Best MIDI controller I've played 
by Kevin B. from New Orleans, LA USA, June 2008
Music Background:  Electronic Musician

This controller is THE controller for Reason. It integrates seamlessly into it and many others. The pads are much better for Ableton Live than, say, the padKontrol, because they change color when the clip active (imperative for live performance).

It's well-built (it has gone with me on many planes & trains and it still functions properly, save for one knob which was broken when I bought it used).

It's an all-in-one solution and is lightweight for shows. Get this controller if you can!

  Great with Software intergration 
by M-ManLA from Sylmar, CA USA, September 2007
Music Background:  Music Producer, Sound Engineer, Writer, Composer

The Kontrol49 is a very good controller. Use this with my Korg K61. I have this puppy running on Reason 3.0, and I have to say that this is one of the best controllers ever made. The build of the body doesn't feel cheap. It has 16 velocity pads that I use for programming drums and setting parameters. It has a master encoder, 8 faders and encoders, each with LCD readouts. To complete the features, has Pitch and Mod, X/Y axis, octive shift, and 2 programmable buttons (other buttons also programmable with software). The only reason why I rated it 4.5 was because I think that this needs a few more buttons, an maybe a dedicated transport controls. But those are just minor things, as the control is solid and ready for action. A MUST BUY

  Drums and Synth at Your Fingertips 
by deltadave from San Jose, CA, September 2006
Music Background:  Hobbyist

Most people use the Kontrol49 for soft synths, but I use it to control groovebox setups. Since most grooveboxes have 8 or fewer channels, the sliders of the Kontrol49 easily map to the levels. I use the knobs for channel pan or for other controlers like resonnance and cutoff. The joystick, being circular, is problematic, since you can never go to 0,0 or 127,127. But you can get interesting effects by combining two different controllers like release and delay. The pads are small, but adequate for playing a subset of groovebox drum sounds which may be spread out over 127 notes on a keyboard. The pads are also good for triggering samples or loops during playback. I can transmit MIDI simultaneously from the keyboard and the trigger pads. For example, I can trigger a loop from an Alesis Qcard on channel 16, play the synth of a DX200 on channel 1 and mix in the patterns from a MC 307 on channels 2 thru 10 all from one controller. So it saves space in a live setup.

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