One of the compact MIDI keyboards is a device Novation Launchkey 25 with 16 velocity-sensitive drumpads with RGB backlight and LED screen for showing information about device’s state. It has : 25 velocity-sensitive synthesizer-style keys, 8 knobs, 1 slider, 6 transport control buttons, pitch-bend and modulation control wheels, 2 octaves control buttons, 2 tracks and MIDI channels control buttons, 2 InControl buttons and 2 round buttons with RGB backlight. On its back panel there are : USB port for powering and communication with computer, TRS 1/4″ jack input for sustain pedal, power adapter input and Kensington Lock slot. There are variants of device with 49 and 61 keys, which have additional controls.
Novation Launchkey 25 is oriented on tight work with DAW Ableton Live and also allows to control other DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others, and their VST/AU instruments and effects. Device works in Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X without additional drivers via Plug and Play technology. MIDI keyboard is powered from USB port or power adapter and draws maximum 250 mA of current; it can be used with iOS devices via Camera Connection Kit or USB cameras connection adapter. Device’s sizes are : 450 ( width ) x 270 ( depth ) x 90 ( height ) mm; with it following software is supplied DAW Ableton Live Lite, Novation Bass Station and V-Station and 1 GB of free Loopmasters samples. Package with Novation Launchkey 25 contains following : USB cable, warranty card and user’s guide. MIDI keyboard is good : with large amount of drumpads and other control elements, it also has power adapter input for work with tablet PCs without load on their batteries.
