There’s surprisingly little information about this. That got me thinking: is it possible to control the LEDs on a Launchkey Mini like you can on a Launchpad? Is what it is.I picked up a Novation Launchkey Mini II controller last year when I was working with those musical floppy drives, and recently I fell down the rabbit hole of Launchpad LED performance videos. But you know you go down that road researching something and it's hard to come back and now you have to have the best but if that cheap M-Audio silver never acted up on me I'd still be using it today w/o thinking about it.
It went from what was supposed to be just as simple upgrade from the old Silver M-Audio oxygen to spending several hundred more on something better. So when it started glitching my plan was just to get the newest M Audio oxygen 61 which is just a couple hundred bucks, but then I started researching and reading and you know how that goes and before long I was ready to spend $700 on a midi controller, that Novation sl61 mkiii lol.
What controller do you have again? Not long ago I had the M-Audio Oxygen 61 silver as my midi controller and I wasn't really thinking or complaining about it until it got wonky. The way I see it is that if I have to compromise, then I may as well carry on using the compromised set up that I already have The way I see it is that if I have to compromise, then I may as well carry on using the compromised set up that I already have. Roland seems to have pretty much limited their integration capabilities to Logic and Mainstage now.
That said, I read elsewhere that it doesn't play nice with CW.
I even considered getting a Roland Fantom 7,which is all kinds of ridiculous because it would be so OTT for what I need, but it seems to be the only thing that ticks all the other boxes in so far as having the full set of controls on the right sized keyboard. People can and do pay big $$ for lots of sample libraries, but then only have cheapo keyboards to use them with. It is weird that nobody seems interested in making more decent quality ones. The NI is too stripped compared to the Novation We talked about this before but for me the only real controllers worth getting is that NI S61 and the Novation SL61 Mkiii. TBH If you're just looking for a decent 76 key keyboard, I'd look at a 2nd hand Roland synth like the XP80 (even the bottom of the range 61 key XP10 which was a sound canvas with keyboard had a GREAT keyboard). The CME's were very good and did 76 keys - but they were huge and pricey. My Samson Graphite 49 feels good, but the velocity action is really hit & miss making it practically useless. The last controller I bought with a decent action was the EMU X-Board, but even those only went up to 61 keys. I like the Novation Sl61 so I'm not really complaining but it'd be nice if there was some more choice as right now the ratio between those types of controllers and these cheap ones that keep coming out is like 1:30 or something. Afaik there's litteraly nothing better in that league than those two right now. The NI is too stripped compared to the Novation. I had an Arturia KeyLab mkii 61 for a second and those keys literally bent down when pressed all the way and without much pressure either, just cheap plastic keys on a $500 controller what a pos. There's a ton of those types of controllers and hardly any of the other. Most midi keyboards today are marketed for bedroom electronic producers who use them to maybe play a few chords here and there but are mostly triggering stuff and thus don't mind the often tiny slender keys that I hate.
Word, though I prefer a 61 key but yeah there's very few high end offering for even 61 key much less 70+ key. It can't be just me that would willingly pay more for a decent quality 73 or 76 key version, or can it? It also surprises me that virtually nobody goes beyond the 61 keys as many VST instruments stretch out further than that by the time keyswitches and stuff are included. To be fair they are not alone in this - most midi controllers feel like cheap toys to me.
I know it's relatively cheap, but when you watch the demos and see how the whole thing bends when being played it is a real turn off for me.