Arturia KeyLab Essential 61 - Universal MIDI Controller and Software

I'm a beginner so you can take this with a grain of salt. Being reasonably new to all of this I didn't feel justified in dropping a lot of money on something with weighted keys (although that would be nice) or that I would need that to practice. If you're looking for a top of the line keyboard look elsewhere, this isn't it. But for $200ish this is incredible. It comes fully stocked with over 6K presets. From vintage synths, to pianos and organs, the lists are huge. And every individual instrument setting is able to be manipulated from within the software. Setup was very easy and I'm able to use it in my Maschine software, however from what I can tell the Analog Lab software that comes with it isn't compatible with the Maschine DAW. Oh well, it also comes with Ableton lite. Which I recommend using for mastering tracks anyway since Maschine seems more of a loop factory.The Build Quality:Decent, made of plastic, but sturdy. The knobs and sliders feel nice. The drum pads are alright but aren't something I would finger drum on, better for triggering sounds and such.The keys are springy and velocity sensitive which I love. I guess you would call it "Synth Action" but I'm not sure. Keys are also nice and large so I don't feel like I'm playing with a toy, but an actual instrument. (I can't play those tiny keyboards)Overall it's a joy to play, everything comes pre-mapped to the Analog Labs software included so not a huge hassle in setup. Just plug it in and go. (After you register, install the software and drivers etc.) Works great on Windows, no problems so far.For the price, as a beginner, this is such an awesome starter/mid range keyboard. I highly recommend to anyone to spend a little bit extra just for the presets alone. Having the ability to play and mess around with vintage synth sounds without dropping 20K is more than worth it. Good job Arturia.

It seems to me that this controller (mainly the white version) is getting mediocre reviews from people who aren't actually players or musicians, but "hobbyists" and little kids making YouTube videos. I am here to help change that as a professional player with 20+ years experience.This controller is awesome. Pure and simple. The build quality is superb for the price! You are getting an intermediate-grade 61 key controller for the price of a cheap beginner board! I am running Arturia V-Collection 6 and Reaper DAW, and this works perfectly! Changing presets and parameters without touching the laptop is a dream - especially running the Mini-V (MiniMoog Model D vsti)! The keys are full-size velocity-sensitive SEMI-weighted synth-action keys. They are NOT "piano keys" or weighted/hammer-graded keys. There is no weighted controller keyboard in this price range (and you shouldn't expect there to be)! The keys on the KeyLab 61 are very similar in shape to my Alesis Micron keys, in that the black keys have more of a squared front edge compared to the softer slightly rounded edge of my Roland VR-09. With practice, its something I can get used to. No big deal. Those who complain about the keys must be DJs looking to make beats, but can't afford an MPC X. The KeyLab 61 does exactly what it's designed to do and does it well.This board will soon be my number one performance board on stage and I'll be proud to represent Arturia. I have always blacked out the logos on my synths, but not in this one. Arturia has built a world class set of virtual instruments and this beautiful controller to go with them. Thank you Arturia. I hope the reviews get better as more and more actual musicians and professional players get to know these superior products!

I've been looking for a controller to replace my Editor PCR controller. I needed a good combination of pads, sliders and knobs for synthesis and mixing. I settled on this item because I already own the Arturia plugin collection, and its tight integration with these soft synths was the main reason I tried it out. I couldn't be happier. First of all, being able to browse patches from the jog wheel and LCD screen on keyboard is a fantastic feature and makes it feel like a dedicated synth, and patch browsing is suitably responsive. The response time of the controller inputs are quick and smooth. Loading up a synth, either from Analog Lab or a specific plugin from their collection automatically creates maps that you can use to start controlling the synth parameters immediately. The included Midi Control Center software makes it super-easy to create new controller mappings for things like Logic's Drum Machine designer to toggle channels on and off and edit things like LPF and Delay directly from the keyboard, even the color of the LEDs in the drum pads (very helpful visual aid for triggering). Setting the device up as a Mackie HUI gives you full DAW transport controls using both buttons (play / pause / record) and track navigation via dial, and it even has dedicated "Save" and "Undo" buttons to quickly access those functions in Logic Pro (what I use) or others. There are decent online tutorials and videos on how to set up your DAW with the controller and use the various functions on their website. The included Analog Lab software has over 5000 editable patches from classic analog, FM and sample synths like the ARP, DX7, Juno, Fairlight CMI, Matrix as well as great sounding keys and pianos. Setting up a multi patch, and switching between the settings is effortless directly from the keyboard, making it easy to quickly create lush, layered sounds. Overall the appearance is very elegant, with the wood accent on the sides being an extra nice touch. Only downside is no power button, must be disconnected from USB to power off. Extremely happy with the overall build, quality and setup.

This keyboard is really light weight perfect for my desk top, width also is a plus, doesn't take so much space. Easy setup with Logic Pro now I can control Logic without using my mouse.