Novation already makes 5 totally 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 gives the Launchkey 88 with a semi-weighted keybed.
The newest 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 simply $400 by leaving out extra superior options like CV outputs, coloration screens and built-in sequencer. However, in the event you’re primarily producing in-the-box you most likely gained’t miss the extras that a lot.
Terrence O’Brien / Engadget
That is to be anticipated, and it’s not a con, however the Launchkey 88 is enormous. 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 superb. I’m not a piano participant, and haven’t any explicit 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 principally the identical as the remainder of the Launchkey line. It’s all plastic, however feels strong sufficient. The 16 velocity delicate pads are satisfactory however nothing to jot down house about. The faders have a superb quantity of resistance, however are a tad wobbly. And the knobs are extremely strong however a tad small. The pitch and mod wheels are beautiful although, full cease. The resistance is ideal, and so they’re rock strong. Going again to the contact strips on different controllers looks like punishment.
Terrence O’Brien / Engadget
In fact, the massive promoting level of any Launchkey system is its tight integration with Ableton Reside. It’s not fairly adequate to go utterly mouse and keyboard free, however you may get lots achieved straight on the controller. You may launch clips from the pads, management macros with the knobs and blend your tracks with the faders. You might have 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 really impressed however forgot to hit document. You are able to do fairly a bit with wanting on the pc, although it may be a bit robust to navigate bigger initiatives.
There are some odd quirks proper now, although, that may presumably get ironed out in firmware and script updates fairly shortly. Particularly, Reside will get confused by taking part in within the higher octaves. There’s a few lifeless zones, from G4 by way of E5, for instance, and a few keys within the highest octave set off numerous recording modes as a substitute of notes. However this solely occurs in Reside.
The arpeggiator remains to be unimaginable, although. The random, Mutate and Deviate options make it straightforward to create distinctive patterns and introduce somewhat unpredictability to a composition. That is the characteristic that has me coming again to the Launchkey line many times in my private studio. And the five-pin MIDI DIN connection lets you deliver that top-notch arpeggiator to {hardware} synths. Nonetheless, I nonetheless suppose the controller is greatest suited to a primarily software-based setup.
Terrence O’Brien / Engadget
The Launchkey 88 isn’t a real luxurious MIDI controller. It’s actually an reasonably priced workhorse. But it surely does go a bit past a few of its extra reasonably priced opponents, and even its siblings. The expansive dimension most likely isn’t needed 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 velocity (and simpler to shove on my cramped desk).
The Launchkey 88 is offered now for $400.
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