Arturia KeyLab Essential 88-Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller in White+Software

KeyLab Essential 88 gives you the pieces needed to write, record, and finish a track: a 88-note velocity-sensitive keyboard, a control surface for your DAW, and a sound library large enough to cover most sessions. The keys have a hybrid synth-piano feel and capture the detail of a performance, with octave switches, pitch bend and modulation wheels, and a sustain pedal input. A chord feature stores a voicing and transposes it from a single key press.

Eight RGB backlit pads switch between modes for finger-drumming, percussion programming, triggering clips, and controlling Analog Lab or any mapping you create. Nine rotary encoders and nine 30 mm faders handle panning and levels across eight channels at a time, with two switches to move through a larger mix. Connected to Analog Lab, those same controls adjust synth parameters directly.

The transport section is MCU/HUI enabled, covering play, pause, stop, record, metronome, and fast travel through a project, which keeps your attention on the music instead of the screen. A twin-line LCD reports presets and parameter values, and knob and fader labels can be customized in user memories.

Analog Lab is included with over 6,500 preset sounds from the V Collection, alongside Ableton Live Lite for recording and UVI Model D for a sampled grand piano.

It measures 49.6 x 10.3 x 2.5 in (1260 x 262 x 64 mm) and weighs 18.7 lb.