I am absolutely satisfied! After several weeks of market research I found what I need! As a long time Maschine user, after a long period of unhappiness, I have decided to leave the NI ecosystem altogether. I went back to creating through Fl Studio! I'm very happy to be able to explore the freedom of creativity and a feature-packed workflow again after all these years! Of course I needed to find an ideal MIDI solution, with good FL Studio integration, features and at the same time still be somewhat portable! Voila! There aren't many to choose from and Minilab3, Fl Keys and Launchkey MK4 have made it to the finals! And the fair winner was Launchkey 25 MK4! Thank you!
Let's find out why:
Pros:
1. The integration with Fl studio is very nice, but some DAW control functions are complicatedly hidden and take a long time to get used to, however, once you get used to the features you want to control, you will be delighted! Of course also with other DAWs! Not only Ableton! Sweet!
2. Endless encoders (A big difference compared to FL Keys), Thank you!
3. 4 encoder user modes with 16 functions that's a total of 64 quickly assignable functions in the project, tools, effects, whatever! Could there be more of them? Sure! Do you want to make a mess of it? No! It's perfect! + 4 user pad modes! Sweet!
4. 16 beautifully sensitive pads with polyaftertpuch! Don't be disappointed by the size, to me as a Maschine user I dare say these pads are even better!
5. Very advanced arp, chord, scale mode, real fun, and of course added user chord mode! BIG Thank you!
This midi keybord is a beast, very affordable price and features that, along with FL Studio, absolutely made it possible for me to leave NI ecosystem and I am grateful for it! I don't think I'm missing any features at the moment and the possibilities are staggering, I really can keep exploring and creating without feeling suffocated!
cons:
1. I would like to see user adjustable colour schemes for the pads, not only for the user but for all functions in general, I wish they would add such an option in the update
2. The keybord body and the keys themselves don't look very well crafted, I think it's better in the higher sizes versions 49 and 61 keys, but for the price I don't expect luxury, because it all overcomes the functionality!
That's it! :)
