Arturia KeyLab 49 Essential Controller Keyboard Review (Updated)
Arturia KeyLab 49 : We as of late had a chance to get a few hands-on involvement with the Arturia Keylab 49, and in this article, we will survey this synth inside and out. Furthermore, with an end goal to all the more likely help you settle on an educated decision, we’ll likewise set aside some opportunity to think about the Keylab against other outstanding synths made by Novation and Akai.
What’s more, with an end goal to all the more likely help you, we’ve made an intelligent table underneath that enables you to straightforwardly contrast the Arturia KeyLab 49 with instruments like the Novation Impulse 49 and the Akai MPK249, among others.
Why Arturia?
Arturia has traditionally been known for their unwavering programming recreations of simple synth modules from yesteryear. The Arturia V collection contains the absolute best programming synth recreations of exemplary Moogs, the Jupiter-8, and numerous different courses of events simple synths, and for a long time, it’s what Arturia did.
At that point came the MicroBrute and MiniBrute. These equipment synthesizers changed numerous devotees perception of the organization, and additionally apparently moving their inside concentration all the while. Some were concerned this could spell the finish of the delicate synth powerhouse they’d come to cherish, however these feelings of trepidation were calmed with the arrival of the Minilab and bigger KeyLab.
Assembled explicitly with Analog Labs and the Arturia V collection as a main priority, the KeyLab 49 is Arturia’s turn to package equipment and programming together, a move that numerous different organizations have made lately, for example, Native Instruments with their Komplete arrangement. The product portion, Analog Lab 2, contains 5000 sounds taken from its different emulations.
Overview
The KeyLab 49 features a striking look, harkening back to huge numbers of the simple synth machines its sounds depend on. Ideal from the earliest starting point, you can tell that assemble quality was an immense concentration for Arturia with this controller.
This is an appreciated takeoff from a significant number of Arturia’s rivals, who will in general make modest, delicate MIDI controllers so as to drive the cost down to the floor. The body itself is genuinely substantial, another indication of the quality materials utilized all through it’s construction. The wood verges on either end of the keybed are genuine, authentic wood, and the fundamental suspension is totally made of metal, which are two things the dominant part of MIDI controllers can’t contend with.
In the event that initial introductions are vital to you, the Keylab will never disappoint you. The majority of the various buttons, sliders, and handles feel professional, durable, and smooth on the operation, and we felt that everything was spread out in an exceptionally sorted out, truly playable way.
The keybed itself is superb, with its speed delicate keys having a close ideal measure of protection from their weighted action. The keys additionally bolster aftertouch, and simply feel plain incredible to the touch.
There’s a 32-digit LCD screen onboard, and it is clear, splendid, and simple to peruse, even from a point. At long last, there are 16 trigger cushions on the correct side of the keyboard that are substantial and simple to play. They are additionally illuminated; the majority of the buttons at first glance are, really, which is a little however pleasant addition.
Setup & Compatibility
The KeyLab 49 can be snared to pretty much any DAW absent much object whatsoever for this survey, it was tried on Logic Pro X, and setup was a breeze. The controller was immediately perceived, and from that point, it was only a matter of stacking up a few sounds and getting to it.
Setting up the majority of the different functionalities, similar to the mod wheel, the 9 faders, and the 10 switches, was additionally a breeze, however that may be incompletely because of Logics astounding Smart Learn functionality.
In case you’re hoping to set something more custom up, Arturia’s MIDI Control Center makes it very simple to go in and set custom options for the different faders and switches, and we found that it works particularly well with Analog Lab.
Sounds
The packaged sounds that accompany the KeyLab are seemingly the headliner here, regardless of the controllers phenomenal form quality and playability. It’s everything the better, at that point, that Analog Lab 2 is effectively one of the best collections of great synthesizer emulations we’ve at any point gone over.
The tones and profundity on display in the 5000 included presets sound near the genuine article, and outside of the madly CPU-escalated however mind blowing u-He Diva synth, it may very well be the most flexible collection of simple synth sounds accessible today.
These sound sets are separated by instrument, sound, designer, and type, which is extremely helpful, considering that working your way through 5000 sounds with no direction to go off of would be a pretty meticulously repetitive errand.
In addition to this functionality, the program can be set to multi-mode, enabling you to layer together various distinctive sounds to add profundity and shading to your instrumentation. You can likewise run Analog Lab as a standalone program, on the off chance that you’d like to do things that way. This would be particularly helpful for live situations, and combined with the multi-mode, you can have an incredible synth stack with this program alone.
Inside Analog Lab, each preset has a set number of parameters that are accessible to change and adjust the sound, with more profound alterations accessible by obtaining the explicit synthesizer emulations for the preset through Arturia.
These are unquestionably incredible, however in case you’re not hoping to go excessively far into the sound design office, you’ll likely be okay with the options included inside the base program. The majority of this to state: the presets themselves sound remarkable.
Arturia has enjoyed high acclaim on their emulations throughout recent years, affectionately reproducing unbelievable items like the Roland Jupiter 8, Oberheim SEM, and the ever-well known MiniMoog. A considerable lot of the presets accessible from the beginning are mind blowing, and don’t require any kind of adjusting to be utilized.
All things considered, on the off chance that you do wind up ponying up the money for the devoted emulations, there are some compensating profundities that can be come to by investing some energy toying around with the sonic characteristics of huge numbers of the synths.
Out of the majority of the features in Analog Lab, presumably the slightest noteworthy is the dreary suite of impacts included. The standard offering of reverb, theme, flanger, delays, and different impacts round out a rundown that gives fair assortment, yet little profundity generally speaking. This clearly is anything but a major ordeal for the individuals who intend to utilize the program through a DAW, as chances seem to be, you’ll have your own inclination of standalone impacts to use.
Pros
- Weighted keys feel extraordinary and are amusing to play.
- Simple Lab is a fabulous program with a fortune trove of exemplary synth sounds.
- The trigger cushions feel incredible and are anything but difficult to delineate.
Cons
- A bit on the costly side.
- Probably won’t serve those hoping to make popular and EDM music and in addition different options.
The Bottom Line
The Arturia Keylab is an incredible keyboard that interests to a restricted gathering of people. At last, if style is your thing, this keyboard has almost no competition in front of it. The wood complete, metal construction, and lit up buttons all met up to make an engaging bundle for synth players.
That being stated, in the event that you don’t discover a ton of significant worth having a great many retro sounds in your weapons store, you won’t discover as much incentive here as you would somewhere else.
Conclusion
Arturia has assembled a functional, versatile controller with the KeyLab arrangement. The keyboard is exceedingly playable with its weighted keys, and those searching for retro-propelled sounds will get themselves completely enamored with the Analog Lab programming. Unmistakably EDM and other present day type makers will presumably not discover a ton to adore here in general, at any rate contrasted with alternate options that cook more to them.
In any case, the KeyLab’s incredible look and feel, combined with the interesting programming abilities, makes it a significant advantage for any home studio, notwithstanding at the cost. The cushions feel incredible to the touch, the additional assignable handles and faders feel extraordinary, and by and large, we’re enormous fanatics of Arturia’s design rationality.