Damn, this is one of the best channels I've discovered in the lasts months. It deserves a lot more atenttion. But finger drumming is something a little bit niche.
Update: The latest firmware update should fix all accidental note triggering according to Novation! And here's the blog post with gear recommendations: questforgroove.com/gear-recommendations/
Yes I can confirm it does. This launchpad X is now EXCELLENT!! Previously I was quite disappointed with the double triggering but now it's completely gone. Even with the velocity set to maximum. This product is now THE killah drum pad on the market and is on par with the Push 2 I previously owned (in terms of playability). Thank you for listening to your customers Novation!! 10/10 for Design. 10/10 for build quality. 10/10 for playability & 9/10 for value...
These designers just do not know what the hell they are doing. You obviously do not want buttons below the pads you will be hitting. Obviously you will accidentally hit them. All that junk should be on the top. Also, all the crap on the right should not be there for the same reason. This is why even if the pro is better, its a stupid product. I cannot believe how many finger drums are out there and they have knobs and all kinds of junk basically in the way of what you will be hitting. Nothing like changing modes by accident. If your goal was to make people accidentally hit some unwanted switch, that is exactly the design to put out there. I am surprised they didnt mix knobs and faders in between the buttons because that is how stupid the design it.
Hey man, I have a question. I have a problem with mine, first of all I wanted to connect my Launchpad X together with my Piano midi controller in Ableton set up in different channels. So I Putted my Piano Controller is in channel 1 and the Launch pad X is in Channel 9. Only Problem is that when I arm a drum track to play the Launch pad X in a drum track, it thinks it is a normal instrument and goes into melody mode instead of drum mode, and now it does not even show a drum grid pattern of Ableton in my Launchpad X, it still plays the sound, I only can't visually see where they are. I think it is because I have change in preference-> link midi: the input and output to lauchpad_x instead of MIDIIN2 (LPX MIDI). So how can I play both of my controllers without having problems of them interfering with each other?
Eye-opening. Thanks! I guess we should assume that electronic musical instruments, even mass-produced ones, can have subtle differences like this. Prior to this discussion, I assumed that in a single manufacturing run, it's binary "defective or non-defective" output and that all non-defective output would perform identically. Hey, on the subject of your 2020 pad recommendations, are people asking you to review the MPC One pads? It's a device that I, for one, am interested in, because I've always wanted to own a sampler.
Thanks! Novation did reach out saying they want to fix the small differences (with firmware tweaks maybe?)... I'm sending them my test data and hopefully it helps them. About the akai mpc one: I should test it I guess, but right now it's not for sale here in Amsterdam. Retailers estimate another 3 weeks before it becomes available!
Hi, After your reviews I decided to buy an LP X but unfortunately I find the minimum sensitivity very disappointing (I prefer much softer triggering, since I’m coming from the Piano and had a Maschine 2 previously) Did you observe the sensitivity getting better after some use /breaking in over time? Do you know if it is possible to MOD a Launchpad for some extra sensitivity? Congrats on your show, really good stuff!
Hmm you might have a bit of an outlier device then. You did update the firmware and set the device to the most sensitive setting right? The three devices I tested were pretty close to the machine mk3 so that should be alright for you. You might have gotten a particularly bad one :-( I don't know of any mods besides just updating firmware and setting it to the most sensitive setting and turning aftertouch off.
I wanted the Mini for the buttons, rather than velocity pads that I'm never going to use for velocity purposes, but the X has the scales mode that I really want. It's amazing how I can't find any device that does exactly what I want. Don't even get me started on the APC Mini.
While waiting for my launchpad pro, I am trying to figure out if I can remap the drum pad layout to one of your suggestions when using hardware drum machine with GM mapping. Can I set a custom layout on launchpad when using hardware drum machine?
How sensitive exactly are the pads of the Launchpad Pro? Like, can you trigger a hit by dropping a guitar pick on the pads? Are any of the pads you've tried this sensitive?
I think dropping a guitar pick will not work. But in my experience the softest tap will trigger. I never felt like it had to be more sensitive and I played a lot of controllers.
I think we should be optimistic. Novation has actually greatly improved their new line of launchpads and quality control on the pro mk3 seems to be very good. Especially for the price. I believe in an upward trend actually!
Have not played the mpc one, but if its just as good as the mpc live the Maschine mk3, Launchpad pro mk3 and MPc one are all in the same league. What makes the biggest difference is how you like the response curve, which is sort of personal for people. If you don't mind the smaller pads I would go for the launchpad pro mk3 because its just as good and a lot cheaper!
Just got my Launchpad X in yesterday so I was worried you were going to have to retract your rave review. Good to hear even with multiple Xs it still performed at a high level for the money. Looking forward to finally getting to complete your tutorial videos on your site myself after only watching them before, keep up the great work!
Yeah very sensitive! And the launchpad pro mk3 has 2 midi out ports and 1 midi in port (with breakout cables, since the device it too thin to have a normal midi plug built in)
I have Maschine MK2 now but used to be an MPC guy back in early 2000. the MPC I could rest my finger on the pad a press to sequence. the MK2 I need to lift each time. Does the LP X or PRO allow this type of playing as well as the normal striking the pad? thanks!
They both have aftertouch, so with a finger resting and then pressing down that should activate. I. Not at home right now but I can try it out tonight. If I forget, please remind me with another comment!
Slightly off topic but now that the Eurostar goes to Amsterdam from London, I find myself wondering how much Quest might potentially charge for a weekend's Maschine training.....
Hi Robert, i'm going to buy a Launchpad and i have a little question for you; can I decide the color of the pad when i'm playing drums, so i can get red pad for kick, green for snare ecc...? I usually use Reaper, but i'm start using Ableton Live too. Thanks.
would you reccomend i buy the new launchpad x or get a second hand push 1? they come in at about the same. push 1 probably about 25-50$ cheaper, not for finger drumming, I already own a maschine more for production and ableton use
I never played a push 1. My guess is a launchpad x is about as good as the push 2 when you get a well calibrated one. The three launchpads that I tested were at least. My gut would say go with the launchpad unless you think the slightly larger pads on the push will make you very happy.
How do the pads on the Launchkey Mini Mk3 compare to the Launchpads? I want to get a portable midi controller, and wondering if the Launchkey is good enough for finger drumming.
Hi, I appreciate this type of videos, unfortunately my native language is Spanish and it is difficult for me to understand the problem, I was thinking of buying a launchpad x because I already have a mk3 maschine because I wanted to try 64 pads, I am very delicate with the subject, double note triggering, I want to have the same quality of pads that I have with my maschine mk3, should I buy the launchpad pro mk3? greetings from Mexico!
As I watched this I wondered if the Pad Sensitivity was set the same for the 3 Launchpad Xs Seeing how thorough you are with your testing generally I figured you would have covered that. Later in the video I see that you Did go over that setting later.
as a keyboardish player wanting to use the launchpad for scales, i wish it was a 10x10 or custom size so my thumbs had somewhere to rest, similar to your thumbs hitting the bottom problem
I have a LPX and a LP Pro MK3: We should have gotten 8 Channels for the LP Pro, 64 steps view with a switch to 32 steps and the keys, when NOT using Ableton Live, also be able to set these buttons without extra entering ghost mode. A chord mode, a software sequencer, for the LP X, IMHO. Like this, we can just hope hope on hacks...
Thanks for sharing! I dont feel qualified to comment on other functionality of the devices because I honestly dont use that functionality at all. So I would end up just listing stuff that novation puts on the box like a lot of people seem to do when reviewing something. Very helpful to read something from someone who does have a clear workflow in mind like you!
You are just awesome! Thank you very much for those wonderful and helpful video! And best wish to you! In this dangerous NCP situation , be careful and good luck!
Was the firmware the same across all 3 Xs? Just curious if they lower sensitivity in fresh firmware to avoid double triggering, so that can be the reason why your two new Xs is not as sensitive as the old one?
Yeah I thought about that later... honestly I cannot remember. I think I updated them all but not 100% sure... thats a bit of a bummer. I already got rid of the two other launchpad x devices.
@@TheQuestforGroove Well I think that's what they intend to do in the long run, at least with things like keyboards. We can only hope they do it for midi controllers eventually!
Hey, really thanks for your work! I was wandering if you could help me with a trouble on launchpad X: I activated the "Legacy" mode (with the purple button) and now my Session button is disabled. Do you know a way to turn launchpad X to its normal mode and functionality? Thanks, i really can't find any information anyware on the internet.
Sorry for the answer here but whatever is the video of yours this topi would have been always out of content. So: can we speak of drum pads connected and working for hardware sequencers, Grooveboxes , drum machines? so , can we speak of hardwares only ? Can you make a vid talking about best ones who work better for hardware and which Absolutely not is a drum pad for hardwares. For instance I see NOvation Launch pad pro or Akai mpd 18 both , but didn't tested . And I see the Maschine mk3 mini good only for software but didn't tested either- I don't know if what I am asking is worth to listen. Cheers
Hey Fabi! I don't know that much about hardware only setups because I personally never worked with them. So right now I cannot make a video about them giving good information. I might look into this in the future and when I know enough and have something useful to say I will for sure make a video asap!
Great vid. So annoying that even with new models recently released we are still plagued by the sensitivity differences and the double triggering. My launchpad x doesn't double trigger, but I was intrigued by one of Nular Music's comment on one of his videos when he said that his X is less sensitive than his old Pro mk2. Now I understand why.
Yeah I learned my lesson as far as "buy recommendations" are concerned. If it's possible, I'll always try and test two or more of the same device. Luckily Ik would still recommend the X, but with a little 'caution' remark. The thing with RU-vid though is this: novation sends me this launchpad before announcing it, therefore I know that I have a "scoop" and lots of people will be looking for information, hence more views for my video, reaching more people etc. So it's very tempting to do a video on the announcement day instead of waiting 6 weeks until I can buy another one. I might in the future do an "early impressions" vid and do a real review later :-)
@@TheQuestforGroove I get that. As soon as I saw the announcement for the X and heard that pads are more sensitive than the Pro MK2 I went and ordered it. Your idea sounds great, first reaction then thorough review later.
Great effort for comparing the 5 devices, but don't you think that your very first launchpad X may have more sensitive pads because you played more on it to begin with? And that the pads may have become less stiff?
Well, I mainly play a maschine mk3. So apart from a couple of days testing I actually did not play the launchpad that much more than the other launchpad. I personally also haven't experienced improvements with the 'breaking in' of pads personally. It could be a thing sometimes, it's just that for me personally a good controller, like that first launchpad or my maschine mk3 just feels right when you play it, even when it comes right out of the box. I immediately noticed a small difference when I played the newer launchpad for the first time. And that feeling is something I did not have when playing the firts launchpad for the first time if you understand what I mean. There are just some small differences between devices, which does make sense if you use them for this type of subtle playing.
I was getting crazy with my Launchpad X, due to this double-note triggering that I experienced the most on Melodics, rather than on Ableton (less evident). I gave it back and went for the Launchpad Pro MK3 and I am VERY happy and satisfied about responsiveness and accuracy of the pads!
Ah so great to read! I'm also very happy that it seems that with the new pro we've got a premium device that seems to have better quality control for still a very good price at the moment. On melodics I can understand the accidental note triggering would be more evident since it uses fixed velocity.
Sooo I just bought a launchpad X. I was going for an Atom before watching this video and the previous one bout the first review. Was that a good choice?
Very confused to start and getting first my launchpad. Have you recommended launchpad for me? In option for launchpad : mk2 pro or launchpad X ? If i get a lot of money, i'll get a pro mk3 soon...
@@TheQuestforGroove ow yaaaa i not see the comments hehehe thx for ur attention dude. And i have one question again, is this X enough to produce music? i want to be a rapper and make a beat for my identity. Well, we see the pro mk3 have a lot button for feature. Its a very very different way to make a great music? Or no problem? Heheehe
When playing the same pads me and my friend get different amounts of double triggers. I’ve put it down to what I call “snap”, a really reactive and efficient on off motion reduces/eliminates double triggers in my experience.
@@TheQuestforGroove Yeah minimal contact/time in contact seems to be the least likely to double trigger, I have coined it the Corona method lmao. Is equally useful a skill to develop on an array of the more sensitive pads on the market from what I can tell. Great stuff and plenty to think about as always. Many thanks.
Hi! You speak about sensitivity, but does the launchpad software can be used for to set the threshold and sensitivity of the pads? Like on the mpc element with the mpc software... Also i hope the pads aren't too small for me :p
You can actually set the sensitivity on the device itself. 3 options. low - medium - high. But despite that, there are small differences between devices, so you cannot use it to make two devices exactly the same. You can make them respond better though. Most people who mess around with the sensitivity option and turn aftertouch off are happy.
Me again :p you speak about double trigering with the small pad being near each others what about to play with the thumbs? If i can't play with thumb it's not an option for me.
I ended getting the X, and as it is my first ever pad-controller, can't compare it with anything else. No music stores around to test different ones. But It is a bummer that companies nowadays can't reassure that all their devices are 100% identical... And what's with the releasing of overlapping products in such a short time? That's just wrong! Let the consumers have time to enjoy their products before something better comes out! (At least from the same company). My two cents. ;)
It's a difficult problem. As a guitar player, I know that no two fender stratocasters are exactly the same, even if they cost the same. "Regular" musicians are always shopping around for the ultimate instrument. It should be less hard to make these things consistent because they're just midi controllers, but my guess is the better they get, the harder it will be to make them 100% the same, because of the small nuances. Over all, novation seems to be moving in the right direction, making all of their new controllers more sensitive, so I'm happy, but I do understand the frustration. It's not like we have unlimited money to buy everything we want as soon as it comes out :-)
@@TheQuestforGroove Word! guitar player here also... I buy my guitars online too, as I don't have a music store around. Got an American Elite Strat last year, and while it wasn't al that perrfect, the store was willing to send me another one, but I had to send mine back first... so I told them, no thanks. Who knows... I could have get a better one, but also one even worse. I have enough to learn before being so picky.. even after 20+ years of playing ;)
i found that with my launchpad x double notes stopped triggering after some time, maybe i am more precise but i do suspect that maybe they need to be sort of "broken in"
@@TheQuestforGroove with maschine mk3 there was problem with early ones that some pads wasn't consistent with other pads, and what was helping and was suggested on maschine forum somewhere is moving them a lot in some sort of "wax on wax off" movement, and id did help, so it could be similar here.
@@djPositive yeah you might be moving the carbon ink on the pad sensor sheet a bit and that might even things out. I just got a new maschine mk3 and a new mikro mk3 by the way. Both great pads out of the box. Just like the other two I got 2 years ago.
This is super useful, thanks! My data point: my Launchpad X is double-triggering, its dynamic range feels significantly lower than that of my (original) Launchpad Pro. The Pro feels super sensitive and never produced any double-triggering.
Thanks for sharing! I have a launchpad pro mk2 and both the launchpad pro mk3's felt better to me. I think this is because the pro mk3 responds quite a lot better to softer hits. Then, by adjusting the velocity curve to not make it play to "light" I managed to get a nice combo that felt very good to me. This dynamic range thing is something I always want to say something useful about but its very hard to measure or test because it seems to be an interaction between the controller and the sounds. For example, when addictive drums switches from one velocity layer to another (I think it has 5) it sounds weird, so if you operate around those two velocity points you're gonna get annoying innatural inconsistencies. Doesnt mean the midi data is inconsistent. It just means that velocity 90 triggers a different sample than velocity 85. All that type of stuff makes it that every time I try and objectively test the dynamic range of a device, I end up getting confused :-)
@@TheQuestforGroove Interesting, I'll need to give the Pro mk3 a try. By "low dynamic range" I mean it's too easy to hit MIDI velocity 127 even at the lowest sensitivity setting, which I normally use. Unfortunately, this is not something that can be fixed in software using velocity curves. Another thing I found is that larger pads of the X make it easier to accidentally hit adjacent pads.
@@NularMusic yes the weird thing is that that lowest velocity curve seems to be a little different for each device. I think also on the x. Some of them never reach 127 and some of them do and some of them seem to reach it a little to easy. I personally could compensate inside addictive drums 2, which I tend to do anyways because I want my snare pads to respond a little differently from the hihat pads which takes tweaking inside the sample software.
I think its very, very rare for someone to go through the trouble of buying and testing more than one specimen of the same device in order to get closer to the truth. I did, and by doing so tried helping the tiny community of finger drummers in the world move forward a little. It's hilarious that you choose to specifically comment about sample size on one of the rare video's on this platform that actually uses a sample size that's larger than one.
I apologize- You are absolutely correct! I still stand by my statement on a purely scientific basis, but on a more human level you are right. Please excuse my previous blunt comment sir, and keep up the good work. 👍🏼
Hey that's actually a very generous apology. You are right scientifically indeed. Your comment struck a nerve with me precisely because I know you're technically right. I just don't know what to do about it. In a way I would like to have some sort of cool testing facility with machines that can exert a very specific amount of force to test every pad and then do that with hundreds of devices but I guess that makes me the consumer reports agency :-) I'll do my best to get as close to a reliable advice as possible and (as I did in my latest video in feburary) will also try and make it very clear that it will always be a ballpark estimate until there's a better way to test! Have a great day!
