Looking for a controller with unique flavor, road-worthy toughness, or extreme portability? How about something with all three? The Livid Instruments Base gives you deep programmability with its touch-sensitive faders and buttons, and 32 velocity pads – read on for our full, in-depth review.
Reviewed: Livid Instruments Base
Price: $429 (MSRP), $399 (common retail price)
Communication: MIDI over USB (USB powered)
Available: Now
Ships with: USB cable. Software templates for DJ and production programs available to download here. Web-based editor application here.
Weight: 3 lb.
Dimensions: 10.25 x 11 x 0.75 inches
The Good: Some of the best drum pad response available for the price. Excellent construction. Compact and lightweight for travel. Deep programmability and pre-built templates for Ableton Live, Reason, Traktor, and others.
The Bad: Pad lights look muted in well-lit room. Rubberized bezel occasionally gets in the way of “zero” fader values.
The Bottom Line: True to its name, the Livid controller gives you a base on which to build your own control scheme for any MIDI software. With 57 physical controls and several control layers per preset, you can access hundreds of controls for your DJ, VJ or production software. Non-programmers have some excellent templates available for Live, Reason, and Traktor.
WHO MADE IT?
The Austin, Texas boutique manufacturer Livid Instruments entered the controllerism fray pretty early on, way back in 2004. While their well-built, highly stylized controllers and custom building kits don’t outsell the Numarks and Pioneers of the world, the small shop has earned a well-deserved reputation among high-level DJs and producers for quality construction and deep programmability.
BASE CONTROLS AND BUILD
For its latest production, Livid chose to make its first unit whose pads are pressure sensitive (aka aftertouch). The Base controller also has no moving parts; it favors touch-sensitive faders and buttons over knobs and sliders.
That may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the touch faders with LED meters mean you can jump to just about any value you want, including full on or full off, instantly with one touch. Also, when switching to different pages or presets, the fader values reset immediately.
The touch-sensitive controls and recessed pads also help give the Base a flat face, which makes it even more portable. Even with its 32 velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads, 9 touch faders, 8 touch buttons, 8 functions buttons and 2-digit display, the Base comes off as very travel-ready. It’s less than an inch thick, and even though it feels extremely durable, it weighs only 3 pounds.
Livid uses robust aluminum for the Base chassis, with a rubberized bezel on the faceplate encasing the controls and providing a nice feel. The unit feels amazingly sturdy, all the way down to the hard rubber feet on the bottom. The aluminum bottom plate of our unit bent up a little bit when pressed. That didn’t seem to endanger the Base in any way, except for maybe leaving an opening for dust to get inside.
The Base feels strong, but it takes up a small volume of space for such a solid controller. If you were to team up the Base with another compact controller such as the KMI QuNeo or Midi Fighter 3D, a Native Instruments Audio 2, and a laptop, you could easily fit it all into most standard laptop backpacks — forget about those huge DJ bags that make you look packed for a moon landing.
CONTROLLER FEEL
The Base’s 32 pads are smaller and spaced closer together than most controller pads out there, from the Maschine to the Akai MPD line. However, for fitting 32 pads – instead of 16 – onto a compact controller, they don’t feel too cramped. Their response is also amazing; anything but the slightest tap will set them off. The Base pads may be the best of the many that I’ve tried for triggering in rapid-fire style with two finger on the same pad.
It must be said that the Base pads do feel quite different from most other controllers. They don’t depress, and they are so firm that they actually can be pretty hard on the fingers after a long time. When incorporating velocity or pressure sensitivity, you have to use a fair amount of strength to get the highest values. If you don’t have the finger dexterity built up from many hours of beat tapping, this controller may challenge you.
The faders respond with no latency, and although there aren’t enough LED lights on each fader to respond to every one of the slightest movements, there are different LED styles that can be programmed for the touch controls. For example, a fader using “EQ” LED style will show two green LEDs in the center of the fader to indicate when you’ve hit the “zero” value. The faders can also be programmed to send both a note and a velocity value, increasing their utility.
With the touch faders, you can jump around to different value easily and instantly by just touch a spot of the fader, or sweep through the values in the traditional way by dragging your finger. You can also toggle between values by leaving one finger down and tapping another part of the fader with another finger. The only slight problem with them is that if you want to go instantly to full on or full off on a fader, which is useful for many things, such as muting a channel, you have to be careful to hit the very bottom or top of the fader. If your finger catches on the Base’s rubber bezel, you may get a value that’s close, but not quite full off or full on.
All the RGB LED lights look great in the dark, but probably because of their translucent rubber, the backlit pads are bright enough to see in direct light, but they do look a bit muted.
Programmability
Livid and its user base are known for the full customizability of its controllers and for an enthusiasm for creating very useful and creative templates, respectively.
Base will work with any software that supports MIDI Learn, and for any other MIDI applications, you can program it using the Livid Online Editor software. The software works well and similarly to most other MIDI template editing software. It recognizes when the Base is connected, and you can use it to update the firmware, save MIDI settings to and from the Base, and create new programs.
[Corrections Oct. 2, 2013 4:30 pm PST.] The Base supports 7 user banks, which change the channels of all settings and also store LED updates that are sent to the controller, programmable in the editing software. And because there’s still some use for offline editing software, Livid also has an offline Editor option, available with instructions.
Pre-Baked Mappings
Livid devotees may program their own templates at a greater rate than others, but if we had to guess, more controller users probably get by on what they can find online to control their software. Base users already have a decent selection of mappings, scripts, and settings to choose from, and judging by Livid’s other models, there will be more coming as the weeks go on.
Livid provided an Ableton Live Remote Script for Base. This comprehensive script utilizes several modes, as well as Shift functions, to wrangle as much Live control out of the Base as possible. You can use it to record, launch clips and scenes, mix, and play and/or tweak instrument Devices and Drum Racks. There are versions available for both Live 8 or Live 9, and the Live 9.1 Base Remote script will add native step sequencing for drums and synths.
Traktor Pro users may want to check out the Base mappings from DJTT forum member extraordinaire, Stewe. He’s made two Base maps for Traktor, one for playing 4 Track Decks and another for using the Base to control the Remix Decks. Both mappings make efficient use of the Base controls for launching 8 cue points, EQ kills, entering Flux mode, etc. in the case of the track deck mapping. But the Remix Deck mapping seems to really suit the Base. If you’re already a Remix Deck power user or want to explore them further, dedicating a controller like the Base to Remix Decks and using a good mapping will allow you full controller over recording, loading, and launching loops or samples, as well as independent control over Remix Deck slot volume, filter, reverse, and more.
A Reason Remote Script available for the Base from Livid makes the unit a very capable control surface for Reason 7, particularly for playing drums and instruments, recording them, and then tweaking their parameters for recording automation or audio overdubs.
BASE-IC MATH
Some may look at the 32 velocity and pressure-sensitive pads on the Base and think, “that’s twice as many as other controllers. I’m now twice as stoked.” The 32 super-responsive pads do make the Base a mouth-watering prospect, particularly as a secondary controller for DJs wanting to access many cue, loop, sampling, effects, and other performance buttons without using shift or mode buttons as well. And if you want multiple layers of functionality, the Base lets you program that in as well, using the touch buttons or function buttons to access different control layouts.
You may pay a little more for the Base’s supreme chassis and control build quality, but it’s by no means an astronomical price for some hand-built love. If you don’t love the available mappings, it may take some high-level MIDI editing chops to get the Base where you want it, but you’ll also enjoy pro-level reliability.
Please leave us your comments, and find out what Markkus is reviewing or send questions to Markkus on Twitter.
This controller is awesome and versatile. If you’re looking to buy one right now, definitely make sure you get the BASE II that was just released. It has a much nicer feel to the pads. This is a serious piece of equipment though… Feels a lot more substantial than a Launchpad for example.
If you want to see what you can do with the BASE or BASE II definitely check out this video of me DJing on Traktor with the BASE and some other MIDI gear I had laying around 🙂
[…] how the BASE stands up to other controllers? Check out our review of the original model here – the new LEDs should hopefully address some of the issues on the original, and we’d love to get […]
[…] how the BASE stands up to other controllers? Check out our review of the original model here – the new LEDs should hopefully address some of the issues on the original, and we’d love to […]
I’ve had the Cntrl:r for a year now, and have no regrets whatsoever, it has been baus.
It’s versatile, and not limited to Ableton software. I can use it in linux progs like Hydrogen and Ardour, if I wish.
That being said, I look forward to getting a Base
Bought one because it looks awesome, returned it because it wasn’t awesome.
Case was warped (bent it back to shape), faders were buggy at best, really not as responsive as you’d think. Humidity and temperature are a big factor. The Ableton template was fun but ultimately returned it because on of the faders kept sending midi data out. I’ll definitely check out an MK2 version.
Can I use this with Serato for live performances with Cue points, Effects and other?
Awsome Review ….
Really like the Design and those small LEDS
https://soundcloud.com/sickman-musick/sets/blackorion
Nice review. Curious about all the trashing in the comments. I agree that the Base in extremely well built and well thought out. I have had mine now for several months and could not be more pleased by the lack of limitations. The open design may require a little more brain power to work with but it give you unlimited possibilities with any number of software systems. While Livid may not have the advertising budgets of competitive controllers, that is not a reason to ignore the company. Like most I was debating between a Push and a Base, After several months with my Base the Push looks to me more like a toy with meaningful limitations. I could not be happier with my decision and it has nothing to do with price.
Does it have Ableton clip color feedback?
Nope, so in my opinion it’s a waste of money. Just spend an extra $130 and buy Push (B&H Photo; free shipping, too, last time I checked). Or wait for Novation to stop being idiots and make an RGB Launchpad. Most people I know just bought Push for use in session view, so I say “idiots” because I know they could sell an RGB Launchpad for $200, even $250, and most all of us would buy it over Push, as this is the only feature we’d desire in either unit.
When I saw the Base a while ago, I thought it looked like an Ableton Push look-a-like, which it is ofcourse (although the feature set doesn’t look as good). I ended up NOT buying it because of my previous Livid controller. I still have my Code V2, but for the last few months it’s been on top of my closet, in the dust. I just don’t like using it anymore, it’s a major pain in the ass. The problem is also that it was too expensive to get a good price for it now, people just aren’t interested in paying a few hundreds bucks for a used midi controller, so I feel I just threw away my money.
Although it’s probably the most rugged controller I’ve ever had, I’m not sure I would buy another Livid controller, ever. From what I’ve read and experienced myself, their controllers are a bit too pricy considering the feature set, the buttons aren’t that good (on my code at least) and the editor software is a little bit of a joke. I’ve struggled many hours to get the editor software to work properly, sometimes it just doesn’t feel like it. The settings are sometimes not saved in the memory, cc or note settings go crazy and saving/loading a configuration is a bit flimsy.
The controller itself feels good though (and by that I mean the actual housing), but the control on it don’t perform on the same level. I’ve noticed that the encoders just aren’t good enough, the have this “clicky” feeling too them and the values they output to your software aren’t very precise. You can change the encoder speed ofcourse, but only in increments the editor software allows you to. In other words, if you can’t find the right encoder speed in the editor that matches your taste (like me), you end up flipping between two encoder speeds that aren’t your thing, all the time. To say the least, it’s very annoying. The buttons on the Code are also probably the worst buttons you can have on a midi controller. They’re pretty soft and they have a very noticle click to them, you end up pushing a button 3 times before it actually triggers a midi signal, extremely annoying.
When I first bought it, I was pretty exciting. I thought I bought a controller that last me a lifetime, not just because of the renowned build quality, also because of the layout of the controller itself. 64 push encoders & some buttons, sounded ideal as an addon in any midi situation. WRONG! Although they’re very sturdy and they can probably survive a lot of rough nights performing in clubs, they’re too expensive and the quality of the controls + the editor software isn’t good enough. I bet the Base is of higher quality, but once you’ve paid a lot of money for a Livid controller and you’re in a love/hate relationship with it, you’re hesitant to buy another one in the future. I’m just gonna stick to controllers of which I know that they are 100% my thing, with Livid controllers it’s just very subjective and that a big risk to take considering the money you pay for it. You better end up buying two or three other cheaper controllers and liking one them, instead of buying an expensive Livid controller which you might not like. You would also end up being stuck with it because no one is interested in a second hand controller that’s too pricy. I’ve learned my lesson!
Thank you guys for featuring my BASE mappings. Another cool .tsi coming soon 🙂
https://maps.djtechtools.com/mappings/2042
I have an Alias 8 by Livid. It’s the only thing like it out there, but some times the small shop vibe creeps through. Some of the faders just travel with a slightly different feel to the others. Also occasionally it will just refuse to play ball when plugged in, and replugging or even a computer restart will seemingly be needed. I haven’t however ever had any problems once it’s going. Also know that with Livid products you’re expected to be a little “in deep” on this shit. I.e. happy to forgo a nicely laid out manual for a developer talk focused wiki. That said, I still love it, it’s just made me a little more cautious before getting another one of their units.
great when they work 🙁 we ordered 2 and both have issues…
What resolution do the touch faders have?
After buying one of these, i regretfully found out that the touch sliders only support about 11 distinct values. They support different modes so that you can get more precise, but forget about doing a smooth, full filter sweep or anything like that on this device. It’s really too bad – I am now looking into something with knobs. The only downfall of this device. Check out the other modes they have for the sliders:
http://wiki.lividinstruments.com/wiki/Online_Editor#mode_3