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Which Midi Pad controller
So, I recently got a MacBook Pro with Logic Pro X and ProTools. I have a Novation Launchkey 25, nanoKontrol, and an Axion 49 gen 2. I am in the market for a pad controller. I thought I had my mind made up on getting a Quneo but I am sort of intrigued by the MPD32. For the money the MPC Element seems good. I want something that I can use with my iPad or my MacBook. Sub$300 would be my range but the cheaper the better. MusiciansFriend has a 15% off coupon code right now so I could get a new Quneo for $211. Any thoughts, ideas, or insights are welcome. I am mainly wanting it to bang out some drum beats and maybe get more into sampling.
Comments
I would definitely give the quneo a try, the mpc element is a nice controller but personally I find it too heavy, it's much heavier than the ipad so if you're carrying around your iPad, an iPad case and the controller you'll want to take into account how light you want to be.
I prefer both of those to the mpd32 but still it's a capable controller itself.
the quneo is the lightest of them all and the most versatile, you can run beatmaker 2 on your iPad like in this video, or anything on your macbook, and because it's so versatile you can do things like assign the pads to the pads in beatmaker 2 and then assign the strips and buttons to an fx app that you're running beatmaker 2 through which is kind of nice, to be able to control fx on another app and your beats from the same controller at the same time.
another one that you might want to take a look at is the ikmultimedia irig drum pad, it doesn't have as many controls as the quneo but it's smaller in dimensions for if you need something to fit into an even smaller bag.
these types of articulations are not possible on the other pad controllers because they have 1 sensor per pad were as the quneo has several, making it a more expressive controller.
I forgot to mention that you might want to take a look at the guitar center used market section, someone here recommended it to me and I picked up a quneo for 80bucks, and I saw others listed as well. i didn't see any others at the time for the same price as the one I got but I saw others between $111-$200 so there are definitely some deals available.
I like pad layouts so I hope you don't mind me asking: why do you want pads vs using your keyboards? Feel? Layout? Is drum programming the aim?
I think pads have an awful lot to do with feel and response—just like a keybed on a synth or setup of a guitar. If possible, you want to go to a store that has a few and try them out with actual audio feedback (don't just mash them silently).
I've repeatedly made eyes at the QuNeo because of the impressive feature set but when I actually tried it, I didn't like the feel at all. From what I understand, it takes a while to tweak their response to work for your style of play so grain of salt and all of that.
At the moment, I'm happiest with the Arturia Beatstep pads. They're a little stiff which suits me well.
Note also that very few (none?) of these things have iPad editors to adjust the set up. Looking forward to that day.
Yes....definitely an add for the 2015 wish list.....editors for anything new (and old) and on the horizon.ive been wanting a Qunexus editor on iOS for ages.
@kobamoto said:
Let's all just shut up about the GC used section. There's a lot of overpriced things there, but it's also one of the few areas you can find deals compared to CL or eBay, if you hunt.
@syrupcore I want the layout and the feel. I like the pads on my axiom but there is only 8 so I am wanting more pads.
Mostly drum programming I guess. Maybe some remixing. When I record, I want to perform the recording, not quantize the entire thing.
I tried a korg nanoPad but sent it back to amazon. To me it just felt cheap, and the XY pad was not really responsive.
Size or weight is not an issue for me.
@syrupcore,...you ruined my day with the Arturia Beatstep pads.
Seriously, how do you hook it up to iPad? Is there a mini MIDI connector? It looks great;-)
Just noticed QuNeo is currently 15% off on Amazon as are all the Keith McMillen items I am aware of.
I don't think I can resist it anymore.
Bought it. It will be here Thursday.
@soundklinik it hooks up via USB. Nice thing is also provides a 5pin MIDI out when hooked up via USB and a CV/Gate output on a separate channel. I have the CV going to my SH-101 and the MIDI going to an alesis drum machine and then through to a korg nanokey. You can change the MIDI channel on the fly so that it's controlling anything downstream. Good times. For a hundred bucks!
I also really like the knobs on it. I wish they'd sell something with no pads and twice the knobs for the same price. 16 is good but it's never enough to have really dedicated controls over most synths, though it does have 16 presets...
I'd add a vote to the QuNeo. The most options of any of those controllers. Would absolutely not recommend an Element. If it comes down to Akai stuff, get an MPD controller, way better than an Element.
@syrupcore said:
Thanks syrupcore,
To me, looks like the best controller for the money...Sounds just great reading details @Arturia:-)
By the MIDI hookup, I meant is there a cable direct from pad to controller? or do you need "kits" or adapters?
Does it work well with iSEM?
@syrupcore Novation Launch Control XL
It has some pads but more tweak-ability (24). CC and reasonable pricing.
You'll need an Apple USB to Lightning Camera Adapter. Don't bother with cheap third party ones either, get this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Lightning-Camera-Adapter-MD821ZM/dp/B009WHV3XA/
@soundklinik ^ what dwarman said
@TGiG Yes, thank you. The XL is on my short list.
Price is right and control count is great. Only downside is it's all kind of tight which will make it hard to label. I'm also considering the ZeRO SL.
Another midi controller dream: I want to be able to set a button or knob to step through fixed values like 0, 32, 64, 96 and 127 so that you can use it control things like an OSC selector. For buttons, it would make them more useful than toggles (each press goes to the next value). For knobs, it would make it smoother when selecting from something like 6 values which generally requires a lot of spinning.
@syrupcore said:
this is a great idea, what would be the closest way to accomplish this right now, some max 4 live thing or what?
Yeah, you'd have to use an interstitial MIDI processing app, at least as far as I know.
I had hoped that the Panarama Nektar might do it because it's generally so advanced in other ways but they said it doesn't currently. I actually chatted with one of the engineers; he thought it would be doable and could see why someone might want it. Maybe one day.
being that it's only about values you'd think anyone would jump on it after hearing it out loud
I agree! Alas, I think it's a little more complicated than that. Currently most buttons on a controller send out a single CC or a Midi Note On/Off. It only needs to know about that CC or note number. On some controllers, buttons can latch. When you start talking about 'each press should scroll through this set of states', the button has to be aware of quite a bit more. Plus, the UI to program it.
Same with sliders/knobs. At most (usually), a knob only needs to know its CC# and min/max values. "Skip anything between these explicit values" is really a pretty different beast.
Bonus, if you could do multiple states, you could do stuff like have a single button cycle through notes in a musical sequence or a single button that sent the correct program changes for a live set.
And while I'm completely off topic and dreaming: why don't MIDI controllers have a few LFOs on them so that you can assign them to the controller of your choosing?
like round robin, Keith mcmillen should do it, heck even the m-audio trigger finger can send out multiple messages per control.
MIDI LFO's. @midiSequencer?
Not sure how well it translates on iOS, but you can set/learn a range of fixed, equal-increment values to a row of buttons on the Launchpads pretty easily on DAWs. I often prefer this when I'm not dealing with something that requires micro-editin. It gives you quick and accurate changes. It usually just requires learning the first and last pad in a row (maybe it's by column).
As for one-button stepping through a range of values, I've only seen this with the more extensive control surface scripts in Ableton, and it's still more often either/or toggling. NativeKontrol is the best I've seen at producing control surface presets for (pad) controllers. Their scripts transform controllers like the Korg padKontrol (great, flexible pad controller, btw, that can be edited without computer, but can't be powered by iPad), Maschine, Push, Launchpads, APCs, etc. I was first sold on those when I realized I could use a pad controller like padKontrol to trigger chords and imitate strumming on xy pad (before iPad apps were doing this stuff). One example of one of their scripts stepping through "values" (not simple CC) is where one pad can run through various chord inversions ... or on the drum preset, where a sequence of played pads can be memorized in order by another pad, so that you can manually tap the one pad to play them back in order at whatever tempo you like (good for playing a kick-snare sequence with one pad, in real time, to free up other hand).
These require more complicated configurations and communications than can be currently replicated on iOS right now, although, part of the point of doing music on iPad means not needing that extra layer of midi communication, since the touch is built in. Lemur probably has most extensive capacity to enable more complex controller-to-iOS interaction.
Good stuff @parallaxobject, cheers. I'm pretty sure Lemur or even TB MIDI Stuff can do this sort of thing now but I'm specifically wanting it as a general feature on hardware controllers. Though we could probably use a patch from one of those two apps as the interstitial MIDI processor.
Well, I'll be. The Novation SL MKII series allows for a 'step' mode for the buttons and possibly the encoders (manual is a bit cryptic). You can set a min and max value and then a step size/interval (range of 0-127 and a step size of 32 == 0, 32, 64, 96, 127). Looks like the original SL version supports it as well. Even allows you to use a button to step through a series of program changes.
The Nektar Panorama's do have a step mode for buttons but you can't set the step size. So you can set a range of 0-3 and step through them but rare is the soft synth that is actually looking for those values to toggle the state of something.
The Novation X-Station has a step mode as well but it's also lacking step size. I love the synth centric layout of the controls on this one and it sounds pretty good to boot! Would be so happy to see another synth controller. Seems every MIDI controller with an assortment of sliders, knobs and buttons has some significant portion of it dedicated to mixing (vol, mute, solo...). I want one that's entirely dedicated to playing soft synths! Go ahead, label it Filter Cut-off and group it with other knobs labeled for a synth's filter section! X-station's step mode isn't there but it's otherwise an extremely nice looking synth controller. if anyone wants to sell me their old one for a good price...
Sorry for the hijack!