Logic Pro - Technical Specifications.What Mac Should You Buy For Logic Pro X? - Home Studio Expert
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A large volume control knob and a master fader let you control key parameters. And a small size means that it takes up little space on your desk. Great compatibility and robust build quality make it our best control surface for Logic Pro X for producers on a budget.
It doesn't clutter the unit with a gazillion buttons and screens. It is specifically designed to be easy to use — and gets top marks for that. At the heart of the FaderPort is an innovative and highly satisfying degree encoder. Anything you need to move and select and draw and drag will be handled by this encoder. So it's a good thing that the build quality on it is fantastic — it can take a beating, and then some more.
Complementing the encoder is a single mechanized fader. The fader is also touch sensitive — a feature often found missing in more expensive Logic Pro X control surface. If you've ever felt dissatisfied by your fades and automations, you'll love using this fader — external hardware make it much easier to get fine control over your automations. Moving a mouse around feels hardly as intuitive as dragging a touch sensitive fader — and this one works wonderfully well.
The rest of the controls are designed around a single goal: to complement your keyboard-mouse, not to replace them. I appreciate this approach, especially since most producers are already used to the keyboard-mouse combo.
Far too many control surfaces try to do everything and the kitchen sink, forcing producers to retrain their habits. This unit recognizes that that is neither feasible nor desirable. Build quality is solid throughout. I particularly like the dimensions. It's small enough to take minimal space on your desk, yet not so small as to make the buttons and faders unusable. I prefer this smaller footprint over some of the larger control surfaces that take up too much desk space.
What's left to consider is compatibility. Which is expected since they're from the same brand. If you use Studio One, buying this control surface is an absolute no-brainer. That said, you'll find that the PreSonus FaderPort is also one of the best control surfaces for Logic Pro X, with tight integration out of the box.
The buttons are a little hard to press. There are also reports of compatibility issues with the some versions of macOS Catalina. Recommended for: A powerful, capable, and most importantly, affordable control surface for home studios. Excellent compatibility with most DAWs, a touch-sensitive motorized fader, and an excellent encoder make it one of the best control surface for Logic Pro X in Right out of the box, the sleek and compact design of the device is lovely to behold.
The top panel comes in black matte while the rear has an orange hue. The slim design makes it easy to move about with this surface control; it fits in a backpack easily and will be great for DJs that move around. On the top right of the device, there is a Send All button. South of this is the Solo button. Below the Mute button are the Record-Arm buttons. As per Akai standard, this control surface is of solid build. It feels strong and reliable to touch.
The knobs are small but not so small that they're hard to use. The entire unit itself is small enough to fit comfortably on a desk.
It's also light enough that you can drop it into your gig bag and carry it around. The included software editor is powerful and intuitive enough that you can also customize the integration as per your needs. Although it does not have as many features as some other surface controllers on the list, it offers great value for the price.
It lacks Device control, which I found to be a surprising decision from Akai. The knobs might also feel a little small if you have large hands. Some users report issues with the lights not lighting up — even when the rest of the unit works fine. A small quibble has to do with the quality of Akai's gel buttons. These gel buttons can be found on all of Akai's lower-tier devices, from MIDI controllers to control surfaces, and it's never a good experience using them.
They feel sticky and not tactile enough. Akai, if you're reading this, please find better gel buttons on your devices! Now double-click on the loudspeaker icon at the top of the Multi-Instrument icon and you'll see a new window full of General MIDI patch names by default.
Four boxes at the top of the window allow you to select a Bank Change message from a menu of common options you can add your own bank names. You also enter a short name for the synth and a full device name, which defaults to the port name unless you decide to change it. An Options window allows you to cut, copy or paste the preset names shown and to choose either patch numbers or GM patch names.
There's also a tick box in the Inspector for disabling transposition for channel 10, if you're using it for drums. Once you've completed the epic task of typing in your patch names, save as a Template and back it up in as many places as you can find —you won't want to do it twice. You can click on any patch name and replace it with your own, but as I remember all too well from when I owned an Oberheim Matrix with presets , it can be fairly tedious! Fortunately, you can import lists of preset names if you can find them online, and users have even been known to resort to text-reading programs to extract patch names from a scan of the product manual.
There are also completely filled-in Environment objects for some synths available online, thanks to some very altruistic users out there, and these can be imported directly into your MIDI Environment page or copied and pasted from another Logic song. So, how to create the necessary MIDI control tracks? That's actually pretty easy and no longer involves 'knitting a scarf' in the Environment.
Just select the Multi-Instrument Environment object and drag it into the Tracks section of the Main page. A dialogue box will open up, asking if you'd like tracks to be created.
Tracks are only created for those instrument parts that have been activated, but if you turn off a part retrospectively, the corresponding MIDI tracks don't disappear, so you'll have to delete them manually. In this window you can select a Bank change message from a menu of common options. This would give you the best of both worlds — a full-sized keyboard for composition, and a pad controller for controlling your DAW.
Your best option is to spring for semi-weighted keys. These tend to be on the expensive side but offer better playability and comfort.
If your goal is to just enter MIDI notes and play out a few chords or melodies, synth-action keyboards will work perfectly fine. MIDI keyboards come in a range of key sizes, going all the way from 25 keys to full-sized key keyboards.
Anything beyond 32 keys makes it difficult to keep the keyboard size and weight low enough for lugging around. But portability comes with its own compromise — smaller keys. Most portable keyboards reduce the width and length of keys to fit them into a small form factor.
This greatly impacts their playability, especially if you have fat fingers as I do. I usually recommend people to get a regular 49 or key keyboard for their main studio use, and buy an additional mini keyboard for carrying around. If you have a smaller desk, it could completely ruin your setup. So before you spring for a larger keyboard, measure out your desk. You should at least have 3 feet of extra space before you even think of getting anything beyond 49 keys.
As much as the idea of a full-size key keyboard is appealing, it is just plain overkill for most musicians. Nor will the EDM or hip-hop pieces they produce ever involve complex melodies that require simultaneous bass and tenor keys.
Plus, larger keyboards are plain intimidating. On the flip side, anything below keys also impacts playability. For most people, keys represents the ideal size. It gives you access to four octaves of range. If you plan on playing slightly more complex pieces, you can upgrade to a key keyboard. But otherwise, 49 keys is more than enough. In my case, I rely minimally on keyboard controls. I use my desktop keyboard shortcuts for most things. The keyboard is used mostly for entering notes, practicing melodies, and playing chords.
A MIDI controller with more than a handful of control options is just overkill for my taste. Great for people who like a more intuitive approach to their music production. But production styles evolve. You might think that your style requires minimal use of controls, but that might change a year down the line. If it has DAW control options built in, even better. This will give you enough room to adapt new playing styles.
As a general rule, your budget will impact your choices as follows with respect to 49 key controllers :. Go for this range only if you want a secondary controller that emphasizes portability. Look for semi-weighted keys since this will improve the playing experience substantially. That said, there are some controllers that are designed for specific DAWs such as Ableton Push — designed for Ableton.
Just keep this in mind when you make a purchase. If the controller specifically says that it supports a specific DAW, it might be a good idea to pick something else. I can understand the confusion — MIDI isn't a specification you're likely to encounter if you're new to music.
I'll answer some brief questions about MIDI controllers and keyboards below to help you figure out this product category better. The early s was exciting time for electronic music.
The big names you know and recognize today — Roland, Akai, etc. The major synths and devices that shaped music in the 80s and 90s were invented around this time, including the Roland TR drum machine, the Juno synth, etc. Think of the way Apple creates its proprietory connections and imagine an industry filled with dozens of such companies. The founder of Roland, Ikutaro Kakehashi, knew that for electronic music to advance, there was a need for devices to talk to each other.
So working with other manfuacturers, including Yamaha, Korg, etc. MIDI 2. For instance, you might have a MOOG synth. If you want to play music using this synth, you need to connect it to a keyboard. MIDI makes it possible for the two devices to talk to each other. MIDI controllers can be in any shape or form.
They can be in the form of a guitar, a wind instrument, a drumpad, or most popularly, in the form of a keyboard. While each form might be designed to replicate a particular instrument, they all do the same job: pass MIDI instructions from one device to another. Just as you have everything from computer mice and keyboards to speakers and fans powered by USB, you also have a range of instruments that use the MIDI protocol to pass instructions from one device to another.
The one feature I really miss in this control surface is the master fader. Avid Artist Mix has a long display where all the operations can be monitored. You can monitor each track individually in the display panel. The second thing we miss in Avid Artist Mix is a dedicated transport panel. However, Avid cleared that it is a control surface for mixing and not for recording controls. Even, it should have a transport control.
If you are finding a control surface that you could use in your home studio as well as outside recording then Novation Launchpad is for you. For budget home studios it would be a perfect fit. Let have a detailed look at the Novation launch control.
If you are a music producer then you can now focus on your music production without worrying about the DAW handling by traditional keyboard and mixer. Novation launchpad has eight 60mm non-motorized faders.
These faders are good for mixing but the lack of motors in faders makes them useless in automation. If you want to add some automation to your tracks then you have to rely on your mouse and keyboard.
However, for volume balancing, 60mm faders work well. Novation Launch control can be used with Novation Launchpad.
By owning both of them you get full control over your DAW. Launchpad has assignable buttons that can be used as transport and edit controls. In fact, if you want a full-featured control surface, you need both of them. With bus-powered features and lightweight, it is perfect for outside recordings like concerts programs.
Just plug it in with your laptop and make the magic happen. Imagine under 70 bucks you get 8 faders and also a transport control which you missed out on costly Logic Pro X control surfaces. This tiny control surface has eight faders, eight knobs dedicated solo, mute, and record arming buttons as well as dedicated transport controls. It has 8 non-motorized small faders and 8 dedicated knobs.
These faders are not full length but can be used precisely in mixing if your hands are set up on the faders. As well as you get a dedicated solo, mute, and record arming buttons for each track. Here I have provided the details of 5 best control surfaces Logic Pro X. I think now you have a clear picture of your future control surface. I personally recommend control surfaces equipped with dedicated transport controls and both the control surfaces have transport dedicated panels.
If you have any queries on these control surfaces then drop your comment below, I will answer your queries.
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