Arturia Keylab 61 MKII (White)

First hardware: the keyboard is a reasonable quality synth style keyboard, the faders and knobs are reasonably solid and smooth, the pads seem reasonably robust and are sensitive enough to be usable for finger drumming. Note the 'reasonably' , this is quite an expensive device so the quality is 'reasonably', but not 'surprisingly', good.The software works pretty much as expected. Analog Lab software has lots of interesting presets and my pre-Christmas version came with three full instruments which sound good and will be fun to experiment with. In user mode I can easily set it up to control Ableton Live through Live's midi mapping functionality, and I've connected a sustain and expression pedal successfully. I'm not so sure about the built-in DAW mode for Ableton Live. The pad layout for controlling session view isn't ideal, there are lots of essential things that can't be controlled directly from the keyboard, and it doesn't seem to work well with session record (I'm not sure about all this because the manual isn't massively helpful). Also DAW mode is read-only, so if you don't like an assignment they made, or you want to add some functionality, you can't change it.All-in-all a bit of a mixed bag, but I must like it because I had to return it (a dodgy fader - I got great service from both Amazon and the supplier) and had the opportunity to get a refund, and I chose to get a replacement instead.

Arturia are known for two things, pretty much - softsynths and recreations of classic synths in software (occasionally running on bespoke DSP hardware), and MIDI controllers. The Arturia Keylab Mk II is the latest in a relatively long line of hardware keyboards - MIDI controllers designed to support Arturia's softsynths - but it does a lot more than that, particularly if you're trying to quit the hardware habit,Giving up real synths is getting even harder now there are so many cheap, fun synths coming out from all manner of manufacturers - including Arturia themselves with the 'freak and 'brute models, to Korg, Behringer and Novation. There's always a pressing argument to get more hardware, but - all that hardware is built to a price. It's also worth considering what that hardware is actually adding - when so many softsynths (including Arturia's own Pigments) go far beyond the capabilities of a classic analogue or digital synthesizer.Though cheap, Behringer's synths rarely have keyboards, Many more of the affordable softsynth alternatives (Roland's prepackaged emulations, for example) have minikeys, or no aftertouch, or just feel a bit nasty to play.Look at an £1800 synthesizer like the Matrixbrute, and you'll find a lovely, fast, light and controllable keyboard very different to the offerings on £400 models. Mechanical parts and manufacturing cost far more than DSPs and electronics, after all.So with the Keylab Mk II Arturia have taken the DSPs and the emulations away - you can run those on your computer - and given you the £1800 synth's keyboard in a much cheaper package.It's well designed, too - the DAW controls, quickly selected, don't involve any weird plugins or layers. There are no drivers to go obsolete, no VST wrappers or other horrors. Just a straightforward, fast controller. Nine endless encoders, and non-motorized faders can provide mixer controls with panning or sends, or provide direct hardware control of virtual synths (or other hardware; I've mapped a template for directly controlling the synth engines in the Novation Circuit, for example). This hardware control extends to CV outputs on the Keylab Mk II, and far more connectivity for expression controls.If you're considering this over the Essential, the overall build quality, provision of aftertouch, feel of the keyboard and additopnal interfaces are only part of the equation; and frankly, enough to justify spending the extra. The resale value of the Keylab Mk II is much better - so if this is a first step, you'll not only have a nicer experience with the hardware, you'll find it much easier to sell on if it's not for you after all.It comes with Analog Lab - a preset player for V-Collection, and one well worth having - and also a Piano plugin from the same collection; this might make more sense if you're looking at the 88-key model. The standalone apps behave fine on most decent computers from the past six years or so - my 2013 i5 iMac is fine with it - and you can add more sounds with an immense library of presets for low cost.I'd recommend waiting for Arturia's regular sales, such as Black Friday offers, for good crossgrade/upgrade price for the full V-Collection - there are some good emulations of really unaffordable classics like the Synclavier.Browsing Analog Lab presets is quick, and switching between DAW and synth control is also straightforward - the transport controls work regardless of mode. You can configure the DAW mode for specific software, and a set of covers provide key shortcuts (the ones on the front match Cubase well enough that there's no reason to use the cover, though).Track controls are straightforward and can be set to pick-up mode, so you don't throw the setting off just by moving a fader or knob.User templates allow more in-depth mapping, so you can set up the Keylab to control any hardware or software if you're patient enough. MIDI Control Centre is reasonably intuitive, but like any software there's a learning curve to getting the fastest results; it's also a bit of trial and error deciding how to prioritise controls sometimes.The only aspect of the Keylab Mk II that seems wasted is the 16-pad matrix. It's purely for playing chords and so forth, so the controller can't do any form of sequencing beyond passing a chord to an arpeggiator. In 2020, that puts it behind rivals from Novation and other manufacturers, including the Keystep Pro from Arturia.Build quality is up there with the nicest mainstream synths - Roland and Korg 61-key models are rarely this solid overall - but still falls short of the more specialised models in terms of outright fit and finish. It needs a reasonable amount of pressure for aftertouch, too - but the trade off is that you rarely trigger it accidentally, and there's a consistent relationship between pressure and control values.If you already own V-Collection, the included softsynths don't add anything - it would be nice if there was a choice of synths or effects plugin depending on what you already have, as some sort of loyalty bonus for buying more Arturia kit.