Novation’s on a roll: after launching a modern white version of its Launchkey 61 MK4 keyboard controller simply final month, the corporate has expanded its Launchkey MK4 vary even additional with a brand new 88-key controller, which enters as the biggest keyboard within the present lineup.
Boasting the identical deep DAW integration, wealthy artistic instruments and intuitive workflow as the present MK4 Launchkey 49 and 61 fashions, the Launchkey 88 arrives with an 88-key semi-weighted keybed. This implies greater than seven octaves to play with, plus full-size keys for a very “expressive” expertise.
The Launchkey 88 MK4 additionally options 16 velocity-sensitive pads with polyphonic aftertouch and Novation’s patented Power Delicate Resistor expertise – excellent for tapping drums or melodic devices, even.
Like different keyboard controllers within the MK4 vary, the brand new Launchkey 88 boasts a financial institution of 9 precision faders and eight countless encoders, which map routinely to key parameters of supported NKS plugins and DAWS, together with capabilities for transport, mixing and navigation.
Supported DAWS together with Ableton Reside, Logic, Cubase, FL Studio – which simply launched its 2026 version – Motive, Bitwig, and Passion.
The keyboard additionally sports activities a raft of artistic instruments, together with Arpeggiator and Chord Modes for simply creating musical progressions that make sense, a Scale Mode – which locks notes on the keyboard to a particular key, and Chord Detector, which shows the chord at the moment being performed on the OLED show.
You possibly can even break up and layer the keyboard, too, that means you possibly can divide it into two impartial zones, and layer two impartial MIDI channels on prime of each other and play them utilizing the identical keys.
And as regards to MIDI, there’s additionally a full-sized MIDI out port so you possibly can management synths and different {hardware} utilizing the Launchkey 88 MK4.
The Launchkey 88 MK4 additionally comes with a set of software program devices and instruments, together with Ableton Reside Lite, Cubase LE, and Novation Play, an unique Novation software program instrument based mostly on sampled acoustic pianos, classic synths, and “cutting-edge” sound design. There’s additionally a set of devices and results from Klevgrand, GForce, Orchestral Instruments and Native Devices.
Following the launch of the white Launchkey 61 MK4 final month, the addition of the brand new Launchkey 88 MK4 means the MK4 vary now spans 10 controllers throughout six totally different sizes and two color choices.
Value-wise, the Launchkey 88 MK4 clocks in at $449.99/£379.99. Study extra at Novation.
Sam is the Affiliate Information Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Completely immersed in music tradition for almost all of his life, Sam has performed guitar for 20 years, studied music expertise and manufacturing at college, and likewise written for the likes of MusicRadar, Guitar World, Complete Guitar and Steel Hammer.
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