Impulse 61 : A good mid-range keyboard

I've got my hands on this after trying out Novation LaunchKey and this one definitely feels better. Half-weighted keys make a huge difference and the rotary encoders feel great.

The keyboard comes with AutoMap software that's supposed to improve the way you control your DAW and plugins but in my experience it causes lots of annoyance and useless fidgeting.

I've tested this keyboard with Ableton (my DAW of choice), Logic and iPhone running GarageBand. Unlike LaunchKey you can't power this one from an iPhone and you'll need a power-passing Apple USB to lightning connector. With it it works just fine.

The keyboard has some annoying design decisions in regards to Ableton, and I've found myself fighting with it more than playing it on some days ? multi-channel setups with kontakt were a huge pain.

Pros:

- great look & feel for the money

- one-button-switch between DAW and plugin encoder modes

Cons:

- issues with Ableton and multi-channel use

- automap (but you can use it without one; with few features missing)

- arpeggiator settings are really cumbersome to tune