Arturia Mini Lab MKII - White

The keyboard feels are great. Very portable to take for my gigs and has that classy look

Absolutely very good product

I like the product but got delivered very slow. The box has dents on the sides.

Davvero molto interessante, assolutamnente compatta, elegante, impeccabile. Questa tastiera midi si addice a chiunque compone e magari è più interessato alle note più che ai tasti programmabili. Difatti la tastiera è molto sensibile, quindi la pressione la velocita di risposta sono impeccabili, ed anche la pitch modulation è davvero valida. Grande varietà di manopole che permettera i settaggi più facili e immediati esempio: per diminuire o alzare il riverbero. Ma il punto forte sicuramente i softwere inclusi: Ableton live, Midi controller,Arturia v,Grand piano. Impeccabili assolutamente perfetti e anzi il kit di pronto all'uso per chiunque, sia principianti che per chi magari è gia più inoltrato nel mondo della produzione musicale. P.S. la uso gia da 7 mesi ed è come nuova nulla fuori posto stessa sensibilità stessa velocita di risposta molto consigliato.

I'll start off to say that I am not a musician, but I loved hacking around with synths in my younger years. and I just wanted to get myself a little something inexpensive, and a midi controller simply made the most sense for it's versatility and not being limited to any hardware settings. That being said, even for $100-$150 I don't like junk and appreciate good workmanship. I initially had a pool of about a dozen choices which got whittled down fairly quickly to 3 contenders (Nektar Impact LX25+, Akai Professional MPK Mini MKII and this one). I literally had to write each of them on pieces of paper and draw one, so I can't say this Arturia MiniLab MKII is any better than those ones, but I'm hoping for at least longevity it is LOL This controller has keys and pads with a terrific feel, excellent velocity settings and they all interact beautifully with the included software, in synch. The knobs are limitless (2 are push-down for what I haven't checked out yet) so there isn't any feel of when the limit has been reached, but since it's a controller that works with various programs, it's a benefit with this unit so it will work with pretty near any of them. The pitch and modulation pads are a bit weird for me, but having used the wheels so many moons ago it's a cinch for me to get used to, though, and they're very responsive. The other buttons I haven't ventured into figuring out as yet, but will once I have time to read the various manuals for the included software. I do really like how the relevant octave button blinks once or twice to indicate which one (upper/lower) you're currently playing in. One caveat if you do get this awesome bang-for-the-buck is have a few hours set aside to register and subsequently download the promised software. After you've registered your unit and installed their ASC to get Analog Lab Lite and the Midi mapper, they provide you with the registration numbers to Ableton Live 10 Lite and UVI Grand Piano and links to download and install those sort of "third party". Now down to learning some new software, 5 stars!

As someone who loves the sounds of synthesizers, I had no idea that there have been affordable software-based synths out there for years now. I didn't want to invest a lot of money because I didn't know if this would hold my interest enough. This is the right piece of equipment at the right price point. The construction of the unit is superb, it isn't all plastic, part of the case is metal which gives it a good heft, it really feels solid. The keys feel great as well, especially for a unit this inexpensive. I had no problems installing any of the bundled software and had it all up and running in short order. It turns out that there are literally hundreds of free virtual instruments available out there (as well as effects, samples, host software) that you can download and use with this controller. If there are two caveats (especially for a non-trained player such as myself), it would be that 25 keys really aren't enough to play stuff that requires both hands, and that these are "mini keys" rather than full size ones, which I find are a bit more forgiving for my adult hands. I wound up selling mine after a few months to upgrade to an Arturia controller with 49 full-size keys, but enjoyed every minute with the MiniLab25 mkII. Keep in mind that the included Ableton Lite host software (sometimes referred to as a "DAW", or digital audio workstation) only allows you to create with a maximum of eight tracks. Even though Ableton is the industry standard DAW, a more capable version will run you around $300. You can get some great DAWs for free, or for far less than what Ableton charges. Unless you eventually plan on upgrading to a better version of Ableton, I'd recommend getting a less expensive DAW and learning on that one rather than learning Ableton Lite and eventually switching to a different DAW and learning that one from scratch. I personally recommend Mixcraft 9 Pro, which comes with many outstanding bundled synths and effects (including Melodyne) and is a killer DAW in its' own right. EDIT: Even though I sold my original Minilab MKII in favor of a controller with more keys, about a year later I saw someone selling a Minilab MKII on Craigslist for $50 and bought it. It has become my "travel keyboard", easily fitting into my backpack along with my laptop. It gives me something portable to play around with when I'm not in my home "studio". I can even foresee using it as a second controller for "live" playing.

Very good and good value for money

Lo primero que llama la atención al sacarlo de la caja es su robustez. Pesa un poquito, pero es a cambio de una construcción solida que se nota desde el principio. El tacto y sensaciones de las teclas, los pads y los knobs es realmente buena. Lo mejor: - Contrucción y funcionamiento. - Software incluido, especialmente el Mini Lab 4. El Ableton Live Lite no lo he probado pues uso FL Studio. - Por solo ser cliente Arturia tienes productos software adicionales con un importante descuento (Analog Lab, V Collection, Pigments,...). - La instalación y activación del software es realmente sencilla mediante el Software Center de Arturia. - Una de las joyas incluidas es el Arturia Midi Control Center que permite de manera muy sencilla asignar comandos midi a cada PAD, knob,... o incluso cambiar la respuesta de algunos controles. Como ejemplo, me parecía que los pads requerían de mucha fuerza para activarlos a una velocity por encima de 100. Así que entré en esta aplicación y cambié su respuesta de lineal a exponencial y problema resuelto. - Me han sorprendido las "ruedas" táctiles de modulación y pitch bend que eliminan la parte mecánica (y por tanto aumenta su durabilidad) y cuya respuesta es bastante buena. Lo peor: - El cable USB es realmente corto y es el elemento de peor calidad de todo el conjunto. Tuve que usar otro que tenía para poder conectarlo al PC que tengo en el suelo. - El software UVI Grand Piano Model D tiene un sonido increible, pero implica crear dos cuentas de usuario adicionales (UVI portal + ILOK account) e instalarse no solo el VST sino además un software adicional de gestión de licencias (parecido al de Steinberg). Todo ello además complejo de activar e instalar. Sería mucho mejor que Arturia regalase alguno de sus fantásticos sintetizadores evitando todo este lío. - El precio para actualizar el Analog Lab 4 de la versión lite a la completa pone en los papeles incluidos con el teclado que es de 29€, sin embargo entras en la web y pone 69€. Sin embargo un correo a su soporte técnico solucionó el problema asignando un cupón de descuento. En definitiva, muy buena compra y muy recomendable.