Novation Launchkey MK4 Review: A Great Cheap MIDI Keyboard

Best-in-class arpeggiator. New Chord Map mode. Lots of hands-on controls. Tight integration with Ableton Live.

Pads and faders are mediocre astatine best. Interface tin beryllium a small confusing.

The satellite of fund MIDI keyboards is competitory to accidental the least. There are countless companies cranking retired keyboards nether $300, ranging successful size from 25 keys to 88 keys. There are mini controllers for tossing into a bag. Controllers with tightly integrated bundle for simplifying dependable design. Keyboards with MPC-style drum pads. Honestly, it’s kinda hard to spell incorrect picking immoderate of them—they’ll each get the occupation done.

Still determination are a few, depending connected your peculiar needs, that emergence to the top. If you’re a idiosyncratic of Arturia oregon Native Instrument plugins, your champion bets are their respective KeyLab Essential and Komplete Kontrol A series. But if you’re not locked into a peculiar company’s ecosystem, oregon if your DAW (digital audio workstation) of prime is Ableton Live, past Novation’s Launchkey bid is simply a wide standout. And, with the caller MK4 revisions, it makes a coagulated lawsuit for champion fund MIDI controller period.

Hardware

There aren’t truly immoderate surprises connected the hardware front. The LaunchKey MK4 is simply a fund MIDI controller done and through. The larger 49- and 61-key models person semi-weighted keybeds that are decent, but not great. (The 37- and 25-key models person synth-action keybeds that are adjacent much meh.) It’s mostly plastic. And connectivity options are basal but adequate: conscionable a USB-C port, prolong jack, and five-pin MIDI out.

There are a wealthiness of hands-on controls. Nine faders (on the larger models), 8 endless encoders, 16 pads, and countless buttons. The faders and pads are beauteous mediocre. The faders consciousness a small inexpensive and loose, and the pads conscionable can’t vie with those connected Akai controllers. They’re good for launching clips, but I wouldn’t privation to digit drum connected them. The buttons are pleasantly clicky, though, and the determination from potentiometers to encoders means you don’t person to woody with the chaos of parameters unexpectedly jumping astir arsenic you crook knobs.

The surface connected the LaunchKey MK4s is rather small, but it’s helpful. As you determination faders and crook the encoders it volition amusement what you’re controlling and the worth of each parameter.

The Mini versions stock astir of the aforesaid features, though alternatively of transportation and mod wheels they person touchstrips and the keys are smaller and spongier. They’re fantabulous question controllers, but the lackluster keybed means I wouldn’t privation to marque them my workplace workhorse. It is worthy noting that the mainline LaunchKeys (as opposed to the Mini models) are rather tall. They lone narrowly acceptable successful my standard-size keyboard tray.

Arp and Chord mode

What elevates the LaunchKey lineup supra different MIDI controllers are its arpeggiator and chord modes. The arp has each the accustomed modes you’d expect—up, down, up and down, random, et cetera. But the Mutate and Deviate features let you to inject controlled doses of randomness into your arps for erstwhile you’re feeling stuck oregon a small bored of the same-old same-old. As you determination Mutate it adds caller notes from the standard oregon introduces octave jumps. Deviate introduces rhythmic variation. If you privation much power there’s besides Arp Pattern mode which allows you to manually programme a rhythmic signifier for your arp, including rests, ties, accents, and ratchets.

Chord mode connected the LaunchKey MK4s goes beyond what others offer. In summation to the modular fixed chord mode, wherever you play a signifier and past are capable to transpose it astir the keyboard with a azygous key, there’s Chord Map. This puts chords from your selected standard connected the 8 near pads, and the six close pads trigger show features similar antithetic inversions of a chord oregon arpeggiating done them.

The encoders astatine the apical besides power however the chords are played. The Adventure and Explore parameters are analogous to the Mutate and Deviate controls for arp mode, adhd rhythmic and harmonic complexity to your chord selection. The Novation LaunchKeys already had the champion arpeggiator successful the MIDI controller abstraction if you inquire me, and the MK4's instrumentality that to caller levels.

DAW and Software Integration

If your DAW of choice is Ableton Live, past the LaunchKey is going to beryllium a existent treat. The lone tighter integration betwixt a portion of hardware and signaling bundle I’ve seen is the Push and Live—but that comes with a overmuch higher terms of introduction ($999 for the controller-only mentation of Push with Live Intro). Right retired of the container the LaunchKey MK4 are capable to power astir first-party Ableton devices, the mixer, trigger clips and scenes, loop sections of your arrangement, undo changes and trigger Live’s seizure MIDI diagnostic successful lawsuit you forgot to property grounds earlier jamming out.

The sheer scope of the integration betwixt the LaunchKey and Live is impressive. But it does instrumentality a small spot to find your footing. With truthful galore features disposable controlling Live, your plugins, and taking vantage of the LaunchKey’s built-in arp and chord features requires a batch of fastener combos, displacement functions, and immoderate airy paper diving. It’s not the astir cumbersome interface I’ve ever seen, but I’d halt abbreviated of calling it intuitive.

While the LaunchKey tin power immoderate functions successful different DAWs, the integration is acold little tight. And depending connected your peculiar DAW it mightiness beryllium beauteous barebones. In summation to Ableton Logic Pro, FL Studio, Reason, and Cubase are each supported. Play, record, and basal mixer functions are supported crossed each DAWs, but beyond that, enactment tin vary.

If you’re an Ableton Live idiosyncratic and you don’t find yourself reaching for VSTs from Native Instruments oregon Arturia constantly, the LaunchKey MK4 feels similar an evident prime for a sub $300 MIDI controller. The terms is right, the physique is decent and you get fantabulous integration with your DAW of choice. Sure there’s nary aftertouch and the surface is small, but these are the sacrifices you marque to support prices down.

If you don’t usage Ableton the prime isn’t rather arsenic clear, but the LaunchKeys inactive marque a coagulated statement for your MIDI controller buck. The enlargement of the arpeggiator and caller Chord Map diagnostic are large for helping you drawback retired of a rut, particularly if (like me) your euphony mentation oregon soft aren’t the strongest. If you're buying for an easier mode to interface with your music, particularly if you usage Ableton, the Launchkey models should beryllium connected your abbreviated list.