Ableton Forum

Hi everybody,

Firstly sorry for bad grammar cos' Im french.

I own Ableton Live 8 Suite and only an audiobox from presonus.
I would like to control Ableton. (its only for production not for live)
I give you 3 solutions, can you give me your point of view to tell me which one is cool and which one I should avoid.


1)APC 40 + M-audio keyrig (basic 49)
2)APC 20 + MPK 49
3)Novation remote 49 MKII (+launchpad)

the three solutions have keys, control effects and launch clips, so what I need. Moreover the most important thing for me that I want very easy mapping with live I dont want headache to assign effects...

I read a lot of topics but I cant choose which one is the best solution for me. I dont know if 25 key would be enought its why I wrote 49. By the way you can suggest me other thing, Im open minded.(but Im student I dont want to waste money)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!
That will be very useful for me.

When you say "easy mapping", do you mean the knobs should follow the current instrument, and do clever mapping? If not, then generally any controller with Live is easily mapped; you press Map, click the thing to control, wiggle the knob/slider/button on the controller! Voila! Mapped!

If you get the chance go to a shop and try the things. There's no better way to get the true idea of a controller. A shop might be a bit more expensive than getting it on the internet, but nothing is a substitute for trying out the real thing. It's worth doing it the "old fashioned" way sometimes!

Well, I can't make one of your choices for you. But my two cents is that I have been VERY happy with my M-Audio Oxygen 61 and the mapping is a breeze. A lot of the common presets map automatically to the controls when you plug it in. I really like having the extra keys on the 61 compared to the 49 and think it was worth the extra price (if you have the extra space too).

If you are a keyboard/piano player then fair enough, if not then 25 keys works well.

In which case i propose:

APC40 + MPK25

Piplodocus wrote:When you say "easy mapping", do you mean the knobs should follow the current instrument, and do clever mapping?

yes it would be perfect !

The Leveller wrote: In which case i propose:

APC40 + MPK25

APC 40 have knobs, faders for effects... MPK 25 has also the same. Its not a waste of miney to got double things or it is useful?
It not better in this case to take a Akai LPK 25 ?

Thanks for your answers.

MPK has no faders, but it does have momentary buttons, drum pads and a whole load more assignable knobs which the APC 40 doesn't have. Works like a charm.

I say of those 3 choices, #1 is best. The APC40 is useful on it's own. However if you go with one of the other options, you triggering and control functions are split up. Better to have the keys and then everything else separate.

My own rig is The Novation 61SL + APC40 and it's a great combo. (Well actually I use Kore as well and Maschine as well)