Arturia Keylab 88

[Robert27191]

Hi,

I'm looking to get a new MIDI keyboard. Needs to be a full 88 board and properly weighted, with a decent number of faders and knobs.

The above looks very good and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with it?

Would be very grateful of any help/advice/tips on anything else!

Robert

 

[BroKen_H]

Well, it's pretty new on the market, so you might not get a lot of "home recordists" who've been playing around with one. Be wary of drivers and limitations with your DAW. Maybe make a pre purchase email to their TS website.

Also check out Akai's Pro MPK88 for the same money (lots of faders plus 16 pressure sensitive pads. Don't know if you'd use those, but I have the MPD 18 (just the pads) and I love it.

 

[Robert27191]

Yeah, finding much experience is proving difficult.

I've seen the MPK and am really impressed but there are an inordinate amount of reviews with negative experience with the keys, buzzing sounds from within and lack of sensitivity on the pads.

For that kind of money, I'd be expecting something far more reliable..

 

[Robert27191]

BTW -what do you mean about drivers and limitations within the DAW?
I currently use both REAPER and Logic.

 

[BroKen_H]

Meaning, brand new equipment often has problems with compatibility. Thus the recommendation to talk to their tech team before purchase about compatibility with your OS/DAW (s).
I've seen a lot of poor reviews of the MPK as well which surprises me (especially about the pads. Maybe a lot of it comes from people not understanding how to use the pads. They are expressive from bottom to top - 0 to 127. most people just beading on them with a pencil will get crap results.
AFA the bad reviews, The thing rates 4.5-4.9 on all the major sites. Yeah, I know a lot of the 5 star reviews are bogus or newbs who don't know any better, but they don't rate according to technical ability of the rater, so we're kind of bent there.
Hey, just as a thought. Drop the hammer. Order one or the other from GC, SW, GF, whoever you like. You get a two week grace period. Make sure you'll have time to work with it (remember all those silly holidays that pull us away from our fun are just around the corner ). If it turns out to be great, you're in. If it turns out to be less than you expected, you're out the cost of return shipping, what, $35? and try again. Be bold, be the reviewer!

 

[Robert27191]

I'd be tempted but the Arturia doesn't come out for another 2 months!