Need midi controller

[M-Grumpy]

Hi Everyone ...
I'm new to Cubase 12. My son gave me the Elements version as a birthday present.
I'm looking for a midi controller, which is supported by Cubase out of the box.
Even though I have a lot of experience in IT, I don't want to pull this lever and twiddle that know just to get it to sort of work. Googling doesn't help much ...
Any suggestions are welcome ... prefer 61 keys and some pads.
Many thanks in advance and cheers to all you magic musos.
Regards from Michael G

 

[Joseph Hanna]

Hi Everyone ...
I'm new to Cubase 12. My son gave me the Elements version as a birthday present.
I'm looking for a midi controller, which is supported by Cubase out of the box.
Even though I have a lot of experience in IT, I don't want to pull this lever and twiddle that know just to get it to sort of work. Googling doesn't help much ...
Any suggestions are welcome ... prefer 61 keys and some pads.
Many thanks in advance and cheers to all you magic musos.
Regards from Michael G

Arturia makes two different series of midi controllers. For 61 note controllers they have the Essential series (Entry level) and the Keylab series (prosumer) The Keylab series is the most capable 61 note controller I'm aware of and its semi-weighted keys are luxurious. It's at its core a powerful midi control center. At the same price point is the Native Instrument Komplete Kontrol S61 which where it is not as complete a midi controller as the Arturia, it does have the very best keyboard bed I've found under $1000.00. It also recognizes any Native Instrument softsynths and allows for selection and editing without having to refer to a computer screen.

 

[rob aylestone]

The best - by a long way controller is the Kontakt V2 series. If you don't have or intend to buy sampler synth VSTi type sounds, then that side is probably wasted, but with it connected to my Cubase 12 (and the two before it) I can use Kontakt to go through the sample libraries and play me snippets of sounds, the transport controls work fine, and again, only with Kontakt instruments, the handy LEDs tell you where your notes and key switches are. Plenty of knobs and faders you can use to control your system. I also have a Swissonic keyboard, bought from Thomann which is pretty good for controlling things - but the sample/synth controls of the Kontakt make it the best controller I have ever had. That said - I actually use a Steinberg CC121 to drive cubase - the transport and the easy access to the squish and squash functions to enlarge or reduce the visible size of on screen elements, a jog dial and other useful stuff like mute and solo - and a single motorised fader that mimics whichever one you have selected on the screen.