Im currently in the struggle of buying a midi controller. I mainly produce all types of house like progressive, deep house, future house etc and im now looking to buy a midi controller. I’ve been looking at these two now and im not sure which to get. I want to spend around 150 euros at a maximum point;
M-Audio Oxygen 49 4th generation
Korg Taktile-49 (Sale on this one, original price is about 230 euros, now 150.)
Any thoughts of these two or got any other midi controllers that you’d recommend?
It all depends on what you’re planning on doing with the controller and the style of music you’re looking to produce. There are many many cheap options out there I can help you find. I’ve dedicated my career to being frugal lol, here’s a section of my studio for inspiration:
Looks great mate!
I just want a controller to write basslines etc and some other stuff. Got a pair of studio monitors and using my Traktor controller as a soundcard. Im mainly doing progressive house, future house and deep house. I was looking at the Oxygen 49 today in a store, didn’t buy it though.
For basslines (and for lots of extras including sequencing using Max4Live, clip triggering, Mixer control, etc.) the Novation Launchpad (I use the 1st gen) would be perfect. It should be fairly cheap now (under $80 used).
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I can only vouch for the Novation Launchpad as far as reliability and compatibility are concerned, but with Ableton and the world of MIDI anything is easily achievable no matter what brand of product you use.
Follow me on instagram for some more ideas or if you have any questions Mike Kraze Instagram
For basslines, I disagree with the Launchpad, but I am also a keyboard player, so I would personally recommend one of the Akai APC 25 keys… it has the best of both worlds, you get an 8x5 launchpad-like set with a 2 octave keyboard (with a hardware octave shift, so the keyboard itself will output a full 120 notes).
The Launchpad IS awesome, I own a Mk2, but if you’re wanting to plink out basslines, it just doesn’t have the right feel for it to me. It’s great for literally EVERYTHING else you’ll do with live, but NOT plink out notes. Heck, in most of the modes, you won’t even be able to easily hit all the notes, and it is NOT easy to get it set up to use some of the neater tricks Ableton does well with the Push.
If you got the dosh, the Push may well rock for you, though - it has no keyboard, but it IS set up to let you enter notes easily and effectively, whereas I have not found the Launchpad to be good for that.
Your mileage will absolutely vary, though… this is from my own personal experiences and skillset.
I used to use it for production a lot, mostly creating melodies on ableton and sending the midi signals to the 505 to record the sounds. Currently I use it for performance, but am in the market for another one to add back to my production rig. You can can see quite a few examples of my work with the MC505 here: https://www.instagram.com/mikekraze/
I was in the market for an MC 303 - I wanted to incorporate 808 Drum patterns into my DJ sets, then I remembered the 505 has faders for each part. I love the idea of being able to drop out drum parts using the faders…
If I can find a 505 for around £200 I’m gonna snap it up.
