Last year at NAMM Arturia debuted a completely analog low-cost synth – but yesterday they presented two scaled-down versions of some of their other products. The MiniLab keyboard MIDI controller and cutely-named SparkLE both are brand new introductions here at NAMM 2013, so we decided to take a closer look at both of them!
Arturia SparkLE Drum Machine
What It’s Got: Nice pads, slim and portable form factor, wide assortment of controls.
What It’s Not: Completely standalone – shines most when paired with the Spark plugin
Price: $299 / €249
Software: Full Spark software included
More Info: SparkLE on Arturia’s site
Arturia MiniLab MIDI Keyboard
What It’s Got: The right size, and 25-velocity sensitive mini-keys that feel solid for the price
What It’s Not: A high-end keyboard with aftertouch
Price: $129 / €99
Software: Analog Lab software included, but also works just as well with any MIDI controlled synth.
More Info: MiniLab on Arturia’s site
Many DJs often find themselves looking for a piece of gear that will make it easy to enter the world of production for a reasonable price, and these units from Arturia are right along that same line of thinking. Both easily will slide into a backpack alongside your laptop. Arturia’s build quality is very reasonable for the price range, and the fact that they’re wrapping in the same software that comes with the higher-price units in their lines makes the units even more compelling.
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basically, if youre in the market for a sub-$100 mini-controller, there really is no other choice. such a sick little piece of kit–
*(not at all affiliated with arturia either, just super stoked on a recent purchase/discovery haha)
Take my money ! Where can i buy it ? When they release it ?
like the wood on the sides of the minilab makes it look like it’s worth more lol
That keyboard looks amazing, and at a great price too
That MiniLab is talking sweet and sexy in my ear.
Damn might sell my 25 key Arturia and pick up this one!
Seriously? I don’t think it would be worth it…
Not worth it? For $129 the Minilab is even cheaper than the mf spectra
If you haven’t got any midi keyboard (of this size) this might be the right choice but I don’t think it makes sense to sell a 25 key Arturia keyboard to buy the minilab 😉
I think it does, since the 25 key version has a smaller software version than this one. The Lab version includes 5000 presets with more tweakability than the player version (included in the 25 key variant). That one only has 1000 presets and less tweakability.
two words for ya: mini keys.
the truth allways hurts…