KVR Audio

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 2:39 am

I was expecting cheap, and while this unit is ever so slightly toy-ish in appearance and feel, the sensitivity of the pads, keys, and rotary controls is way better than I was expecting. I got this for my second workstation with the idea of a Maschine Mikro MkIII for the main computer, but I'm not sure I see the need for the latter now.

On the down side, I have to quit Live to upload a mapping via the Components Editor, as both programs won't connect to the Launchkey at the same time. Also, the record button is married to session mode in Live and the editor doesn't let you change this mapping. Hopefully that will be corrected.

Regardless, I got this to enter drum parts when I'm being lazy and don't want to switch to the drum kit and it works very, very well for that. For $110 it's amazing. Haven't even tried the Arp functions yet. Extremely pleased.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:03 am

Okay, I tried the Arp and it's awkward. You have to hold the chord, then reach and press the Arp button and hold it to make changes. As all the switches are on the keyboard, on the opposite side, I don't know how they expect you to twiddle live.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 3:41 am

Note that you can use the fixed chord function in conjunction which helps a bit.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Sun Oct 06, 2019 9:19 pm

Note that in general, the USB is a bit funky. It will connect to only one program at a time under Windows 10. It occasionally gets confused, so unplug it, plug it back in, and it will be happy. I'm pretty sure it says this in the user's guide. Really.

Unfortunately, if you have Windows set to pop up a window with drive insertion, you'll get one as the unit has faux CD functionality. Not sure why as there's basically just a link on it. Hope some of this gets fixed, but it's all non-fatal.

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sun Oct 06, 2019 9:25 pm

Thanks for your impressions. Always interested in keyboard controllers. I'm pretty sure the keys are worse than on my Arturia MiniLab, but, i'm also pretty sure the pads and encoders are better on the Novation.

In general, i think that Novation does some decent controller keyboards. I'm quite happy with my Impulse now. It has some downsides, but, i guess that's normal in that price range.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Sun Oct 06, 2019 10:51 pm

I have little to compare it to other than the Maschine Mikro MK3 which I also tried. That was better, but not light years and I may grab one of those for my main setup. The LK3 keyboard is okay, the pads very good. Both will get the job done. Quite a light touch after my MX88. Complicated stick work I do on my Roland TD-1K. I'm of course, commenting on the Launchkey Mini MK3 considering the price and compact, light use.

Note that the USB issue will sometimes cause a DAW to hang while booting. Unplug (DAW will then boot), plug back in. Sigh.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:37 pm

Tech support has replicated it, so hopefully a fix soon. For now, just plug it in after the fact under Windows.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Wed Oct 09, 2019 4:49 pm

Hmm, apparently there's a USB driver. Didn't see it on the site downloads page, it's not on the faux CD that appears (without the USB driver installed) or in the box. Save yourself an email to support and use the link below.

https://support.novationmusic.com/hc/en ... y-Mini-MK3

fedexnman · Post by **fedexnman** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 1:36 am

Launchpad X and Launchpad mini mk3 was announced today , I was thinking of getting the launch (key ) mini mk3 , I may still get it too , but now I think I'm gonna go for the Launchpad X .. you can lay the pads out how ever you want and also has a keyboard mode and scale layout , the pads look nice , I'm a guitar player so I might actually make something like 6 rows(strings) instead of eight and line it up like the fret board of a guitar , similar.to what Boss Dr5 drum machine did back in the day ..

fortycoats · Post by **fortycoats** » Thu Oct 17, 2019 3:55 pm

Hold down shift when powering on the controller and press the yellow pad. It will go dim yellow.

Your Launchkey Mini mk3 will no longer appear as a storage device. It’s useful for getting the software the first time you connect but not necessary after that.

The arpeggiator and pads on this thing are superb especially at that price.

Mutate, deviate and capture* to accumulate!

*Ableton users rejoice

klaatugort · Post by **klaatugort** » Fri Oct 18, 2019 11:56 am

novation
launchkey

novation
lunchkey

nunchk (nunchucks) lov at ion, you must love small things. you're gonna launch this one against the wall.

novation no/tion ti=it<-- a backwards clue. so on=no. nono. don't buy our products. it may sound strange that a company wouldn't want you to buy their product, but its complicated. thinking korg, the company is from the sixties, japan, roland from the seventies, i think roland is a korg subsidiary named after the rolo candy, invented in the thirties. their toy brand. so why are they making all these toy brands? i'd imagine because they are required by their government to produce instruments suitable for actual children, ages 5-12 or some such. but for an adult who can read between the lines, its obvious that this isn't for adults. they must be confused, we must be bewildered. its something heavy you want and you don't want many heavy things. you want something heavy for so many reasons. you need something heavy in your room, something you can hold with both your hands. why not it be your instrument? lol

fortycoats · Post by **fortycoats** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 9:26 pm

Couldn’t agree more, it’s an amazing toy. AI inside the arp is much fun with Abletoy Live.

fedexnman · Post by **fedexnman** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:39 pm

I ordered the Launchpad X , should get here on Thursday or Friday ... I'm pretty excited , most likely it will replace my 4x4 pad controller and 25 key midi controller the way it looks feature wise ... I'm not big on knobs or faders and stuff , So I think this is gonna work for me hopefully. That new Launchkey mini mk3 was high on my list may still end up getting it too will see , but the Launchpad X seemed to fit the bill and much cheaper than the Launchpad pro or Push2 ...

uforange · Post by **uforange** » Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:47 pm

@jonljacobi I wonder if you can activate the arpeggiator by simply pressing the "arp" key? From my experience, I cannot turn on and off the "arp" mode with this key. It barely works and is not very reliable. Like you mentioned above, if I hold the "Fixed Chord" key, I can enter the "arp" mode. Can you please let me know if you still have the same issue? Thank you.

uforange · Post by **uforange** » Sat Jan 25, 2020 7:09 pm

To be specific, I cannot activate the arpeggiator like the video at https://www.youtube.com/embed/0YEhvtyQbbI. I've got a new replacement unit from Novation, but it has the same issue. Does anyone experience the same problem as mine?

Just bought a Novation Launchkey Mini MK3. Impressed.