Best budget Ableton controller? AKAI APC Key 25 mk2 Review // Versus MPK Mini, LaunchKey Mini

[@FunnFoto]

Man I have been in and out of Ableton and you really broke down some things in the most simple way. Like and Sub.. Keep rocking

[@teftymusictech]

Thanks for the sub!

[@rotaryrevivalist5095]

Dude, clicked this video had no clue it was going to be a nostalgia trip. Used to watch you back when you did Destiny content! Good stuff man. Glad you’re in this world now. Subbed.

[@teftymusictech]

Hey hey! Thanks for stopping by 🙏❤️

[@rotaryrevivalist5095]

@@teftymusictech No problem man. That game almost removed my life 😅 but Lizzie a real addict I look back on it with bitter sweet fondness. Music is my hobby now, and was before that game. Stoked you’re still doing well!

[@JPAcuna3]

Hey Tefty! fancy seeing you here, i used to follow your channel in Destiny days, and wondered what happened to you. Thanks for the review, i think i'll go with the MPK mini.

[@KimSutherland-vocalcoach]

Thank you for making this video. It's so beautifully done so that even I can understand it!!

[@formantaudio]

if these controllers were around when i first started doing beats it'd probably be the go tos for me. Definitely love the launchpad these days and an all in one keyboard module that's as colourful as this is and affordable is wild. I literally started with a maudio keyrig49 lol. It's practical but these kinda controllers are inspiring.

[@watertekmusic]

Excellent vid! thanks brah!

[@engonzal]

Wow man, stumbled upon this looking for reviews of the video, half way through I was like "this guy sounds so familiar.." I used to watch you on Twitch, very cool to see what you're up to nowadays!

[@natalieellis7981]

Amazing review this really helped me! I’m brand new to music production, I’ve made a song on my piano (but I want to turn it into a more upbeat song) so looking to record some other sounds and build it but can only over dub twice on my piano so I bought the APC Key25 to do that. You gave me some amazing tips to get me started thank you 😊

[@diariodeunstreamer]

Thank you for this review/tutorial! SOO Helpfull!

[@brianmadison6623]

Complete, concise, and interesting…..as usual.

[@teftymusictech]

Thank you!

[@JayPluss]

Glad you said the pads part where you have to push them. Helped me realize it's not for me. Still really cool though

[@sausageskin]

Holy cow, and all this for around $100? Thanks, great demo!

[@Markko1986]

Ok, I have learned most of what I wanted by the end of the video. Great video, thank you. Launchkey mini seems to be the device for me. Thank you for the direct comparison, I was looking at the Launchkey mini also.

[@teftymusictech]

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching

[@eaman11]

Launchkey is the best, also it's customizable, you can use it with other software and hardware, but it does have knobs instead of multiencoders.

[@migi4848]

very helpful, thank you

[@aztecazul]

Hey Teft! Miss your streams, brotha! So this video is right up my alley! As you may or may not remember, I’m in a heavy metal band (hey it’s me Jormuncoatl!) and I love both my metal music as well as synth/vaporwave and I’ve been thinking about getting the Akai APC Mini! As a starter! I’m a pretty serious musician I’d say but I am new to keyboards and synth, but I also use Abelton as my primary DAW for the band (I love it so) so I wouldn’t mind seeing a video on that mini! Also, is there a next step up more similar to that mini (with the drum pads) but larger? Thanks, brotha! Love the videos!

[@teftymusictech]

Hey Jormun! Good to hear from you bro! To answer your question: The big boy controller is the Push 2 from Ableton. The only issue is it's possible a new is around the corner. Push 2 is getting due for a refresh at this point. But it's still a solid controller, especially if you got it used. Next would be Novations Launchpad series. They have several sizes/versions and the pads are better for finger drumming. Hope that helps!

[@MarcWeertsMusic]

Great demo of the product. I'd miss modulation and aftertouch though, but I'd want a bigger keyboard anyway. What i don't get is why the sustain button doesn’t have a latch feature though, that'd be handy for drones while you move onto something else.

[@teftymusictech]

Yeah in hind sight a latch key would’ve made way more sense 🤔 I’m with you though, modulation and aftertouch are missed when I don’t have them in a board.

[@FatherDave]

thanks for the review

[@AliaksejKa]

hi, Tefly Music Tech! Do you think APC key mk2 is more convenient than Launchkey Mini MK3? I need a universal controller which allows to enter notes, switch/record clips/scenes and rule effects. Only starting with Ableton.

[@liljay8831]

Keep at it bro

[@lukesavage6285]

Thanks for your video

[@TheHablemas]

so good!. thank you ;)

[@aleduardordgz440]

El piano está wooo

[@pablomartinsoto2381]

Hello my friend, greetings from Argentina. It is an excellent video. Let me ask you a question. The first time you used it, did you have to do the manual mapping or did ableton recognize it? I am a mac user

[@nukenoly8751]

The best Ableton mini controller

[@toti-pals]

Had mk1 sold it they should have put in more features like sustain port or better device control you cant switch between or choose banks

[@urbankos8645]

Thank you for very informative video, learned a lot. Only thing I am missing is MIDI mapping. I just recently bought one and I am not able to map instrument parameters in Ableton to fader knobs of my controller, I can map them only on key notes. Do you maybe have the same problem?

[@davedavem]

For the sustain pedal, is there a separate device for sustain that works with Abelton? I'm struggling to choose between the APC Mini and the MPK! Do I want good drum pads or the sequence pad? Tough choice.

[@vitalepitts]

Do you have any recommendations for a secondary controller dedicated to drum rack? I just got one of these and really love the simplicity of it but i am no good at finger drumming on the keys.

[@fede7449]

I need to know why my leds are not working for some reason, it seems that you plug and play and everything was automatically working great

[@RealLyfeTV365]

Akai need to get a check coming your way I'm Sold

[@TheMetalBlock380]

I bought one and is on its way but I use PreSonus preface and Studio One 6 for recording. Is this compatible with that?

[@friendwithin]

Does anyone know if the pads send midi messages when in Ableton Live arrangement view? I'd like to be in arrangement view and MIDI assign some pads to shortcuts like 'loop' or 'show automation'.

[@Markko1986]

I dont use Ableton and dont plan to, but can this device be used as a midi controler with other daws? I would use the pads to do some basic drum track midi programing, because I hate drawing the drums with a mouse. Also the 2 octave keyboard is a big plus which would come in handy.

[@teftymusictech]

I think I'd use a MPK Mini instead of the APC. The pads on the APC are not velocity sensitive and feel more like buttons than drum pads.

[@paulvanschie3949]

Anything you know of that has both drum pads AND session control options?

[@Supremeking06]

Can you chop samples to the keys?

[@oscarjmg]

9:02 hey bro. I’m looking to have a grid controller to play with Ableton like the push but also that works without a computer, so I can play with fix scales on the pad matrix on my external synths. I do have a midi host box but I don’t know if it will work. This looks like a cheaper solution than the launchpad pro mk3. Could you help me?

[@teftymusictech]

Hmmm the Novation boxes might be your best bet. This controller requires a USB connection to power and send MIDI. Also the pads have no velocity which is a bit stifling for playing melodies.

[@valdir7426]

I'm wondering, do the encoders pickup any parameter you choose where it's at (as they should) or do they react like pots and you have to catch up to the value (or get a jump)? Apparently the minilab 3 do the latter. I have a launchkey but since there are only 8 knobs you constantly have to pick up the parameter and that's annoying (arp is great though)

[@valdir7426]

what I don't like about the launchkey mini is arrows for up/down left/right are shift functions (apparently only on mk2) which means you can't play the keyboard and do this at the same time.

[@robinr22]

They're endless encoders so they'll adjust from where the value is.

[@Serenahitch]

HI THE PITCHBEND AND MODULATION ALTERNATIVES ARE THEY INSIDE ABLETON INSEAD?

[@teftymusictech]

Yes, you can still adjust them in ableton through automation.

[@ryanstewart116]

My Key 25 works as a MIDI instrument controller right out of the box and everything I read/watch says I should have clip control too but I don't and can't figure out how I'm supposed to get it. Am I missing something? Anyone?

[@teftymusictech]

Hmm it should work right away. Ableton updates the scripts that ship with the software to recognize controllers when plugged in.

[@ryanstewart116]

@@teftymusictech I figured it out. I was under the impression that Ableton automatically checked for updates. I was incorrect.

[@tonybeatbutcher]

Is there an editor like the MPK mini?

[@ivanaguero117]

Can I used it with pro tools?

[@freezyfree8015]

Can the clip buttons light up in FL?

[@barendnaude4950]

Hey Tefty, missing you over on DCP. Everything okay?

[@teftymusictech]

All good on my end! Just crazy busy. My personal life has adjusted so I have basically no time to play video games at the moment. I chose to step back from DCP during this time so I’m not the ‘guy with nothing to say about games’ on each episode 😩

[@barendnaude4950]

@@teftymusictech Have no idea what happened. The rest of DCP just keep promising you will be coming back at some point, but sadly it doesn't sound like that too me (maybe just come say goodbye?). Anyway, I'm just happy to see that you at least seem fine, I really-really hope all is well. Good luck Tefty.

[@teftymusictech]

No particular 'what happened' just life got too busy for extra time to play games. When I was streaming full time I could easily keep with all the releases and Destiny, but since I stepped away from Twitch it's been difficult to keep up. With Destiny LightFall around the corner back in Feb, I realized I needed to step away for the time being because I wasn't going to be able to juggle it all. I'm planning on returning to SideQuest at some point though. So no goodbyes yet 👍

[@barendnaude4950]

@@teftymusictech What a relieve (and here I was holding my breath all this time 😜).

[@mikehaley2654]

what would it be like paired with a mpc

[@teftymusictech]

I wouldn’t recommend it because it’s designed to work with Ableton. The buttons probably send CC messages, so in theory you could midi map things. The MPK Mini mk3 would be the choice.

[@Zx_project]

Does this just work with Ableton

[@teftymusictech]

It's a usb-midi controller, so other programs will see the midi info but you'll have to map the messages specifically to parts of the program to get it to function. The Ableton side has a script that does this automatically.

[@ulisesuribe7396]

Whats the app u using?

[@teftymusictech]

Ableton Live

[@Chris.Treborn]

Just bought one. Sucked

[@gkjpwrev2000]

What Happened?