The knobs and sliders feel very similar to me, though there’s more travel distance on the MK2 which gives you finer control. When making a direct comparison, the MK2 keys definitely feel better but it’s not something you notice if you get used to KeyLab Essential. The velocity sensitivity works well on both, and they’re both very playable.

The keys themselves are different – the MK2 keys are taken from Arturia’s flagship MatrixBrute synth and have aftertouch, which works quite nicely. The wood is less important in my opinion but you do notice the difference in overall sturdiness and premium feel on the MK2, though if I had to choose which to take on the road I would pick the KeyLab Essential because it’s much lighter. The build itself is very different between the two – Keylab Essential is plastic and the MK2 is aluminum with wood on the side. In terms of hardware differences, visually what you’ll notice first is that the MK2 has 16 pads instead of 8, more chord and DAW control functions and an additional row of controls under the knobs and faders which are very helpful when controlling your DAW and Analog Lab. The third function, and I think is one that isn’t talked about much, is that they are actually quite capable standalone customizable hardware MIDI controllers, with swappable hardware templates you can use without a computer.Īnd fourth, and this is relevant just for the higher end MK2 series, is a hardware/software bridge between MIDI and modular gear and your computer. The second is a Digital Audio Workstation controller – with support for quite a few DAWs including Ableton Live which is the hardest to support due to its grid based layout. The first is to be a keyboard MIDI controller for software based instruments, with an emphasis on a tight integration with Arturia’s software instruments and in particular Analog Lab, which comes bundled with both keyboards and has over 6,500 presets of different types of instruments including synths, pianos and organs. Let’s start with what they are – both are designed to serve a few functions – a couple which I think may get overlooked. Let’s take a look at the real differences between them, the pros and cons of each, and review the competitive marketplace.

Arturia’s KeyLab Essential and the new KeyLab MK2 look quite similar but the premium MK2 version costs about two and a half times more than Keylab Essential.

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