WARNING-can't control LED color via midi-only SYSEX. buyer beware

[mccrabney]

this issue is likely unclear until someone buys the unit, but to answer future questions, NO, the user cannot use midi notes to control the LEDs on this product, and NO, it's not obvious until you buy and actually use it.

this is akin to having headlights on a car, but only for show - not for function.

hello, i've seen several questions on this forum about whether you can control the Minilab MKii LEDs via midi signal, the way you can with the QUNEO, Launchpad (og, mkii, mini, and pro), APC, monome, and every other controller that uses LEDs.

https://forum.arturia.com/index.php?topic=92480.0

i have not seen a clear answer, only references to the Midi Control Center Software, which doesn't do the same thing. we want the pad LEDs to be controlled by midi, not merely light up with the color specified in the Control Center Software.

i see that people using Ableton have 2 way midi feedback using the pads. what signal is Ableton sending to the MiniLab in order to do this? where is this information missing from the manual?

SO, can we get a real response as to what midi notes make the Arturia Minilab MKii pad LEDs light up?

i'm afraid that i'll have to return the device if this feature has been overlooked.

[Matt Arturia]

Hi,

You can't lit up the pads of the MiniLab MK2 from midi notes. However there is a way to do it via SysEx but I don't think Ableton Live can send SysEx messages.

Regards,

Matthieu

[mccrabney]

this is such a dumb oversight. i returned the unit.

there's no information to be found about what sysex messages control the LEDs, nor any provided when asked

step up your game, arturia

[cvb]

You can change the Pad color by sending this SysEx message to "Arturia MiniLab mkII" MIDI output port (you may want to buy back the Minilab):
 F0 00 20 6B 7F 42 02 00 10 7n cc F7
where:
  n is the pad number, 0 to F, corresponding to Pad1 to Pad16
  cc is the color:
    00 - black
    01 - red
    04 - green
    05 - yellow
    10 - blue
    11 - magenta
    14 - cyan
    7F - white

[mccrabney]

thanks for the information, i'm curious as to where you found it.

however, this is in no way useful for midi feedback from DAW. i'm not going to write a sysex translator just to get basic LED functionality that comes out of the box in practically every Novation product

i'll be watching (without much hope) for a firmware update that brings this keyboard up to speed so i can stop cautioning others about its limitations when i see it recommended