Novation Launchkey 61 [MK3] MIDI Keyboard Controller — Seamless Ableton Live Integration. Chord Mode, Scale Mode, and Arpeggiator. All the software you need for Music Production.

I'm pretty new to using DAW's (I was a Recording Engineer in the 1970's and 80's, we used Tape Machines, LOL). I'm building a new Music Workstation in my home and wanted a small, simple Controller with enough features for Drums as well as ARP and Sequencing to use with a DAW. (I already own a Arturia KeyStep 37 for my Modular Synths).I looked at quite a few YouTube Reviews and this LaunchKey Mini MK3 always stood out. It was designed to really work with Ableton but also integrates fairly well with Logic Pro which is what I thought I would use it with. After having it for a few weeks now I can say that yes it works pretty well with Logic Pro but really integrates even better with Ableton, so much so I have decided to make Ableton my DAW of choice.The learning curve for me was pretty easy being new to all of this and there are lots of good online tutorials. Overall this little beast is packed with a full range of great features. The build quality is ok, not great but not bad, it’s plastic but the Knobs Buttons and Pads have a solid feel. Just treat it well and it will be just fine!The Keyboard is not meant for a “virtuoso” but for me who is a hunt and peck keyboardist (I am a drummer) it works and I like the small size. Hey, you can’t beat the price for this much technical power.Setup was very easy using the Novation WebSite. The only thing I’m still confused about is setting up my own Custom Mode but I’ll figure it out.As for the person that complained about the lack of a MIDI Cable being included and then buying the wrong ones, that is just “USER” error. All he had to do is contact Novation/Focusrite Customer Support like I did, within an hour they got back to me and sent a Link to where to buy the correct cable. That says a lot about Novation Support!Bottom line, if you want a nice, compact Controller that’s full of features at a great price…. THIS IS IT

Last year I bought an Arturia MK3 Essential and sent it back immediately. The keys were very plastic and had that annoying clacking sound. On top of that, the Arturia had a very cumbersome script installation process which did not go well. Customer support was basically a joke. After some time and deliberation I decided to try the Launchkey 49 MK4. My experience was like night and day. The support page is very smoothe and well designed. Set-up was a breeze and so was the script integration for Logic Pro. The overall build and keybed feel solid. I look forward to learning all of the cool features but for now I'm just happy to have a keyboard the I could configure and play within an hour of unboxing. Well done Novation!

The Launchkey Mini is a solid, compact MIDI controller that I’ve really enjoyed using. It’s small, lightweight, and surprisingly versatile for its size. The 25 keys have a decent feel, and while they’re not as big as a full-sized keyboard, they’re still responsive and comfortable enough for playing melodies or chords. The velocity-sensitive keys work well, and there’s a nice balance between portability and functionality.The pads are responsive and great for triggering drum sounds or loops, and the sliders and knobs provide good tactile control when tweaking your DAW settings or mixing. I particularly like how easily it integrates with software like Ableton Live—once it’s plugged in, it’s ready to go, which saves time during setup.One of the best things about the Launchkey Mini is how portable it is. It’s small enough to toss into a bag, and I’ve found it super useful for mobile music production or when I don’t have a lot of space on my desk. It’s USB-powered, which is convenient since I don’t need an extra power supply or cables.Overall, it’s a great little MIDI controller for producers who want something compact but still capable. It doesn’t have the full range of a larger controller, but for what it’s meant to do, it does a great job. Would definitely recommend it if you need something portable and functional.

Me being new to controllers, I did a solid month of comparisons, researching reviews, unboxing/feature videos, yada yada.... This always seemed to float to the top of everything within budget range. Even with holiday sales factoring in everything, I still bought this at full-price versus cheaper discounted products just due to quality of life perks and features that all seemed to make sense.My only gripe, which was kind of expected, but now realized, is that if you're not using a very popular DAW that is already in mind with auto-configurations from Novation, it may take some time and firmware updates to make everything less glitchy with the manual Remote/override signals.For example, my Reason 13 official integration works perfectly, but I was curious why it wasn't as out-of-the-box feature filled in mapping versus the other DAW integrations such as Ableton utilizing all the knobs and faders. I figured no problem and just manually add them on my own with the auto-learning. The signals between Reason and the hardware are being detected manually, but it is very flaky as of this writing (Jan '24), and a mapped fader for instance, only decides to work intermittently in the editor and playback. It's not a timing or latency issue, since the miniscule few Reason mappings out of the box are working perfectly fine (transport, track change, undo/play/record/stop, quantize and pads). So I'm assuming they ran into the same issues I have with the knobs and faders and decided to work on it more for a (hopefully) future bios/firmware update.