Arturia keylab mkii 61

[Herman Kappen]

I'm thinking of swapping my Nektar Impact LX61+ for the just released Arturia keylab MKII 61 controller keyboard. This will be my secondary keyboard (my primary is a Nord Stage 2 HA88).

The Nektar does a good job as a controller in live situations (I use Cantabile Performer as my VST host) but the keybed is just cheap plastic really

The specs of the new Arturia look really interesting. Should I take the plunge? Do you know of any better alternatives in the same price range? If you have any ideas on this, I'd be really grateful if you would share them with me.

Thanks!
Herman

https://www.arturia.com/keylab-mkii/overview

 

[Hodor]

Personally I'm a fan of the Roland A800 Pro, which has a great feel and is 100 bucks cheaper. But I haven't bought a 61 key controller in some time.The Arturia MKii is supposed to have an improved keybed, so there's that - I have never played one. I wouldn't really have the need for 16 pads, and my chief complaint is how spread out the sliders are - mine are usually assigned to Hammond drawbars and so the closer the better. Plus they are all the way to the right hand side. Awkward.
That said, I'm on the lookout for an 88-key Arturia MKii (should they release one), something I would seriously consider.

 

[Herman Kappen]

I never thought about the drawbars being on the right side. I do like the pads om the left side, though; I use those a lot for single-shots.

 

[happyrat1]

I just picked up a tiny little Arturia Keystep Controller and it's Companion the Beatstep for not too much money.

I've got to say the build quality on these is superb and even the touch with the mini keys is better than my Alesis QX49. It also has true MIDI IN and OUT ports and even CV Gate Ports.

Word is that they use Fatar keybeds.

I have to say that if I was in the market for a 61 or 88 controller I wouldn't hesitate to put my money down on another Arturia.

This thing just screams quality and attention to detail.

Gary

 

[Herman Kappen]

Well, I decided to go ahead and order the Keylab mkii 61....

 

[happyrat1]

Let us know your first impressions when it arrives.

Gary

 

[Hodor]

The real burning question on all our minds:

Did you get white or black?

 

[Herman Kappen]

I really liked the white one and almost ordered it, but then I thought perhaps it would give too much light reflection with the stage spotlights at night, so I ended up ordering the black one ;-)

 

[Hodor]

Well chosen. I was briefly considering the Keylab 88 - only after they came out with the black version, lol. Ultimately I just dislike the Fatar TP/100 action too much. Hoping they go with something better in a possible MkII version.

 

[Herman Kappen]

I'll report back after I have tried it out!

 

[maze]

I had the original Keylab 61 and basically it was a nightmare. Although the concept of a quality high end live performance controller was a great one and it seemed solid with those (faux) wood ends... the build quality and the keybed was just awful. I had to have the keyboard replaced twice, the first for the faders not working, the second time the keys were popping up, so that their restring place was higher than normal and the other keys. And then there was just ridiculous implementation...after touch was unusable, silly things like the leds on the buttons only going on when pushed and going out when released,,,which sure makes sense when in momentary mode, but NOT in toggle mode, where they should have stayed on when pressed and gone out when pressed again. I was hoping they would up their game with this next iteration and maybe they have to some degree... I have not played one to say either way. But I was immediately not interested as soon as I saw the layout with the faders and rotary encoders and buttons all the way over on the right... that may work for home recordist controlling a DAW, but not live stage work...and as also mentioned above, the faders are way too spread out to be effective for B3 drawbar usage. Also an unfortunate carryover from the original has the octave buttons right above the mod and pitch wheels where they are easily hit accidentally when using the wheels.