Sitting on the fence and waiting for a new KeyLab MK3

I was super excited to see that the mk3 was released for the Keylab series. But checking the Arturia website, it only seems to be available for the KL49 and KL61. When will the KL88 get upgraded to mk3? Seems strange they haven’t updated all the Keylabs yet…

Maybe it is a good thing. KL88 was always a premium version. Maybe you get all the stuff they couldn’t afford for the smaller versions :man_shrugging:

I literally never use them. I have control surfaces for that. I want the best most expressive keybed my money can buy, nothing else.

It’s totally cool if others have different priorities. But that’s mine, and I will vote with my wallet to buy it. I was hoping I would vote Arturia’s way. In fact I’ve put off buying the NI for over 8 months, waiting for Arturia to pull magic out the bag. But I’m done.

I’m not seeing literally one reason why anyone with a MkII or even old MkI like me would even want to upgrade to this under-spec’d device. But I suspect Arturia are just trying to attract new users, not entice existing users to upgrade.

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I THINK you and others misunderstand why people love poly aftertouch. It’s not so we can do some magical things with our fingers.

It’s so I can hold say a chord (or one note) down say with the left hand, triggering the aftertouch while playing a melody with the right hand without triggering it.

For me it’s that simple.

With channel aftertouch that is impossible as the aftertouch would be applied to my right hand too.

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I do use the faders and knobs, although as Jon says, there’s plenty of control surfaces (many very cheap) hence their absence isn’t the end of the world.

My problem is as follows.

I own Maschine mk3, excellent drum pads, I really don’t need anything better for my use (presuming the pads on the new mk3 are better)

I own Keylab mk2 and while those pads aren’t as good as the ones on my Maschine, they are still adequate for 99% of my use.

The knobs and faders on the mk2, while not as good as the ones on the new keylab mk3, again they are adequate for my use and the improvements on the mk3 definitely isn’t enough for me to even consider using these as a reason to upgrade,

The larger colour screen is the main improvement for me but with the lack of poly aftertouch, there’s no way I could justify upgrading just for that screen.

When I saw the announcement a few mins ago I shouted to my wife “yes at last, that’s my Christmas present sorted” then I read it and said to her “no, it isn’t after all, I’m very disappointed”

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IF I remember correctly the mk2 88 was released at a later date to the mk2 49/61

I see your point. :sunglasses: The new KeyLab does look like an upgrade for all KeyLab Essential users who want something more premium. If we look into the innovations AstroLab and Polybrute 12 offered it seems quite dull.

My channel is not big enough Arturia would provide me with NFR licenses or making me a launch partner for their hardware. And in this case, I am kind of glad. As I can articulate my disappointment without having any repercussions. :innocent:

But I still would like to treat myself to a premium MIDI controller. :blush:

For me I prefer to have poly aftertouch on a synth style keybed as I’m much more likely to use on synth style sounds than piano.

Already have poly aftertouch on my NI S88 mk3 and was waiting to upgrade my Keylab mk2 61 for the Keylab mk3 61 to get it there too.

I wish I had gone the other way now and bought the Keylab mk2 88 and NI S61 mk3 but I’d read a few reviews that said the action on the Keylab mk2 88 was heavier than the NI

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I can see the advantage of having both styles of keyboards. I am not sure what is right for me either. I am a learnt organ player. Hammer action keyboards won’t let you play organ style. But synth action does not provide the same feeling like my Hammond either.

This is exactly where I am. I didn’t want to buy the mk2 because it seemed obvious that it was long in the tooth. Now that the new version is out, I will buy it. I think it’s a nice upgrade from the Essential, but it’s hard for me to see any justification for someone with the mk2 to upgrade to the mk3. Thankfully I don’t care about polyphonic aftertouch.

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Well, that is a good match then :sunglasses: Enjoy the new KL MK3!

Just noticed there’s only 12 pads instead of the 16 on the mk2.

Ok, 12 is enough for me, just seems odd to cut down from the standard 16

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I can’t imagine there is much cost increase going from 12 to 16 pads, so it was probably a layout/usability decision. It looks like there isn’t any room left for more the way they have the panel designed (with 2 inches less overall depth compared to the mkii).

It’s too bad the CV output jacks are gone, too

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There is a wonderful thing called key split. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Yeah I’ll be getting it too. It’s been a long time I wanted to upgrade from my Oxygen49 to a 61 key, and since I have all the Arturia products, which I mostly use, it seems like the way to go.

I would have loved the polyphonic aftertouch, although I never had aftertouch, so I am not sure if it is something I need. MIDI 2.0 however is something I was looking forward to more. As it is I noticed that there are 0-127 steps on knobs/sliders/Pitch & Mod Wheels. Maybe it is something that they will update eventually (hopefully).

As it stands I cannot wait any longer. I waited out for the past year and a half, knowing that the eventual release of the MKIII was around the corner. And the other controllers which are in the market lack something or another which I then find myself asking whether it’s worth getting those.

All I know is that I love Arturia’s Analog Lab, and all their synth emulations, and I think this controller is made to be used with them.

Now my only dilemma is - Black or White? :slight_smile:

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I saw a video with a black one and it looked really phantastic. :sunglasses:

Korg originally started their Keystage 61 with an old Midi implementation and published a firmware update later on. Thing is, the hardware must be able to support it. :man_shrugging:

Though it seems unreasonable to launch a new product with old technology I would not just assume that the hardware is sold regarding Midi 2.0. You can download the manual already but it is mum about the Midi version. Maybe I have to create a support ticket to get an answer. #weird

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Just ordered the phantastic Black one! :sunglasses: :partying_face:

Ok, then maybe MIDI 2.0 can be implemented in future updates. Nevertheless one can make perfectly great music even with 1.0. Yeah, nothing to lose to open a ticket, I am not sure they will answer in the forum.

Have you seen this:

?

edit: this got posted 24h later for some reason

Thanks anyway :pray: