Arturia Keylab 88 Mk II - is it worth getting?

ToneControl

I nearly bought one of these today, to go with my Arturia suite of virtual synths.
I already have a Kontrol S88 Mk3 with proper hammer-action weighted keys and poly aftertouch.

I'm wondering if hammer-action keys are so great so non-piano sounds?
I remember happily using old cheap synth keyboards, and wonder what people find easier to use with non-piano patches?
I have some old keyboards, but of course they don't have the Arturia tweaking controls. My old Analog Factory Experience looked promising, but the controls down work properly, not sure if I can clean up the pots or not

Bod

I have a KK61 Mk 2 along with a Studiologic SL Studio 88 key with weighted hammer action.  I love the hammer action for piano and orchestral sounds, but it feels a little odd with synth sounds, so I tend to default to the KK for those, but it's not a huge issue.

I thought that Arturia plugins supported NKS?  I haven't tried but, if so, you wouldn't really need to splurge on another keyboard as the controls should map to those on the NI keyboard when using the Komplete Kontrol plugin?

EDIT - I've just had a quick look and yes, they do support NKS.  I'd argue that controlling them with the NI keyboard would be a better experience as more parameters are mapped and you get to see the labels above the knobs.

ToneControl

I had also wondered if some small separate controller was available, with just knobs, sliders, and pads etc. Not seeing any on the Arturia site, but someone recommended the Novation Launch Control XL, which looks less useful to me

ToneControl

Bod said:

I have a KK61 Mk 2 along with a Studiologic SL Studio 88 key with weighted hammer action.  I love the hammer action for piano and orchestral sounds, but it feels a little odd with synth sounds, so I tend to default to the KK for those, but it's not a huge issue.

I thought that Arturia plugins supported NKS?  I haven't tried but, if so, you wouldn't really need to splurge on another keyboard as the controls should map to those on the NI keyboard when using the Komplete Kontrol plugin?

EDIT - I've just had a quick look and yes, they do support NKS.  I'd argue that controlling them with the NI keyboard would be a better experience as more parameters are mapped and you get to see the labels above the knobs.

You have a point, I had expected labels on the Arturia kit, but noticed last night that you only get one label pop up when you touch a fader, which seems rubbish to me

I could try one of my old unweighted controllers with it

Bod

ToneControl said:

I had also wondered if some small separate controller was available, with just knobs, sliders, and pads etc. Not seeing any on the Arturia site, but someone recommended the Novation Launch Control XL, which looks less useful to me

The Minilab 3 is really good as a small controller, although it's a keyboard.

ToneControl

Bod said:

ToneControl said:

I had also wondered if some small separate controller was available, with just knobs, sliders, and pads etc. Not seeing any on the Arturia site, but someone recommended the Novation Launch Control XL, which looks less useful to me

The Minilab 3 is really good as a small controller, although it's a keyboard.

I've been looking using google to try to find some advice on which of their controllers are most useful with V Collection X, but not had much luck, have you seen anything? Most reviews tend to talk more about the keyboard bed

monquixote

ToneControl said:

Bod said:

ToneControl said:

I had also wondered if some small separate controller was available, with just knobs, sliders, and pads etc. Not seeing any on the Arturia site, but someone recommended the Novation Launch Control XL, which looks less useful to me

The Minilab 3 is really good as a small controller, although it's a keyboard.

I've been looking using google to try to find some advice on which of their controllers are most useful with V Collection X, but not had much luck, have you seen anything? Most reviews tend to talk more about the keyboard bed

Arturia have deep integration with their plugins so if you have V Collection the obvious choice is a Keylab.

Vintage65

Have a look at this one, 49 semi-weighted keys and touch sensitive controls.

https://www.arturia.com/products/hybrid-synths/keylab-mk3/overview/