Arturia has finally released the new Minilab 3 Mini MIDI Controller!
Arturia has finally released the new Minilab 3! So, how does the new Minilab 3 compare to the old Minilab MK2?
Layout: How does the Minilab 3 look and feel?
Let’s start with weight. Both the Minilab3 and the MInilab MK2 have the same small form factor. However, the Minilab 3 is lighter in weight, making it even better to travel with. This lighter weight could be due to the new eco-friendly materials that Arturia used to create the Minilab3. The Minilab 3 is made with over 50% recycled plastic and comes in new, fully recyclable packaging. Cheers to Arturia for making for the first sustainable MIDI controller!
Apart from its lighter weight, the first thing you’ll notice about the Minilab 3 is that there are only eight encoders. Whereas the Minilab MK2 had 16 encoders, the Minilab 3 replaced eight of those encoders with four sliders. These 4 sliders will prove very useful when using Arturia’s DAW Integration
Lastly, Arturia added a screen to the Minilab3. An included screen is always nice to have on a controller. It means more time looking and playing with your MIDI controller, and less time having to look at your computer.
What can you do with this mini MIDI controller?
To get started, you’ll need to decide what mode you want to be in: Arturia mode, User Modes, or DAW Integration. To change between modes, press shift and then the buttons above the keys will light up. From there, you can choose what mode you want to be in. And of course, the Minilab 3 comes with all of Arturia’s normal included softwares. With the Minilab 3, you get Arturia’s Analog Lab Intro, Ableton Live Lite, Loopcloud, and even Gentleman’s native upright piano.
One of the greatest things about the Minilab 3 is that you don’t need to know too much about music theory to get started. The Minilab 3’s preset modes do all of the hard thinking for you. New to the Minilab 3 is Arturia’s new arpeggiator mode. An arpeggio is a broken chord. The Minilab3’s arpeggiator, or ARP, turns a chord into a looping pattern of notes. You play any chord that you want, and the Minilab 3 turns it into a sequence of arpeggios.
Plug n’ Play: Start creating music mow.
The Arturia Minilab 3 is a 25-key mini MIDI controller, just like the MK2. Yet, it has added 4 sliders, an included screen, an arpeggiator, as well as included Gentleman’s Piano software.
We can’t think of one reason not to buy the Arturia Minilab 3. It’s affordable. It’s portable. It allows you to create awesome tracks. Plus, it’s even good for the environment. Get yours today on digitaldjgear.com for $109 and check out this video with our friend and studio master Dave giving some overview here.
