I've seen this comparison before, but I had my own little notes to add to it.
I use Ableton Live 9 and already own a Novation Launchpad as well as the original Akai MPK Mini.
My MPK's starting to go bad, having connection issues with Ableton, highlighted in orange under Midi/Sync, etc. etc. So I'm looking to replace it.
With the Launchkey I imagine I'll get automapping like I do with the Launchpad since Novation products sync up with Ableton?
One major issue I had with my old MPK Mini is the plug in port. Now granted I had abused that one a bit more and wiggled the cable around more than the device was comfortable with and eventually the plastic containing the pins snapped off leaving the device broken. How durable is the plug in port on the Launchkey compared to the MKII's?
How important are the features of each that the other lacks? Like the MKII's thumbstick that can control pitch modulation and dynamics. Or Launchkey's 16 pads compared to the MKII's standard 8.
To help narrow it down; if you don't feel like reading the whole post. I see two pros/cons with both.
The Novation Launchkey is cheaper and will automap to Ableton; but it's powered by a standard USB bus port which has broken on me in the past even with minimal wiggling and abuse to the plug in area on the device.
The MPK Mini has a pitch knob that I will more than likely use more than often, as well as a jack for sustain pedals, but no automapping and I was never much a fan of the MPK editor software.
Submitted November 22, 2016 at 10:44AM by spinningfaith https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/5earpb/which_should_i_buy_akai_mpk_mini_mkii_vs_novation/?utm_source=ifttt
Javier Rodriguez
Tuesday, November 22, 2016