Novation teased an announcement a few days ago and now they’ve revealed it: a new Launchkey range.
The new Launchkey range of controllers comes with six models, a variety of creative MIDI tools, and a ton of music theory features to help you find the perfect chord progressions, basslines, and melodies. Novation has also upgraded the style and profile of the Launchkey with improved pads and a shiny OLED display on the larger models.
Let’s look at those models, shall we? Note that the number in the name represents how many keys the controller has (if that wasn’t obvious):
- Novation Launchkey 61 (comes with nine faders)
- Novation Launchkey 49 (also comes with nine faders)
- Novation Launchkey 37
- Novation Launchkey 25
- Novation Launchkey Mini 37
- Novation Launchkey Mini 25
I’ve owned a Launchkey Mini for a few years now and it’s my go-to controller (when I can be bothered to plug it in—that’s a me issue though). Having seen these new models… I’m tempted. They’re a great gateway into a digital audio workstation (DAW) such as Ableton or FL Studio and I think newbies and more advanced users looking for a cheap MIDI keyboard could do worse than a Launchkey.
Prices range from £109.99 to £279.99 and there’s a handy comparison chart on the website to figure out what’s the best model for you.
Update: CDM put together an explainer on the Novation’s Launchkey Programmer’s Reference Guide