Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol A49

How did I live without this?

For a small home studio. Perfect. I am now an acolyte. Is this what getting an iPhone for the first time feels like?

Wonderful keyboard, functions limited.

The action of the keyboard is excellent. Some may say it's plastic and stiff, but once you get used to it, it's a SOLID keybed.

I would say the significant downsides come from the features, with the arpeggiator and the chord function only being able to be used using NI software/Komplete Kontrol, which I found very disappointing. The pots for volume were fine, but I ended up just getting a nanoKontrol 2 since it comes with volume faders, a solo, mute, record, and pan knob for 8 channels. The pitch/modulation wheels feel like quality wheels, but that quality almost works against its utility. They feel good, but they don't move fast enough for a keyboard player like me (i.e vibrato using pitch wheel is very hard with this keyboard)

Personally, it's not within my workflow, and I would suggest even those looking to get a new midi keyboard or their first look for others such are Arturia or Novation. Way more bang for your buck.

The perfect keyboard

I replaced my akai mpk mini with this fantastic komplete kontrol A49, needless to say, I'm super satisfied with making this choice!

First of all it is super elegant and very clean, and I also find the keys it has are of excellent quality.

One thing I also loved is that after entering the code you find inside the box you have access to lots of high quality native instruments products.

Super recommended for your studio!!

So much surprise in there!

The VSTs included in the bundle cheer me up so much. Very easy to use and the keys are so sweet to touch.

I haven't had so much fun in years!

I bought the keyboard mainly because I just wanted to change my MIDI controller but it changed my whole creative workflow!! It's so easy to use and integrate with the software that I can just sit by the keyboard for hours and hours trying sounds and effects without the choppy clicking GUI in the way!

The feel of the keyboard is great and for the price I thought the software included was really good value. The only cons I can think of is that the keys are a bit clunky and heavy (got used to this after some time) and that it lacks a MIDI-output.

Pros:

- Intuitive hardware

- Price

- Build and overall feel

Cons:

- Key press is a bit "clunky"

- No MIDI output

This is the best master keyboard I had so far

This is my fifth MIDI keyboard and the best one so far. The feeling of keys and knobs is just great, a pure pleasure to play.

I would outline only one thing in the cons section: USB cable. I had to get a USB-B to USB-C cable and it did not fit well because the hole for the USB-B port is too small (Maschine has the same problem). So I ordered another cable and meanwhile I am using an adapter. I would prefer to have a choice what version of the USB cable I need.

Not as good as promised

The keybed feels really good, well built, maybe slightly too large.

CONS:

-Also the knobs can't be disabled so during mixing, if I'm reaching to something behind the keyboard, on the desk, I bump into the knobs and change value..!!

-DAW transport controls are not responsive most of the time. I'm using Ableton and it really the keyboard really struggles to connect. (while MIDI works perfectly)

I try to change instance and control the DAW, but it's not working at all. Sometimes it is, and it's a breeze, but then it's not reliable.

Selling it to buy something better!

Can navigate Komplete patches in Pro Tools

Even though a few of the features don’t work in PT (play/rec buttons) I was very pleased to find that I could navigate patches nonetheless.

Not a fan of the 4D button for navigation though. Separate buttons would work better.

Good Hardware, Poor Integration

This is a really well built, nice-feeling midi controller, but it integrates poorly (at least on my Windows set up). When it works, it really puts you in command of the NI instruments you own and is an upgrade to the experience of working with them.

However, too often it just doesn't work. Most times it is not recognized by the Komplete software, or at least not fully (knobs function but keyboard doesn't). I read posts saying to activate it in Midi settings in the Komplete standalone to fix this problem, but I have to do that every time and even then sometimes it just will not activate.

So overall, I cannot recommend it. The time I've lost trying to get it to work is measured in hours, not minutes, and when I have pressing deadlines this is an inspiration killer and stress inducer.

Good keyboard for that price range

For that price, the keyboard is quite good and you can not really expect more. A bit painful to upgrade the firmware with Windows, but besides that software integration is quite good specifically with Kontact instruments that don't require additional mappings.

However, if touch sensitivity is an important point for you, I would advise you to look for a more expensive model.