BeNormanYo I actually got it when traveling in CA. It says Mineral King CA on the side. I got it from a small tourist shop when passing through. Not sure how to find them online.
This couldn't have came at a better time, I'm looking to buy a used 49 key alesis but couldn't find any good reviews about their midi keyboards, this has sold me on it!
i bought an arturia minilab mk2 a long time ago bc of a video in your channel, and seeing this i got happier that i chose to buy it, no regrets one bit!
I'm using that Akai one - your' review is pretty spot on :P Not the best but pretty decent / got fairly quickly used to the feeling of the keys & pads / the short knobs I don't mind :)
Wow! This is exactly in time when I was trying to do When I was Trying to buy a KEYBOARD! I was considering getting the Alesis. and I might actually get the Alesis, But, it looks like the Keys for the AlesisMINI is different than the V25. ANd- I have NO IDEA- Differences- etc
Andrew, I wish you had a look at the icon Pro Audio keyboards. I picked up a 25 key with audio interface, bunch of I/O, expression and sustain inputs, and DAW controller. Literally all you need in one keyboard... Except for pads.
There are so many good ones with small keys but no real good solution with large keys but only 2 octaves and a very small footprint to take with you at the weekend and practice some piano. The Alesis comes close I guess. Just the key section of the V25 would be a dream come true ... or a 3rd octave instead of all non key stuff.
What a great review. I'm glad someone as well known as you made this video, as it's really quite informative as to what you get for what you pay. I personally use M-Audio's axiom air mini 32, the one shown on video and it's helped me so much in my time as a musician. It's not an amazing experiences but it's affordable for someone doing music entirely as a hobby.
Have you tried the Nektar Impacts? I am looking for something with the best pitch/mod wheels and sensitive drum pads. Maybe Maschine is best for drum pads alone though.
So cool that I've been researching these for awhile to see what's best for me as my first hardware piece, only to see this vid notification. Awesome, right? I've had my eye on the Akai for various reasons, now I'm on the fence after watching this 😬. I wanted it for my bday coming up this weekend, but it would be super awesome if I won one instead. 🙌😭😂👍
I have been looking for a keyboard for so long (I have been composing with Logic Pro's musical typing only, it's sad) and I'm gonna get a variant of the Alesis one you showcased in this video, thank you SO MUCH I've finally found the one
I use a Pre-Sonus PS-49 MIDI controller and it's the best I've used in terms of how the keys feel. Second best, M-Audio Oxygen61. I also have the Arturia "THE PLAYER" 25, but the keys feel a little stiff.
I have a MiniLab MKI and I love it to bits! The Analog Lab software it comes with is amazing and works great as a VST in your favorite DAW. Highly recommend :)
on ableton you can assign all the knobs and pads of a midi keyboard to almost every adjustable parameter available in your project (assuming ableton recognizes them). so i think it should mainly come down to which midi keyboard has the better workflow for yourself.
launchkey mini mk3 has integrated ableton functions that you would have to set up yourself on the akai mini mk2. true, both can pretty much do the same thing if you really want them to, but the big benefit to the lk mk3 is that you don't have to spend the time assigning everything when you get it. you can just plug it in and have the full support. it also allows you to have complete control over session view in ableton. you don't have to have your hands on your laptop at all and can create an entire song in a matter of minutes using only the launchkey mini because of this. also important for you to know that Andrew didn't review the mk3 in this video, he was reviewing an older model and the mk3 has a ton of great improvements. Launchkey Mini mk3 is 100% better for ableton live 10, but both are good mini keyboards that are pretty similar. I'd suggest looking up some videos of people using both and see which you think you'd like more. source: my roommate for the last year and a half uses an mpk mini mk2 that I've had plenty of experience using, and I recently bought a launchkey mini mk3.
As a user of 3 Arturia Minilab Mk2, the issues i have faced is really annoying. The knobs are so bad because it's an endless encoder so when turning, sometimes the value change (volume for example) is fast sometimes its super super slow. The pads feels nt bad but again problems, sometimes when i play constant 16th note drumming it suddenly reads quarter notes only even when im drumming 16th notes. I have a video on it on my channel. The keys feels way better than the novation, it has slight resistance and lesser clicky-ish noise but sometimes when i stop playing a note it continues to read as id I'm still playing it ( a video showing on my channel ) I had 3 and now one is sent to servicing because of the issues i stated. The other two i just sold it away thinking maybe they were the " bad apples ". Not sure if other midi face this issues but it's super annoying to deal with. I'm using Ableton 10 Standard btw
Just a heads up for anyone looking at using the arturia based on the knobs.. they don't track very well at all and degrade horridly fast. They become unusable in a matter of weeks unfortunately. They might feel nice but once you're in you're DAW they are a complete nightmare
This is such a great video! Ive been shopping around for a digital piano or MIDI keyboard for my home studio for the purpose of composition and experimentation and that Alesis looks close to ideal, especially with your appraisal and hoo boy you cant beat that price haha
Great video, thanks for that. Just wondering: for a complete and actual recommendation for buyers it needs to be added that there is a newer version of the Novation keyboard with some of the missing features (like arpeggiator, Midi-Out and the mod-strip).
Ended up getting a Alesis Vmini today and the keys are just far too squishy. It's hard to actually press them. Hoping they break in a little with some use.
@Andrew Huang, could you share your thoughts on the differences between the Arturia MiniLab MkII 25 Slim-key Controller & the Arturia KeyStep Controller & Sequencer? I am undecided which one is better. The KeyStep has 32 keys, but I'm unsure if that's much of a bonus for in the box DAW stuff. I would love to hear your opinion on these two. Thanks! ~Nate
I wish I had seen this video before purchasing! Nevertheless I went with the Alesis v25 and I am very happy with it. You got a new subscriber Andrew! Love your content.
Just ran across your channel and Im binge watching your videos. I have a question because I genuinely don't know the answer..I have a ton of instruments and I was wondering if I can record instruments, midis, drum machines, and turntables in F L Studio Fruity Edition? If i had a ton of cash laying around I would prefer reason 11.
I love your uploads, it's always good content Andrew , but it's clearly obvious that you know exactly what midi you're using at the start of this video. 🤗
In my exp the akai does it all but does none of it well. Has 8 pads but they are finicky, 25 keys but theyre small and response is so so, knobs are actually crap and sometimes jump around values. 🤷♂️
It didn’t come up, but can these work with an iPad and what software? May be a dumb question but I do want to be able to do things like loop and make backtrack ground tracks for my guitar practice. Also, I thought by having a keyboard and seeing how chords are formed on a piano and guitar, it might help me learn. I already have an iPad Pro.
I started on the nektar impact lx25+ pretty good just frustrating DAW support at the time (by that I mean I was lazy and stupid). it had full sized keys, 8 knobs, a traditional pitch wheel, and alot more. I got it for about $100 but the price has since gone up to $130. It was a super solid midi in the literal sense as Im still convinced you can beat it with a hammer without it breaking. If you wanted to check it out it beats any budget midi keyboard. I now have the Komplete Kontrol S88 and caress its stupid little HD screens every day.
Did you describe what makes the alesis knobs a 9/10 despite there being so few of them? I feel like I'm missing something but I keep replaying that segment and dont hear you guys refer to the alesis at all except for when you're accentuating that it has less knobs than the rest so I'm wondering what about them had you give it such a high score despite that.
Cool tip for those with ableton but don't have pads. Record tapping on the table with mic. Right click, convert to midi. Turns out to be way more responsive than most pads.
What a cool trick. Does that really work? I guess it's good when you want those more extreme dynamics in your drums but it should take a lot of time to do the whole drum set.
@@PaulTheSkeptic Yeah I usually tap out a few bars of what I want the grove of the song to be, so its not all in time with the grid and has some feel. and then you just use those notes to write the drum beat as you would usually.
@@ChaosRayZero on my electric drum set it has the exact synth drum toms that are in never gonna give you up so whenever I record with my bros I always just play the intro
Hey Andrew!! Thank you for having me over to hang and check out keyboards with you! It was great fun. I’ve been carrying that Korg keyboard literally around the world since you gave it to me when shooting this and have gotten great use out of it! Turns out that Bluetooth is the most convenient thing ever.
Noticed you guys used the MK2 not MK3 for Launchkey Mini, was wondering if you got to check it out, one thing that’s interesting about the MK3 for me is that it supports MIDI In/Out and actually added a Mod/Pitch Strip
Anybody tell me about the latency with Bluetooth and Ableton? Any lag at all? Just seems like a dream come true if it has little to no lag with wireless control
To anyone still looking for advice - go with the Arturia. The main purpose of these types of midi controllers will be the keys in >90% the situations, and you really want to have nice keys. I hurried up and went with the Launchkey mini MK3, because of the fancy utilities and many pads, and it has dog shit keys, you can't even play what you want with it. The 8 pads on the Arturia are more than enough, and the keys are the best out of all of these controllers
@@PhreaSpirit Eventually, Arturia keystep could even be a better choice for beginners, it has 2 and a half octaves, compared to just 2 that others have, which mind sound insignificant, but it will give you just enough space to add extension to your chords comfortably
ditto, ya just gotta get used to smacking those pads. I recall having some weirdness with its velocity when I first got it too. Apparently also a known issue that can be solved with some settings that should really be the default from factory. Besides those two things I love it.
What works for me is use 2 fingers to hit them. It seems like they press or release a bit unevenly. It makes it harder to do fast stuff with them if that's what you need, but for my use it fixes the problem. Small price to pay for an otherwise great keyboard, at this cost something has got to suffer anyway.
I'm a huge fan of the minilab ... for me it was the entry product, and 100% did the job I needed it for and more (the knobs really add to the expressiveness). I liked it so much that after a failed detour with a FB marketplace-acquired novation impulse, I eventually upgraded to arturia's Keylab mkii; which I am soooo happy with. Arturia can *build*
I think it should really be mentioned that the Arturia comes with Analog Lab Lite, which is a FANTASTIC program with a ton of desirable keyboard sounds of all types. Also, *Pro Tip* : As an existing Arturia customer, you will get a ton of good deals on both software upgrades and new software. I upgraded to a full version of Analog Lab for $30.
You should try it, making a basic song isn't much harder than making a map or a texture :) especially if you want to make something on the more basic side like chiptunes, there are dozens of programs and communities oriented specifically around that
This was super helpful. I love the plain and simple decision at the end. A lot of people we’ll say “well the best one depends on what you’ll do with it” and yeah, obviously. But it’s nice to get a straight up answer on which one is your personal favorite.
Using their "MIDI CONTROL CENTER" software (available on their website) you can alter how the MK2 is set up. You can assign notes, midi channels and functions to the pads and keys, as well as velocity curves, etc. I used it to assign MMCs (Midi Machine Control ) to the pads so I can control my DAW's Transport (Record/Stop/Play/etc) as the MK2 doesn't have built-in Transport controls.
@UwU I had a pepe profile pic with the name "white supremacist hate symbol" throughout 2016 and 2017 and became embarrassed by it in 2018. My name has been "finally changed my profile pic" for about 1 and a half years now.
@@joshuaslattery2416 not necessarily only markup, it could be partly due to taxes. Same thing happens here in Mexico. I got an Arturia Mkii from Thomann as a b stock, plus shipping, plus whatever taxes I'll have to pay (still haven't got it after 3 months!). All in all... Still 250 dlls under any other price I have found. Oh, and no store carries it. Seriously.
8:04- I have had the Novation Launchkey for a while now, and due to certain circumstances, i did run over it with a car (accidentally). Suprisingly, it does still function like I got it new.
I'm not sure if you've done a video like this Andrew but, a great video would be taking a controller with a number of pads and knobs and show how you personally go about mapping those controls in Ableton to best suit your producing.
I think the clickiness of those Korg keys would drive me nuts. The Arturia looks really nice though, and I think I'm going to make that my first MIDI controller.
One important thing that they missed is that the akai has 2 banks per its 4 different modes so it’s like u have 32 drum pads and knobs but u need to switch banks.
