![]() (Disclaimer: I have no idea how they’re doing this.) It’s not all automatic: Akai themselves are going through mapping popular software by hand, too, apparently in some sort of sound content sweatshops where sound designers wipe sweat off their forehead with numb fingers finding each filter cutoff knob in every plug-in you might ever find on KVR. If it’s a VST, the ADVANCE will find its presets, find its controls. Is it less ADVANCEd, or more KOMPLETE? Well, we can at least say that it has 100% more light-up colored keys and 100% less light-up colored pads…Īkai, by contrast, is the Roomba of the two, hoovering up everything on your machine and dumping it into the ADVANCE keyboard. (Fine, but can I get food delivery so I don’t have to interrupt my studio session? Startups, opportunity knocks.)Ībove: Native Instruments’ competitor. AKAI is joining the now-everything-is-an-app-store bandwagon, with the ability to buy software inside the keyboard. NI is apparently content to let their Komplete suite speak for itself – and use the promise of more software sales to entice developers to create custom support for the keyboard. Metadata is (supposed to be) lovingly hand-crafted, mappings gently tailored to fit snugly on the controls.īoth keyboards are also intended as platforms to sell you more software. I wouldn’t describe it as more “closed” than Akai, but suffice to say NI’s approach – at least as they describe it – is the artisanal, bespoke approach to integrating your plug-in presets with your keyboard. And if software is specifically designed to support NI’s Native Kontrol Standard (NKS), plug-ins will appear with the proper metadata, control mappings, and extra features that work with NI’s hardware. And inside the Komplete Kontrol software, you can use plug-ins. Komplete Kontrol Now Plays Nice with Plug-ins, Hosts, And More is ComingĪt the very least, all the chords and patterns you play on the keyboard now work with a host. Whereas their Komplete Kontrol initially couldn’t so much as send arpeggiator notes to your host, let alone handle software that wasn’t part of Komplete, all will be better soon: We know now what the strategy is at rival Native Instruments. Obsolescence is the single worst threat to this stuff. Or worse, you’ll buy it, and wind up figuring out how to convince anyone to take it out of your closet. The software has to work well, or you’ll take a pass on this line. ![]() The challenge the ADVANCE will face is that being a nice-feeling keyboard isn’t enough. Akai’s MAX range of keyboards – unlike the cheap stuff at the entry level – already had a nice keybed, so I’m not surprised, and finally we go back to encoders instead of touch trips. Whether you like the aesthetics of the styling or not, the quality of the units I saw at Musikmesse was outstanding, the color display is clear, and everything feels solid. This may be the nicest build from anything with Akai on it, ever. I can vouch for the hardware I had a go on it at Musikmesse. Remember that the software isn’t feature complete, but you can at least see where AKAI are going. You can check out their impressions in the story the video gives a detailed walkthrough. (The ADVANCE hails from the Eastern Seaboard, after all the Komplete Kontrol from the banks of Berlin’s river Spree.)Īkai Pro Advance Keyboards In-Depth Preview (Video) Our friends over at AskAudio got an exclusive tour in New York. And … surprisingly, there are some early indications you ought to leave the heartache behind and give it a chance to prove itself. But it wants you to love automatic mapping again. (Or just give me that trackpad, already, because it’s faster.) But beyond that handful, I’ve met a whole lot of people who wound up giving up and going back to manually mapping MIDI. Reason, for instance, often worked well – a closed system that originated the idea – and if you got things working, more power to you. These solutions weren’t always completely horrible, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who was completely satisfied with them, either. And probably some others I’ve forgotten – maybe tried to forget. There was Automap, seen in Propellerhead Reason and then from Novation. ![]() So, over the years various solutions have tried to solve this automagically. But when you want physical control of those instruments beyond just playing keys, you’re left either manually mapping controls or reaching for your mouse or trackpad. Sure, you have powerful software on your computer screen. And we’re getting closer to find out if either deserves your attention. Two keyboards – one from Native Instruments, one from AKAI – really want to be the interface between you and every plug-in you own.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |