Arturia's NEW Keylab Mk3 MIDI Controller // Review and Demo

[@MreenalMams]

Wow that feature where you can play the pads from outside the box is amazing.. instant buy

[@GavinLendt]

If you don’t need poly aftertouch and don’t already have a premium controller, I highly recommend this. It still has channel aftertouch. It arrived yesterday and I was amazed at the build quality. The semi weighted keys feel great and the screen along with analog lab makes this keyboard feel like an Astro Lab. I agree that it’s a tough sell if you already have a Keylab 2, otherwise it was an easy buy for me.

[@StarskyCarr]

Yeah, I've not got the MKII so couldn't compare. As a new to me controller I was impressed by the build quality.

[@m-chopbeats7526]

Yeah I can imagine it being very good if the user is new to the arturia Leylab series

[@Frontline830tx]

@@GavinLendt exactly. I'm also pretty certain that most people that complain about the absence of aftertouch don't even use it all that much I'm succession.

[@whatmusiciwant]

Compared to the MKII, to me this is a whole different ball game creatively and feeling wise.

[@prizmprty6479]

I'll compare it to my mk2 when it comes in but so far I like the layout, screen, features and design better on this one. Best review I've seen of this yet. Thanks Starsky!

[@grrttshw]

I just bought this as an upgrade from a very basic NI a49 keyboard. This is an INCREDIBLE upgrade from that. I think thats where arturia was aiming for the mk3 to land, that second / upgrade from your basic controller that you start with. At it's price point it's very fair feels incredible and comes with some fantastic plugins to make use of right away. I see a TON of people marking no poly after touch and the removal of the buttons under the faders (never had faders before) but I genuinely believe that the poly aftertouch keybed would have put a near +50% or more price tag onto this thing and thats probably why they strayed away from including it to be more widely affordable. The keybed is among the best i've every played, pads feed good, resistance on the knobs is fantastic and the fact that they're infinite encoders is a win over other options that had my eye. I can easily recommend this to people looking to upgrade from something basic to a more powerful, more feature rich controller. However I could also see if you have a mk2 this not being a huge leap for you, and thats OK! Just like every phone generation, you don't NEED every single version, skip a few and then buy when it's worth it.

[@DjazzStyle]

@@grrttshw What other keybed you play will you compare it to? Im between this keyboard and Korg keystage

[@grrttshw]

@@DjazzStyle i've put this up against the novation, native instruments, and the previous arturias. This one definitely felt the best. I haven't got my hands on the Korg Keystage but I would definitely point out that if you're into synths and DON'T need the drum pads, the keystage is a GREAT choice since it's got polyphony. I don't personally need it as I mostly play piano or drum parts on the keyboard and needed robust daw controls. this gives me that. 2 different use cases between the two imo.

[@stevehord144]

Great review mate. You’ve convinced me. Ordering tomorrow 👍

[@kirkegodfrey414]

really great walkthrough. THANKS!

[@TeleporterM11]

Love it

[@MakeSomething]

Even better this time around! Great review.

[@StarskyCarr]

Haha welcome back in that case 🙏

[@dusudloiso9408]

ARTURIA FRENCH TOUCH…..you will have the sounds Just need the FLAIR my friend 👻

[@imnothandsome4205]

so cool and look premium

[@ConstantLittleGhost]

People passing this up because it doesn't have poly aftertouch at this price need to realise the "expressive keybeds" do not exist for this money. And not all software responds to polyAT anyway

[@sinewaymusic]

Helpful commenting on the playability of the keys up at the top end of them. How does that stack up against the Essential, in case you know?

[@fredmanteghian5913]

Hmmm nice screen I guess. But the control buttons by the sliders of the KeyLab Mk2 are gone. 4 of the original 16 pads are gone, though I heard the new ones are an improvement. Aftertouch is global still. I will not be upgrading from the KeyLab Mk2

[@StarskyCarr]

Yeah I’m not sure anyone will tbh. I think this is more for new customers perhaps? A halfway between astrolab and the mk2?

[@LukJarzyna]

@@StarskyCarr It's fine as a first keyboard, or for someone coming from essential line, but not an upgrade for Mk2 owners. As always, great presentation.

[@gentooser]

And no CV also

[@kierenmoore3236]

The new LaunchKeys have moved the drum pads to the right-hand side, which makes more sense (well, for most of us … 😉).

[@MreenalMams]

Also number of expression pedals we can use is down to 2 from 4

[@gonzalesiwasaki9128]

パットでリズムとタックは作っておき、パッチにエレピの和音を８つ登録し、鍵盤をスプリットモードでベース、スプリット右半分をEP又はアコースティックピアノに割り付け、全て同時に演奏可能でしょうか？　次に、スピチット右側はストリングのPAD音のレイアーを追加し、右の基本はEPまたはピアノとストリングスPADの2重レイヤー。マルチレイヤーとスプリット、ドラムパットはトラック録音済み。可能でしょうか？

[@paQ75]

Novation SL MKIII has everything this one has,, plus an 8-track polyphonic sequencer with 256 steps per track, swing per-channel, 8 simultaneous arpeggios, better integration with Ableton Live... All for the same price. A controller from six years ago. Good(?) try, Arturia.

[@kcrosley]

@@paQ75 they still make that?

[@mudi2000a]

What if I don’t need all that but prefer a better DAW integration? Then Arturia still wins. Notation should support Bitwig natively like Arturia does.

[@axoplanet6081]

@@kcrosleyYes

[@axoplanet6081]

@@mudi2000aI don‘t know how it works in Bitwig, but in Cubase my SL3 is awesome. I had the Arturia Keylab Mk2 before and the DAW intergration in Cubase was nothing special. The SL is way better in Cubase. In Cubase I can configure every knob and button on the SL for Cubase with remote control function. Absolute great. The Novation SL3 is the best masterkey I had till today and I had a lot (M-Audio, Korg, Akai MPK2, Roland, Arturia Minilab2, Keylab 2, Novation SL2 and SL3)

[@rayNmanMusic808]

LIES!!! There is NO STRUMMING on the SL. Definitely not After-touch Spread strumming! CAP!!! 🤣😂🤣

[@Bashanvibe]

I’ve said this on many channels I’m waiting for the 88key to drop but; I do have a question, does it control the piano editor inside Logic?🤔

[@michaelt_tamtam]

I hope Arturia can somehow update the KEYLAB Mk2 to have an arpeggiator as well.

[@neelenpatten2959]

I would like to know about the keybed feel of this model compared to the Keylab MK2 which I really didn't like because it really felt a bit like a toy keyboard. I hope they have improved the keyboard touch of the 61 version. A real semi weighted touch would be most welcomed.

[@StarskyCarr]

I’ve not tried the 2 but this feels nice.

[@PedroMiguel-if3ll]

Also on my MK2, some faders and rotary buttons don't send Midi CC as before, just crazy values.I've tried to open and clean everything but no luck. Arturia sure knows how to make good looking MIDI controllers, but the quality of components is really bad.

[@mcnitt]

@@PedroMiguel-if3ll Same glitchy faders on my MK2. Waited 6 years for the MK3. Like most, not impressed. Now debating whether to replace the faders on my MK2 (following guides posted in the Arturia forums). Rough time to be a loyal user.

[@PedroMiguel-if3ll]

@@mcnitt Can you link the forum posts, I am curious to know how people go around these problems. To be honest, it really depends how much time and cost goes it to it

[@axoplanet6081]

I had the same problem on my Keylab mk2 after one month (!!) and also on the Minilab mk2. Arturia looks good, but the quality under the hood is trash. The aluminium with wood looked awesome, that was all. Now I use a Novation SL3 since 2 years…best controller ever used. But the best feeling of all knob encoders was for me on the Akai MPK2 / MPD2 controllers. But all in all, Novation all the way.

[@ramskiramski]

Can confirm glitchy encoders on the MK1. I also had a new MK2 and only after two weeks some keys didn't function as before. ARTURIA isn't a terrible or bad company. However, it somewhat leaves the impression that you can find better options for each of their products.

[@PedroMiguel-if3ll]

@@ramskiramskiArturia uses really cheap chinese components for their controllers. So in a sense, they overprice their products just for the looks

[@nickosparkol]

Thanks for the review. In your opinion, where are the keys better, specifically the keys themselves? On the Arturia mk3 88 Essentiall or on the new Arturia mk3 61? I'm only interested in the keybed.

[@mikemorrisonmusic]

Nice!

[@Parapsyglider]

Nice video friend, thank you. Btw how’s the integration with Logic? are you able to control third party plugins out of the box? And is there a way to control Logic Eq using the controls? Novation has added that feature to their new lineup. Split between both these, main issues being Logic integration.

[@StarskyCarr]

I’ve not tried the EQ, but you can easily set up for 3rd party plugins. I demo it in the vid with GeForce.

[@furiobisotti8150]

Being a live keyboard player using VSTs on stage I am always checking controllers quality. Previous version of Arturia keylab was a big delusion (missing some notes off, very soft action, bad management of yamaha fc7 expression pedal). I would be interested to buy this one if all problems have been solved. I'm not sure about that after many KZbin reports...

[@mscman13]

I thought this had touch sensitive knobs and faders... you shouldn't have to wiggle them to see what the level/parameter is.

[@StarskyCarr]

They are, you don’t - just touch them. I’m wiggling just to show the reaction of the software etc.

[@watchaddicts1213]

Poly Aftertouch?

[@gianni1646]

This would be a “super” review if you didn’t place the the overlay graphics over your hands. We can’t see what you’re touching on the Arturia. Are you able to re-edit this for us? Love and respect, Gianni❤

[@logiclust]

being only channel aftertouch makes this a hard pass at this price. i like most of the other aspects. just waiting for that and keystep features.... the wait continues.

[@hexipoyzun666]

John Peel, is that you?

[@pablowentscobar]

Re-Good Stuff Starsky.

[@StarskyCarr]

Re-thanks 😂

[@RaquelFoster]

The thumbnail is a lie! There's no cat in this video! 😂

[@StarskyCarr]

She was watching the whole thing! 🐈

[@PedroMiguel-if3ll]

I hope the metal paint doesn't start to peel off like my MK2 black model. Really nasty! And because the functions letters of each control are printed on top, soon they will disappear too. That's why for me, Arturia hardware, never again!

[@RyanSommer]

The keybed quality of the 1st gen Keylab (the only one with actual wood sides) was so poor it literally just breaks on its own over time. Do a tear down and show people (myself includes) how its assembled please. I was just thinking about upgrading to the MKII

[@BenLawton-88]

Aren’t the sides to MK3 solid beechwood?

[@RaquelFoster]

The weird thing is that this is $549 - slightly more than TWICE the price of the KeyLab Essential at $269 - and the only difference seems to be that it's 1.5" deeper, has 4 more drum pads, and it has an expression + aux pedal input? The cheaper Essential actually has extra programmable buttons by the faders. I'm really curious why anybody would get this over the Essential. It looks like it also comes with Analog Lab Pro "with 2000+ sounds" but the Essential comes with Analog Lab V "with 2000+ sounds" + the Model D? So you're paying an extra $280 for an upgrade Analog Lab? Can the extra pedal inputs be configured to control any CC? Are the sustain/aux pedals binary and the expression is 0-127?

[@bob-rogers]

Based on the photos, this has longer faders compared to the Essential, and a color OLED instead of a gray LCD and 4 more context buttons for the screen. Still a massive difference in price. I wonder if they're the same keybed. This also has MIDI in, so if you need that then you'd have a reason to buy this over that.

[@RaquelFoster]

@@bob-rogers That's true! Those faders have a pretty awesome long throw. They might be a little longer than the Launchkey 61 Mk3 even. And there's a little extra room between the encoders and faders. What's up with the MIDI In? Is it just a pass-thru? That makes me wonder if you could hook it up to the programmer app (Arturia Software Center? Or MIDI Control Center? Whatever) with DIN instead of USB if you needed to. Not exactly sure when that'd be helpful, but I'm sure somebody needs it. 😄

[@RaquelFoster]

@@bob-rogers Oh snap the Sweetwater page says it has aftertouch. Did I miss Starsky mentioning if it's actually any good? Does Guitar Center even have these things to try out? I have an Oxygen Pro and the semi-weighted keys are awesome but the aftertouch is really bad.

[@bob-rogers]

@@RaquelFoster Midi in could be useful if you had another device that only had midi out. You could probably also do something like run a sequence on a Keystep and then have the Arpeggiator on the Keylab arpeggiate the sequence.

[@cirisirpula152]

One important thing about keyboards is the keybed quality and feel, which is not the same between this and essentials

[@ChrisHaveard]

It's irritating that all of the specs from retailer sites say "Sturdy aluminum and wood construction meets the demands of studio and stage use". Um... Plastic (as stated in the video) is not aluminum or wood.

[@StarskyCarr]

I don’t think I’ve seen any for the mk3 saying it’s Al. It’s probably worth mentioning that it could be a sustainability thing - Al production being highly carbon intensive and environmentally disastrous. I wonder… 👍

[@Jan-k8p]

What happened to yesterdays review? Or have I been ailing 😂

[@StarskyCarr]

I deleted it by accident 🤦‍♂️. I upload everything a few times - checking for copyright claims amongst other things. I was deleting a load of unused videos and clicked on the previous version of this just as the website updated and shifted all the videos up a row without realising and bingo.. it’s gone forever.

[@TOMLEW1S]

@@StarskyCarr savage 😞 KZbin creator studio tools are proper naff at times

[@Jan-k8p]

@@StarskyCarr 🥴. I’m glad it wasn’t the whisky.

[@mcnitt]

A SIX YEAR in the making upgrade to the MK2? Nope. First the Astrolab, now this. 👎👎

[@RyanSommer]

Does the Novation play well with their software? They are good and making software 😂😂😂

[@anniedarkhorse6791]

Too expensive for a Midi Controller with no sequencer and no CV. I'll buy a synth instead.

[@peluca82]

The MKii is better

[@klstay]

Wow, nothing but one flaming bag after another on the doorstep from Arturia these days. Not even polyAT makes me think some comments are correct predicting they will release a "Keylab Pro" with the PB12 keybed after fleecing enough folks with this. Once NI get KK running locally on Kontrol S mk3 (especially if it is independent per zone) that will be the one to beat IMHO.

[@prizmprty6479]

That would also be $799-$999. Wouldn't be worth it to me for those features for a controller.

[@BoopPOPO]

12 pads 🤡

[@axoplanet6081]

This controller sucks. This is no mk3, this is a mk2.1 in best case. Who buys this crap? Compared with a Novation SL3 or a NI kontrol 3 it is just 😂

[@mudi2000a]

A NI controller doesn’t have neither drumpads nor sliders. And you need to use the shitty NI software. Plus it is expensive af. Why would I buy that? Novation looks more interesting but is a bit bulky. This one would fit nicely on my table.

[@axoplanet6081]

@@mudi2000aWith the NI MK3 you don‘t need the app any longer. And yes the Novation is more bulky, but has way more functions than the Arturia and better build quality, CV, sequencer and more. I had the Arturia MK2 and changed to a SL Mk3. Best choice I ever made.

[@mudi2000a]

@@axoplanet6081 I am also considering the SL3 tbh. I don’t need sequencer or CV but also it doesn’t hurt if they are there. It is also supported by DrivenByMoss so it should also work well with Bitwig.

[@prizmprty6479]

I do! Switched to Arturia after using NI for years. Never looked back...NI stuff was the absolute worst!

[@axoplanet6081]

@@prizmprty6479 have fun with ghost knob tweaks and jumping encoder data