If I somehow manage to have some free time this weekend, I REALLY want to go to Guitar Center in Clearwater and see if they’ve got one of the Arturia KeyLab 49 Mk2 keyboards, like the one I just bought on Amazon (and returned). I want to see if I had a defective unit, or if they’re all shitty. The Mk3 is out now, and it’s like $450 or something, so the $289 for the Mk2 version seemed great…
It came with the shittiest keyboard I’ve played in YEARS. I’m NOT a snob – I love my Arturia KeyLab 49 Essentials (mk2). The only thing I don’t like is that it doesn’t have aftertouch. The KeyLab 49 Mk2 supposedly had a better keyboard, and the body was metal, not plastic, and it had lots of additional features.
When you play a keyboard, you want each key to be smooth and rounded underneath. When you press a key with your thumb, the next key above it can’t have any sharp square edges or sharp plastic edges, or you’ll feel them in the side of your thumb. The Arturia KeyLab 49 Essentials Mk2 keys are great – no 90 degree corners, everything is rounded.
The Arturia KeyLab 49 Mk2 I was sent was horrible. Under the key, there were two hard corners that would stick into the side of your thumb when you pressed a key. Nothing was rounded over. It was very much like the worst toy keyboards of the past. If I played it for an hour, my thumbs would be sore.
I should have taken close up photos, and I almost made a video, but to be honest I want my refund and I don’t want any issues. So I’m just bitching about it here in my blog that only a few dozen people read. Once I get my full refund, I’ll talk about it in a video. But I REALLY want to know if all of that model had horrible keys like mine.
What a disappointment.