Novation Launchpad Controller for Ableton Live

The compact Novation Launchpad, with its intuitive multi-color grid, is a dedicated controller for Ableton Live.

Overall User Ratings (based on 8 ratings)
  • Overall:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Sound:
    3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Features:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Ease of Use:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Quality:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Value:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Manufacturer Support:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • The Wow Factor:
    5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(8) (see rating details)
Submitted December 12, 2011 by a customer from gmail.com

"One word: Spectaculawesome"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Fantastic. Throw one or six of these in your set and you can do some crazy controllerism. A must buy for sure.
Features
This little sucker is PACKED with out-of-the-box usability. But if you really want this puppy to shine, MAX FOR LIVE! Blam! There's a lot you can do with the standard layout which will be PLENTY for a large majority of users - but you can still squeeze more usability from it!
Ease of Use
Instant gratification at your fingertips. Driver install. Plug in. Assign it in your Ableton preferences and VOILA! Presto-Awesome-O!
Quality
Despite it's appearance and it's plastic shell - it is surprisingly rugged. I feel no flex in this unit whatsoever when mashing (not just tapping) the pads. Nice weight to it and the rubber pads on the bottom help a lot with slippage.
Value
Bang for the buck - especially if you are a Max user or if you just want to run your own Monome emulation. This unit can do a LOT for what it's worth.
Manufacturer Support
Didn't have to use Novation's support.
The Wow Factor
Appeal? Your significant other will think you are sexier... TRUST MEH!

Musical Background:

Since I was 6.

Musical Style:

Electronic, classical, horror.
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Submitted June 3, 2012 by Emery Waters in Austin, TX

"Novation LaunchPads ROCK!!"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Having bought and am using 7 Launchpads, I am thrilled with their durability and flexibility..They are very useful to accomplish tasks even Novation states they are not "designed" to do..Basically if you need a digital signal (thru midi) for ANYTHING you have 64 possible functions with each LaunchPad

Musical Background:

46 yr. musician,radio broadcaster/engineer

Musical Style:

Eclectic from J.S. Bach to Daughtry
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Submitted January 26, 2012 by Dennis McGowen in East Wentachee, WA

"Novation Launchpad"

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
This thing is way to much fun! It pretty well built too........I have been pounding on it for weeks now!
Sound
It doesn't make sound........MIDI
Features
I like that you have the other two user pages to really customize your launchpad
Ease of Use
Very easy to use. It seems you have to install Automap to get it to work correctly but no problem.
Quality
Well made
Value
It's well worth the $150 I paid for it
Manufacturer Support
Never use it
The Wow Factor
It has pretty blinky lights and stuff

Musical Background:

DJ/Producer

Musical Style:

Electronica
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Submitted January 11, 2010 by Daniel

Novation Launchpad USB Customer Review

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Written by one of our gear experts!
This is a great unit, I may be ordering one or a few more. It has a lot of options and can be further expanded with MAX for Live.
Sound
MIDI controller, no sounds of its own, does what it should.
Features
Very light weight and compact, which means a small footprint and easy to travel with. One of the best features is the ability to use multiple units at the same time, or even pair it up with an APC40. While using a single unit, you get a red rectangle to move around your live set to show you what clips are currently mapped to the control surface. While using multiple units, you get multiple rectangles, each a different color to help you decipher which clips are on which unit. I also found the "mixer" set up to be surprisingly good despite not having any faders or knobs.
Ease of Use
For ease of use I give this a 6 because it is fairly plug and play. Load the drivers, plug in the USB cable and your up and running. I dont rate this higher because, simply out of the box the unit has its presets. The 2 "user" pages state they are default to help map out drum beats. The preset on the "user 1" page seemed to have a very random set up for sound to button placement. These are able to be changed, but it took me a bit of frustration and time to figure out first how to make the change, and then how to map it. (Ableton manual recommends using MIDI effect scale to fix this. I don't play any instruments or read sheet music and this would have made this process much simpler because the key pads are default set to send notes and you have to assign what pads to send what notes.)
Quality
Novation & Ableton have made a great controller. Good response from the buttons. Compact and light weight, easily fits into a laptop bag or backpack. Made of plastic, but looks like it could take a tumble, however I have not tested this theory.
Value
Great gear for the value. This is tailored for Ableton, but will work with other software as a standard MIDI controller. If you are debating this item, get it. Lots of bang for the buck.
Manufacturer Support
Haven't needed them.
The Wow Factor
The controller has a great feel to it and with the option of linking multiple units together it has a lot of appeal.

Musical Background:

working DJ

Musical Style:

All
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