. It wasnāt connected so I couldnāt try velocity response.
All in all I liked it. Feels better quality than previous generation of Keylab essential (havenāt yet seen current MK3) and definitely prefer it over my NI A series.
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Is there any chance that you would open up the mini and take a few photos of the key mechanism for me and the internet? I want to know if the keys are fully independant parts with springs, or if they are molded plastic hinges that are attached to other keys in a group, like the previous models.
Iām not going to have time to do that sorry
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I would agree with this. I just picked up a Keystep 37. For my playing āabilityā the slim keys are perfect. Even without the Ableton control, I prefer using the Keystep as it has more keys and better quality ones, so itās just a lot more fun to use. Iām quite surprised Novation havenāt changed much in that area as itās a real weak spot in the range.
There might be no need to open these guys up. A few people wrote into Novation (various reddit posts) and they confirmed the keys in the Mini mk4 are the exact same as the Mini mk3.
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I see, thanks for the info. Definitely going to pass on this one as well then, no more disposable keyboards for me.
I had a similar experience. I own a KeyStep 37 and the keys are workable for me, but the ones on the Launchkey Mini37 just felt slightly smaller, just beyond the threshold of comfortable. Trying to play any kind of chords felt so cramped and awkward. Itās a shame because the rest of the features are great. Loved the integrated step sequencer for Ableton Live, and the customizable arp is super fun to get grooves going. The Chord Map thing is okay, but I found myself gravitating to the custom chord bank more, as the map concept wasnāt explained in any explicit way and just felt kind of random. I did love the different key modes and that you could play a chord and it would tell you what it was on screen. Iām currently taking piano lessons to improve my keyboard skills and found that very useful. Live integration was fantastic but having to use a shift+encoder turn to see what the parameters were was slightly annoying.
Once the Move got announced I decided to send the LK back. Move covers most of my needs for a compact MIDI controller although there are some tradeoffs: Move currently canāt bank through device parameters in Live, the arp is way more limited, and it doesnāt have any kind of chord mode, but it makes up for it in a lot of other ways like the capacitive encoders to see parameters at a glance and everything else it can do as a standalone device.
Iād consider getting one of the bigger Launchkeys when I have the space for one, but all I needed at the moment was a portable/compact for Live and Iām glad I made the switch to the Move. Iāve actually been having so much fun using it in standalone mode that Iāve barely used it as a controller so far, but it does a fine job as is and hopefully theyāll refine some of the control features on future updates.
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Yeah I can see why you would. I mentioned this in the Ableton Move thread, but I thought it was interesting that in his review Loopop was basically asking Novation to sell a version of the Launchkey but without they keyboard. And then Ableton Move comes along and said āhold my beer while we strap a standalone device to that!ā
What Iāve ended up with is sortof a patched up SuperLaunchkey. Because of where the ports are Iāve ended up with a reverse Launchkey with the pads & encoders right up front and the Keystep behind. In theory it shouldnāt work, but because Move is so low, itās easy to reach over and play something on the Keystep, and itās really easy to access the important stuff on Move. Because the Keystep is a straightforward, it feels a lot more direct if that makes sense? Same for the Move, like how you get the red lights on the Move to show you automation (mirroring the software) that is actually making me want to automate things more. I know itās a silly āoooh shiny lightsā thing but that visual feedback really does help. This is how I have it set upā¦ (enough room for a trackpad as well for computer stuff.)
Yep, similar boat here, though I still have my mk3 Launchkeys. The Minis I just canāt reccomend now. But as you say the overall features of the keyboards are pretty good, and the larger ones are generally of good quality. The arp is one of the best Iāve found anywhere (Hw or sw) and I like how they use the pads to help you navigate stuff - heck it can even do actual keyboard shortcuts which is brilliant for paging around Ableton for example. I hear the new larger full size ones are heavier waterfall keys (whatever that means!) Showing chords on screen sounds pretty handy - I didnāt know they could do that. That and the step sequencing might see my upgrade the 49. I overall quite like that keyboard (always nice to have some full size keys.) The orignal had an unergonomic design that I only realised once Iāve used it a bit. All the key controls are hard left, so itās hard to see the tiny screen. So Iām pleased theyāve improved that and pulled the useful stufff more into the centre. I might upgrade that one for the better keys, features and design.
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A few days ago I bought the Launchkey Mini 25 MK4 to complement the Move. The keybed is actually the worst Iāve come across in a long time. It reminds me strikingly of the old Microkorg.
On the other hand, the features of the MK4 are outstanding: The pattern-programmable arpeggiator, the pretty well thought-out chord modes and the easy scale mode which allows to plays scales only with white keys. Thatās reasons enough for me to keep the MK4.
In a perfect world, the MK4 would have the same quality keybed as the Arturia MiniLab, MicroLab or Keystep 
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Did you get it to work reliably with move now? You mentioned it was a bit unstable over on discordā¦