KORGnanoKONTROL - USB and Bluetooth Studio Mobile MIDI Controller

PRO's:1. Great for assigning the various knobs and sliders to parameters in VST's and VSTi's (Synthesizer and audio effect plugins alike). You can do this on the fly or you can set dedicated controls to work for the same thing each time you load up your starting template in the DAW you use. I use it a lot with Serum for example.2. can be used as a mixer controller by default if you prefer - although I personally do not as the sliders aren't very big - this is referred to as "travel" and due to the small size, moves in slightly larger dB increments when compared to a larger control surface with greater slider travel.2. Seamless integration with Ableton Live but if you use FL Studio there is a custom script you can load into it which is arguably even better than the standard Ableton Live integration. The script for FL Studio is called Nanometer and you can find this by searching it on youtube. I use both DAW's extensively.3. Extremely portably - As you can tell by the picture I have provided, it sits comfortably on the lower portion of any laptop surface without intruding on the keyboard (mine is a 15 inch laptop for reference) and it leaves a little space to not get in the way of your left hand when you wish to reach for keyboard shortcuts that involve the use of shift, ctrl or alt.4. The quality and feel of the knobs and sliders is absolutely satisfactory for the price point (it is twice as expensive on amazon now for some reason, I picked it up for circa £50 from here but it was a while ago).5. The transport controls are extensive as it has not only the usual play/stop/record but also buttons to flick through your various time markers that you set throughout the length of your project. It has fast forward and rewind which is also very uncommon but great to have. Cycle typically works as a loop button. It has track buttons to flick between your mixer channels too. I can not express enough how great this all speeds up workflow and ergonomics of any setup.6. Korg provide a software utility to edit the CC values associated with each button/slider/knob for a setup totally specific to your own nuances.CON's:1. Small slider travel so not excellent as a mixer controller if you are OCD about very accurate dB setting due to the larger adjustment increments or lower resolution if you prefer that term.2. Sliders are not motorized - this feature is another mixer focused feature that this control surface lacks which basically means that the sliders would move independantly without you touching them to match the mixer settings on-screen.Conclusion - I have owned a large number of different MIDI controllers since 2008 and no matter how sophisticated my home studio gets, this will always be a part of it. Also, the picture I attached is of my portable setup that fits entirely in a backpack (minus the tower fan on the left) so it is extremely portable.

Delivery - Excellent. Build quality - better than expected. Performance ? Read on....I have a Korg nanoKontrol 2. Great product. Slightly short faders but fits on the bottom of a Macbook real sweet. Also works with several KORG apps on iOS - iMS20, iElectribe and Gadget. Best is iMS20 by far. One button switches between mixer and synth. If the app had Link it would be the total business. Only drawback is the USB lead. Not good on an old school 32 pin iPad with a camera adapter, better on a Lightning equipped model.So the wireless version should provide all of the functionality of the USB only model right ? Maybe a bit more ? Wrong. All my KORG iOS apps recognise it and flag it as connected. So let's try some of them....iDS10 ? No. Well I could hope.... iMS20 ? No. iElectribe ? No !Gadget ???? After all, there is a button on the front panel labelled "SCENE" - maybe you could cycle between scenes ??? Very limited mixer control only. Jog wheel, scene buttons and FF/FR buttons are redundant. The track buttons are duplicated by the Select buttons above the faders and don't illuminate.... Leave them alone. And why is there a label with Wireless on it painted out ????I will keep it. In a few years time, secondhand iPAD Pro's will be within my grasp and a Link locked 8 track version of Gadget will run like clockwork.Oh dear KORG it could have been so much more..... How about some downloadable profiles for the editor ???TIP - If you connect this unit to the editor on Mac, the SCENE lights will come on and the unit will no longer talk via Bluetooth. If you can find a factory reset mentioned anywhere on the net, you are well clever. I used the same routine as described for the wired version ? Hold down CYCLE and the two TRACK buttons and power up using USB. Worked for me.UPDATE 20/5/22I HAVE UPGRADED TO IPAD AIR. WITH KORG ELECTRIBE WAVE, THIS UNIT PROVIDES FULL CONTROL. 2 BANKS OF 8 FADERS INSTANTLY. WELL DONE KORG FOR IMPLEMENTING. INCREASED RATING TO 5 STARS

I've been a bedroom musician since 1980 and over the years have had many instruments and recording tools. In the early 00's I switched to Fruity Loops and then FL Studio and VSTs and was happy making music that way with a Korg MicroKontrol. In the mid 00's we had a kid so all my stuff was sold to pay for the little blighter. Nine years later on a whim I decided to install the new version of FL Studio (luckily in 2004 I'd opted for the lifetime free upgrade package) and was amazed that we had reached V12; it had been V5 last time I'd used it. I listened to some of my old tracks and started to get the bug again, so I decided I needed a controller.I didn't want to spend too much as I wasn't sure - and am still not - if I'll have the time I used to have. Looking on Amazon there were quite a few choices but in the end I decided to go for this. I know a few have remarked on the keys, which do take some getting used to. However, they are fine for me and actually took me on a nostalgia trip. In 1981 I saved up weeks and weeks of dinner money (sorry Mum) to buy a VL-Tone and the keys on the Korg are more or less the same feel of that old classic; obviously the size of the keys is better on the Korg, they are more weighty and have a better "bounce". Not quite as intuitive maybe as a "proper" keyboard, but after a while you don't really tend to notice.This worked fine out of the box on my Windows 10 laptop and was recognised by FL Studio without any problems at all. In fact the only issues I had were installing the free software from Korg. It was a right nightmare and I had to sign up to too many different websites for my liking.All-in-all, I'm really pleased with this controller, it's nice and small so I can use it on my lap and I can pop it on a shelf after use.