Nektar P4/T4, Keylab 49 MkII or something else?

Want to talk about music hardware or software that doesn't include Reason?
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hanneyp
Posts: 5
Joined: 12 May 2020

12 May 2020

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good controller keyboard that works well with Reason, ideally with minimal or simple setup. I have been researching but I'm getting very mixed results on whether the Panorama P4 or Keylab MkII work well with Reason 11 (or how much faffing is required to make them do so).

I have a <£500 budget and my office (slowly becoming studio during covid) probably only accommodates 61 keys or less. Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

Peter

First time poster, returner to Reason after many years.
Last edited by hanneyp on 13 May 2020, edited 1 time in total.

djs
Posts: 98
Joined: 29 Jan 2018

12 May 2020

I recommend the Nektar devices because they sync very well with Reason with Poohbear's mappings. I'd recommend the T4 over the P4 if you are looking for a larger keybed or the LX-25 for a smaller keybed.

hanneyp
Posts: 5
Joined: 12 May 2020

13 May 2020

Thanks.... Is there much involved in setting up those mappings. Most controllers seem to require a lot of manual intervention to get them working....The Nektar site suggests the P4 works out of the box, but then there are lots of posts elsewhere saying its broken for reason 11?

djs
Posts: 98
Joined: 29 Jan 2018

14 May 2020

I can't speak for the P4, but the T4 mappings are on spot with Reason and the devices. Will need to use Nekatarine to map with VST's and you may need to customize the mappings to your liking.

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DaveyG
Posts: 2499
Joined: 03 May 2020

15 May 2020

hanneyp wrote:
12 May 2020
Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good controller keyboard that works well with Reason, ideally with minimal or simple setup. I have been researching but I'm getting very mixed results on whether the Panorama P4 or Keylab MkII work well with Reason 11 (or how much faffing is required to make them do so).

I have a <£500 budget and my office (slowly becoming studio during covid) probably only accommodates 61 keys or less. Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

Peter

First time poster, returner to Reason after many years.
If you do a lot of stuff with VSTs rather than REs you might want to look at the NI Komplete Kontrol keyboards. The S series are at the top end of your price range but have a superb keybed, startlingly good integration with NKS- compatible VSTs and two huge colour screens so it's almost like playing a hardware synth.

Of course, any controller, including the Nektars, are always going to be a compromise. You are asking something with a handful of knobs and sliders to control a whole set of virtual synths each of which typically have dozens of different controls in different layouts.

I realised that on any particular song and instrument/patch I only ever want to tweak a couple of things so I just map a couple of knobs to those on the fly, which is very quick to do.

The most important integration for me is the transport controls so I can play, loop, record without reaching for the mouse.

hanneyp
Posts: 5
Joined: 12 May 2020

15 May 2020

Thank you all.

After some reassurance from Nektar support I went for the P6. Despite reviews in several places on the internet saying there were problems with Reason 11, it worked perfectly out of the box..... very impressed with how far this has come since my reason 2 or 3 days.

Pete

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gullum
Posts: 1278
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: Faroe Islands
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15 May 2020

so I'm late but IMO no keyboard controller is good with Reason or any DAW except for playing, if the controls are not endless encoders and motorized fader, you will start using the mouse or track pad again in no time. You be better off getting a keyboard with no extra controls and get a Behringer or Icon controller that supports MCU for controlling Reason

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