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In regards to construction, both keyboards are all-plastic. BUT something worth noting is that Arturia claim that the Minilab 3 is made of at least 50% recycled plastic. A sustainable plus. And while the controller has lost the metal base you found on the MK2, we don’t have any gripes in terms of build. In fact, Arturia’s pledge to use recycled materials + that impressive 5-year warranty, pretty much cancel that out for us. We saved the best til last… The Minilab 3 gives you a full-size (5 pin) Midi-out port, which means the controller can even be hooked up to hardware synths!! A seriously neat feature for anyone looking to expand their setup. The Minlab 3 also gives you the luxury of a screen to display a variety of useful info from your DAW – yet another workflow perk you don’t get with the MK2. The sensitivity of the touchstrips has been boosted, too, and we didn’t encounter any of the cut-off note issues reported in our MiniLab review last time around. Lab report
As for drum pads, the Akai steals the show. Aside from the pads being that much bigger & being arranged in a 4×2 style, the pads also feel more responsive to play. You can achieve softer, more delicate sounds with the pads on the MPK Mini than you can with the Minilab 3. I have said it before, but it’s worth repeating: Arturia is amongst the best when it comes to assignable controls. Rotary knobsAt first we thought this may have just being our controller, but we’ve since heard a lot of other people saying the same thing… you do have to tap the drum pads with quite a bit of force to get sound out of them. That’s not to say you can’t achieve softer sounds with the pads – you can. It’d just have been nice to have a little more sensitivity.
What’s more, you’ll struggle to find a keyboard that’s as sophisticated when it comes to integration. The way the Minilab allows to interact both with your DAW & Analog Lab (in our experience) is nothing short of seamless. Add to that the fact the Minilab 3 boasts more ports (including that all-important Midi Out), as well as gorgeous screen, which really does come in use for making minor adjustments, & it’s genuinely hard to see why anyone in the market for a 25 key controller, would not (at the very least shortlist the Minilab 3. In typical Arturia fashion, the Minilab 3 includes 2 touch strips for pitch and modulation. However, with the Minilab 3, any adjustments made via these strips can be monitored via the screen, opposed to the bar of lights you find with other controllers.
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When it comes to keyfeel, the Minilab 3 is on-point. Just like the MK2, the keys are responsive, nicely weighted and enable you to inject some real expression into what you play! What’s more, they have a good spring to them too, which makes fast key changes or small runs up and down the keys super easy. Both have midi out, however the Arturia has a 5 pin midi out which means it’s that bit more capable when it comes to controlling hardware synths.
Both the Minilab 3 & the MPK Mini have 25 semi-weighted keys, which are velocity sensitive. However, when it comes to key feel, we’d say those on the Arturia have the edge. Aside from being that bit larger, they have a slightly better travel depth too. All of which makes them that bit more expressive to play. There’s no doubt about it – the Arturia Minilab 3 is an ideal midi controller for any beginner. And here’s just 3 good reasons why… Combining superb controller keyboard integration, lightning-fast sound browsing, powerful combo sounds,
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kaiprager wrote:.......(Only AnalogLap - which I use as VST in Studio One is working like a charm, by the way.) Both the Minilab 3 & the Launchkey Mini MK3 have 25 semi-weighted keys, which are velocity sensitive. But just like with the Akai (above), when it comes to key feel it’s no competition. The Minilab 3 steals the show. The keybed is that bit deeper & the keys themselves feel slightly larger, allowing more more expression and better control.
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