![]() You can find the full Analog Lab 2 review here: You can read more about Analog Lab 2 in our previous issue, but I have to warn you that with Minilab the Analog Lab 2 experience is quite different, having all those controllers already connected with hardware. Lite comes with 500 presets with an option to upgrade it for a really small fee to the full version with 5,000 presets. We already mentioned Arturia Analog Lab Lite, little brother of Analog Lab 2. There is also a footswitch jack input that can serve as a sustain pedal or even a latching switch. The whole Minilab Mk IIis quite heavy and rock solid from keys up to the pads and even the USB connector is very solid, not one of those small ones that can easily become the weakest link in similar products. The further up or down you go the faster the button will flash. Next two are octave up and octave down buttons. With Pad we can switch between two banks of eight pads, while the Shift button is more multipurpose, calling various presets in combination with the Pad button or selecting the main MIDI channel in combination with keys, or even for enabling the first nine buttons to work with various MIDI CC messages according to the selected preset. In the upper left corner we find four buttons. I played with this tool like small child, so can confirm from my personal experience the touch strips are rock solid and didn’t break during my mad session. It’s possible that for orchestral music the old-fashioned mod-wheel seems to be the perfect tool, but I found that with those touch strips you can make some fast and unpredictable movements that can’t be recreated with any other controller and can put some pads or leads with filter connected to the mod controller into some totally new and crazy heaven. Pitch and Modulation touch strips are ideal for going totally bonkers with and getting really cool results, especially with Analog Lab or any other similar virtual synthesizer. They come preprogrammed for Analog Lab Lite (or Analog Lab 2) but they can easily be programmed for other purposes and stored as a preset in the hardware through the MIDI Controller Center software that you can download from the Arturia site. Sixteen rotary knobs, the first two even click-able. Eight touch sensitive back-lit pads that can be switched between two banks for controlling up to sixteen beats at once. The whole box is a bit smaller than the average laptop. Two octaves of mini keys with rock solid action. The first two knobs are for browsing and selecting presets, all the others are for tweaking sounds in a way far beyond what you can do with most other mini keyboards. For the price of an average VST instrument (€100 EUR for Minilab Mk II+ €29 for the upgrade to Analog Lab 2) you get a great sounding VST instrument with 5,000 presets along with hardware that works perfectly with it. Maybe it is not totally the same as tweaking an old analog synth, as Analog Lab allow you only to tweak some essential parameters inside the presets, not allowing you to make something for scratch or to drastically change any preset, but still, the whole experience, Analog Lab Lite, or in my case Analog Lab in combination with Minilab Mk II, gives a totally new level to the package. I haven’t had such a good time since I got the Access Virus for the first time many years ago. Needless to say I went totally bonkers with all those rotary knobs, beating the hell out of the presets. I updated Analog Lab Lite the same day I got keyboards, and for just €29 EUR I got 5,000 sounds instead the 500 that come with the Lite version, which comes bundled with the keyboard. The companion software is perfectly integrated with the keyboard itself, adding a whole new dimension to the package. Keys are rock solid jumping back straightaway, allowing us to play fast parts without any trouble. It is a very solid and compact mini keyboard with almost the same keyboard action than I have on my main, big fancy MIDI keyboard from a well-known developer. I was quite impressed with this piece of gear. A rock solid keyboard with perfectly integrated software.
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