Korg Kontrol 49

Joystick is a joke, it reminds me that we are in 2006 now, everything is made of cheap plastik coming from China, what a loss of life quality, look at the Joystick of an Elka Synthex from the 80ies.

Pads are hardly controllable, no MPC QUALITY AT ALL. Just again, some cheap production. Keyboard sucks a bit, but can satisfy me, I have a Roland stage piano, and for serious passages, I will use Roland.

Pitch Bend and wheel are the worsest I have ever seen. So uncontrollable, because too small. Every old vintage synthesizer
is better in this aspekt (except probably the D-50)

I bought this thing to control Reason with sliders and knobs, this works very well. I wanted my Laptop to start to be felt like an instrument and put this keyboard side-on-side. This is very important, because you don't always want to stand up from your stage piano, go the Laptop, go back, try a sound, go to the Laptop, make a change, go back, try the sound again ... Well, the amount of features is good.

good sound quality, keyboard makes no noise! :-)

don't know. Let's wait until the joystick breaks.

5 Points! It has the features I wanted, but highly overpriced.
I bought it new for 380??? at E-Bay, but this was a special offer.
The normal price is 460???, for what? A cheap plastic keyboard, made
by people who probably earn 2-3 Euro an hour? F#!? these capitalists.
Still when I add the keyboard and the value of Reason, given what I am able to do with these tools, it is amazing.

I downloaded the V1.5 drivers from the Korg website, but they don't seem all that different from the drivers provided with the controller. And since it is a controller, theres no presets, although the scene presents are wonderful. Which means that its is fantastically easy to edit patches, especially in Reason. The Kontrol also comes with a librarian so you can edit your knob/slider settings (called scenes). Korg manual is pretty decent so it explains everything.

Sliders are awesome for use with Mixer apps (like in Cubase or Reason). You can easily do automation tasks. The knobs are endless, so that is good. Pads are ok, not the greatest. Infact, imo, its hard to control the dynamics with the pads. Pitch and mod wheels feel ok. Haven't found much use with the joystick (yet).

I'll give this an 8, just because of the pads.

The Kontrol49 is very light, and I'm afraid that if dropped it might break. The board is housed in a plastic shell, so...

Never had to deal with 'em (yet)

If you have Reason, this thing kicks so much ass. It makes working in Reason so much easier. The LCD displays will update depending on which parameters you are editing. It also works if you are using the KORG Legacy Collection VST synths. But there are plenty of preset-scenes on there so you can use it with your favorite app right out of the box. The only thing I havent figured out yet, is how to use the Kontrol with Reason and a VSTi synth at the same time, since Reason "locks" out the Kontrol. But thats a relatively small issue, imo.

I would give an 8.5, due to the pad issue, and the not working with Reason and VSTi at the same time, and also because of the steep price, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Extrememly easy to use with Reason 3.0. I've used other MIDI controllers with Reason and haven't been completely satisfied, but with this one I feel like I'm in control of a magnifcent hardware rack setup.

No built in sounds, of course. All the standard MIDI capabilities are there plus all sorts of customizable controllers such as knobs, joysticks, pads, sliders, switches....It's grand.

It reacts great to Reason 3.0 running on a G4 eMac.

Built like a tank.

Haven't had to deal with Korg yet.

It it were lost or stolen, I would definately replace it. It's worth what I paid for, although it'd be nice if it was a little bit cheaper. I love how simple it is to use and it's professional design. It's taken Reason to an additional level for me. To sum it up in word - phenomenal.

I've worked in many $100,000 studios and work with Reason as my main interface. I must say everyone who see's how this keyboard works with Reason is easily sold. I didn't realize how much power I had with that keyboard. I rarely have to use my mouse...you can control or do everything in Reason from the paino right out of the box. You can browse/change patches, record, toggle different machines, and even reprogram easily.

My favorite features:
Drum LED- I love the way the drum pads light up while playing a drum pattern and when your done it shows you the pattern you just made...its sick.

LED- the labels and config are just sick.

with Reason 3.0 its better then any other keyboard out there.

Have not run into a problem yet....except with my girl freind.

I would trade in my girlfriend for the paino and she models for FHM.

Unbelievable with Reason 3.0 using native mode..Finally feels like reason is an instrument.

I love the individual displays that are updated with info from the software you are controlling. Also the continuous knobs are great..

The key action is superb. Very much like a high end synth. The pads are alright, not as expressive as MPC pads by any means but they get the job done. Pads are still good for "dance drums"

No issues.

N/A

Overall I am very pleased. I hope other software companies will support Korg's Native Mode in the future. It really makes for incredible soft-synth experience. In it's price range it is definately the one to get. Although I wish it was a $100 cheaper.

The Kontrol 49 is very easy to use. You can store 12 "scenes", which are midi setups (an assignment of every knob, switch and slider, all together as a "snapshot" is a scene). There are a number of already created scenes, and you can create your own either on the keyboard or using the accompanying Librarian software.

This unit has tons of features. You can assign anything midi related.
The pads, and parameter LCD displays are fantastic.

Given the Kontrol 49 is a midi controller, it has no sounds. I think the keybed action is of very high quality. The action is a "synth action", which is different than an 88-key "piano action".

This unit is very well built (actually very heavy for a 49-key controller only product (no sounds, no audio interface).

The last reviewer had no clue.

Both the Korg microKONTROL and the KONTROL 49 are built like tanks.

I originally owned a microKONTROL, but I didn't like the mini-keys(I am a keyboardist). When the Kontrol 49 came out, I sold the microKONTROL.

The action is the Kontrol 49 is excellent.

The KONTROL 49 IS on the upper end of pricing (same price as the Novation Remote 49), but the old adage still holds true -- "you get what you pay for".

I must say that I am utterly disappointed on the key action on this controller-it feels like a to short keybead. I would expect that a controller with such a pricetag would be better. That kept me fro even continuing trying out this controller.

Even though it has got a fantastic amount of features it's the keyboard taht is the most important.

pitch bend, wheel and joystick seems cheep and are misplaced,

Plastic casing!

It is unfortunate that a controller with such a hefty pricetag should feel so cheap, I had looked forward to this controler but I must say: key action sucks and that is the most important part of a controller!