All three are programmed with 16 velocity-sensitive pads (with aftertouch), 16 step buttons and 16 rotary knobs. Two of the sequencers are monophonic, intended for riffs, basslines and the like, while the third is for sequencing up to 16 channels of drums. The second choice in our best MIDI pad controller round-up is the BeatStep Pro, which features three independent step sequencers and a set of general purpose MIDI controllers.
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Read our full Novation Launchpad X review The new custom modes are great for bespoke MIDI control too, and are a breeze to set up in Novation’s Components app.
This instantly makes this a far more expressive controller and, while the ‘virtual’ faders used for mixing are still no match for the real thing, this allows for cool, velocity-controlled manipulation of the speed at which level and parameter changes occur. Not only is it smaller and sleeker looking (though with larger pads) but it also adds velocity sensitivity, previously available only on the Launchpad Pro. This latest incarnation is as clear step up from its predecessors. There’s no doubt that, in that time, the Launchpad has proved hugely influential, inspiring the design of many other clip-launching MIDI controllers, providing the centrepiece of countless electronic live shows and founding a whole genre of YouTube mashup videos.
The X in the name of this third-gen Launchpad marks a decade since Novation’s original 8x8 pad controller hit the market.
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On a similar level in terms of a software and hardware partnership Native Instruments Maschine Mk3 is also a fantastic buy with both an MPC workflow and excellent features, not to mention its audio interfacing capability.įor budget pad control, Arturia's Beatstep Pro gives you great features and perfect sequencing over your modular hardware and instrument software, while IK's iRig pads is a fantastic device for control over your more mobile devices. With its compact design and many of the features found on its bigger singing, the Launchpad Pro, it ticks all of the creative performance boxes but is also practical and flexible, not to mention fantastic value.įor Ableton Live control, nothing still beats Ableton's own Push 2, which has simply been designed with nothing more than Live in mind so its control focus with that software is second to none and it has become the perfect hardware extension of it. Novation's Launchpad X is one of our top MIDI pad controller buys. And these are the best audio interfaces.While they include some MIDI control, their focus is more as hardware DAWs for complete song production.
We are not including music production workstations like NI's Maschine+, Roland's Verselab MV-1 and Akai MPC Live II. The pad controller market is certainly a fast-moving one, and we have all the latest releases in our round-up, and look out for new devices over coming months including Behringer’s BCR32 MIDI controller and sequencer, the Erae Touch MPE-compatible expressive MIDI controller, and the OXO One. So don't think of a pad controller as just for tapping out beats or triggering notes, as many have been designed to be so integral with today's gear that they are almost an extension of it, instruments in their own right, enabling you to compose and record melodies, chords and basslines, or sequence entire songs together to trigger both your music software and other hardware – great news for players and non players alike. Pad controllers are available in all sorts of shapes and sizes to suit just about every production and performance task, from small-form pad-based sequencers, equally as home controlling a Eurorack setup as they are virtual instruments, through NI's Maschine range of controllers with dedicated software, right up to Ableton's Push 2, a pad controller specifically for controlling the company's Live DAW.
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