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My nanokontrol 1 died on me recently (the usb port popped right out) so I went to Guitar Center to pick up a new one. It turns out they only had the nanokontrol 2. I figured why not. 2 is better than 1 right?

Boy was I wrong.

I'll start with the first most striking change - there is no longer the concept of "scenes". With the nanokontrol 1 you had 4 different scenes to choose from which allowed you to set up 4 different sets of MIDI mappings and flip between them with ease. It's like owning 4 nanokontrols. They decided to remove that feature in the second version which means you're stuck with 1 scene and need to open the korg editor if you want to change the CC bindings.

Another feature they dropped is the ability to add attack/release to the button presses. This was a really unique feature that I enjoyed on the original version and something that you can't easily set up in most DAWs so it's nice to have it at the MIDI controller level.

My last issue was that the installation process was a huge headache. There is no excuse for a v2 product to be HARDER to install than v1. I'm using Windows 7 64-bit so it could be specific to my environment, but after the drivers are installed you need to launch a separate utility and press an "install" button before the device is truly installed. It took me a lot of googling before realizing that this utility even existed.

I plan on returning this and finding a v1 device on amazon or ebay. Hope this write up helps someone make an informed choice.

Your opinions are still valid,
...
but I feel compelled to argue against a couple of them.

The NanoKONTROL2 has an infinite amount of 'scenes' available, much like the NanoKONTROL did, but instead of using the term 'scenes' you'd just configure a button to go through banks. The 4 scenes option was more of a handicap than a perk. You should be using banks.

Also, the instructions included with the NanoKONTROL2 all were pretty straight forward with how to install it and they told you what you needed to get. Though they were filled with a ridiculous amount of languages for such a tiny list of instructions. Such a waste of paper.


I would like to note that the biggest flaw I've found with the NanoKONTROL2 is the lack of the master fader, though it is something you can work around. It's just a pain.

Can you elaborate more on how you can use 'banks' instead of 'scenes'? I'm using Ableton Live if that makes any difference.

I understand your deception adamribaudo, at first I was surprised too about some changes.

But the main thing I really enjoy on the new Nanokontrol is that it can receive midi message so that the leds reacts to what is happening in your daw... that's great for me as soon as its not just a plus for a minus.

So yes, abt.abdn, can you elaborate more about banks?

abt.abdn wrote:The NanoKONTROL2 has an infinite amount of 'scenes' available.

I would be very interested to hear about that!
To my understanding (but agreed the manual is very thin), in the standard CC mode there is only one assignment available to each key/fader/knob, so only one scene.
Only in the DAW-specific modes you can use the bank > and < buttons to select different sets of tracks for controlling tracks 1-8, 9-16, 17-24,...
This way, you could speak of "infinite scenes", but as I understand, this is limited to the standard Controlf to Tracks (Volume, Pan, R, S, M) and cannot assigned by the users. But hopefully I am wrong!
Or the guys from http://www.nativekontrol.com/ will be able to fund a way around it!
Cheers

joemmi wrote:

abt.abdn wrote:The NanoKONTROL2 has an infinite amount of 'scenes' available.

I would be very interested to hear about that!
To my understanding (but agreed the manual is very thin), in the standard CC mode there is only one assignment available to each key/fader/knob, so only one scene.
Only in the DAW-specific modes you can use the bank > and < buttons to select different sets of tracks for controlling tracks 1-8, 9-16, 17-24,...
This way, you could speak of "infinite scenes", but as I understand, this is limited to the standard Controlf to Tracks (Volume, Pan, R, S, M) and cannot assigned by the users. But hopefully I am wrong!
Or the guys from http://www.nativekontrol.com/ will be able to fund a way around it!
Cheers

+1

So lets put this together (there are few good comparisons out there unfortunatelw):

Advantages of the v1:

• 9 channels
  4 scenes in CC mode
  Midi Machine Control (MMC)
  Envelopes with the buttons
  
  Advantages of the v2:
  Mackie Universal Control (Presets used in the special DAW modes)
  Control any number of channels in the special DAW modes
  Marker set and select/scroll section
  Better build quality, in particular the buttons and the transport area
  One additional row of buttons for each channel
  5 additional buttons (in CC mode)
  
  
  Or am I missing something??
  
  
  
  
  
  I just bouth the v2 but will see if I prefer to trade it for a v1.
  Find the design nicer and most importantlw the buttons easier to press and more solid. The missing MMC might be a problem if not all functions in Live can be assigned properly. Will see how far I get and whether I will stick to the v2.
  But some more info, maybe even XML/script files for Live and Cubase etc. might be useful, but so far there is only little support for the v2.
  Cheers playagiron

My review of the NanoKontrol 2:

After one week with my new toy I finally got everything setup so I finally know what I've got hear and thought I let those know of my thoughts who are interested in the NK2:

1) From the previous post, it looks on all pictures more like a brownish redish tone, but actually is pure black more like this:


2) Installing and setup with the Korg Software is piece of cake (Win7 x64)

3) Overall Impression: Very sturdy built, the knows don't hang (as it was the case with the previous version), layout is nice and the pots and faders seem pretty solid. Really like the device to touch and play with it.

4) Workflow
After trying first the CC mode setting up with Live (the DAW I am using but should be similar with any DAW supporting MIDI control), I realized that this Mode while being very flexible ist not optimal with the Transport and Track Mute/Record/Arm buttons. I experienced that sometimes button presses did not get registered. Moreover, the lights were not always aligned with the respective setings in Live. While it mostly worked, I felt that the MIDI implementation with DAW Transport control is not a perfect match. It surely works for basic stuff, but having to arm with one or two presses is annoying, in particular since you loose accuracy of the lights. The NK2 also receives the settings from the DAW, i.e., if I arm or mute a track using the mouse, the according lights on the NK2 will change accordingly (this wasnt possible on the NK1).

This is when I thought I will try the DAW specific modes integrated in the NK2, which was not available on the NK1. So I selected the Live-Mode in the Korg Editor and wrote it to the NK2's memory and voila:

Now transport control and mixing, arming, muting etc. worked like charm: When you press play, count in starts, once playback begins the play button lights up, all Lights are always in Sync with Live, the selected track is always highlighted and selected when turning a fader etc. Excellent and I don't have to touch the computer while making music!!
I have to admit, Mackie User Control as implemented in the NK2 is really a big step forward from standard Midi CC control!!! (If you see some videos on youtube of the original NK1, there were complaints that the lights were not always in sync with the settings in your DAW, track arming etc., this is now much better.)

Then I wanted to still do some customizing of e.g., the Pan knobs and the Sole buttons since I hardly use them. Using Live's MIDI Mapping, I assigned launch the current scene to all respective Solo buttons and the Pan Knobs to the Cutoff frequency of a Filter I added to all tracks.
Result? As one would hope for, the standard assignment is overwritten and now the buttons and knobs do what I wanted while all the other elements work as before. Bottom line, using the preprogrammed MCU controls still allows to customize some settings to taste and thereby you get a perfect combination of both.

What about the drawbacks?
1) The missing master fader
Now since they cut off one fader, you don't have the classical 8 channels+Master configuration anymore.
So what I did, is I assigned in MIDI mapping of my DAW the 8th channel Fader to master control, the Pan know to the metronome volume and the three buttons to some other overal settings.
This way, I can use the seven channels as normal and have the eigths one for Master.

2) No more 4 Scenes available
True, the scenes are gone! What kind of replaced them are the Bank settings. You can switch (only in the MCU DAW specific modes) between banks of channels of (usually . This way, you can control 8 channels, hit Bank Forward and access Ch9-16, etc. And the best part, as describe before, if you switch between bank, mute arm or solo tracks and switch to another bank, the lights always are in sync with the bank you are currently editing!!
The only problem is that that works only with the settings you don't customize. That is, if you (like me) assign Ch8 as a master fader/channel, you cannot control channel 8 at all!

Another issue with the disappeared scenes it that there are less elements (knobs, buttons, faders) to setup as controllers, which is true. However, you get another 8 buttons (SOLO) which you can assign, plus the three buttons of Marker Set/Back/Forward, which I very much like in the standard configuration, plus the two bank select buttons which cou can also assign if you don't need the bank functionality. Those 8+5 additional buttons are directly available without changing scenes. But I admit, you still have less overall assignable elements than on the previous version.


One more thing about the MUC DAW modes: Basically, all elements send CCs or Notes ON messages, and I did not manage to change the MIDI channel from the Standard one (=1) in the Korg Editor, so I needed to set all my midi channels to not receive on Ch1 since otherwise they would record some notes from the NANOKontrol without NoteOff (=pretty annoying) when you customize some MIDI commands.

Verdict:
The NANOKontrol 2 is an upgrade in several respects to the NK1. In particular the Mackie User Control Modes for the most widely used DAWs are a huge upgrade since Transport and Track Control is much more precise and in sync! In particular for mixing purposes this enhances the funcionality dramatically! For Live DJing, the left out 4 scenes and also the dropped envelopes for the buttons might make the NK1 still a better choice though.
In general, the added 13 buttons are nice, but you loose the four complete scenes of controls.
The improved build quality is a significant change from what I saw on various reviews and videos. I never managed to get a button stick like in particular on the old transport field.
The left out 9th fader is the biggest loss over the previous edition IMHO both as a Live Control device and Mixing console, and also if you think of using it as a Drawbar controller.
Overall, me personally I definitively prefer it over what I have seen from the previous version, in particular due to the Macki User Control which gives you much more precision and immediacy controlling your DAW, plus the improved build quality, but the missing 9th fader makes it a 9*/10* product.

Feel free if you have any questions about this nice little toy!
Johannes


EDIT: I just found a way to customly change the Mackie Commands so that all keys can be set to the Mackie User Control commands you need, for instance, Undo or Redo! (in Ableton for the moment!)
You just need to edit the decimal value of the key Note On Message sent from the respective button on your NK2 to map in the file consts.py and put the changed version in the folder in Midi Remote Scripts/Mackie Control_Classic.
The uncompiled files can be found here: http://www.assembla.com/spaces/live-api/documents
Once you put the phyton file there, it automatically gets compiled when you start LIve and you're done!
I have no undo and redo on the bank back/forward buttons, very convenient when recording

nice review joemmi

i getting into the nanokontrol 2 as well. I'm having trouble though with changing the function button settings. i'm able to change them in the software but it doesnt transfer to the unit. If i'm in CC mode everything transfers to the unit fine, its just in DAW mode. so i dont think its a korg kontrol issue. i'm not sure what it is, but in the programmers guide it is stated that
"Depending on your DAW software, some of these operations might not be supported, or they might behave differently."

i'm running ableton live 8.26 on a 2009 macbook os 10.6.8


could you go into more detail about customizing the mackie commands. i went to the link. what exactly do i need to download (all the files)? and i'm not sure what you mean by edit the decimal value of the note on message. I dont really know much about making midi scripts or python. but i love what your saying you can do.
The only feature i really want with the DAW mode is the ability to control the first 8 parameters of a device selected.. would this be possible with your files/?

thnaks for any help joemmi, and you've already helped me a bit. There's really nothing out there on the net about this unit, except alot of negative talk about the missing fader. i think with this built in mackie controls, people are gonna come up with some sick stuff, but it will probably be atleast 6 months.

thanks again

Hi,

regarding the function buttons in DAW mode, you can only select what the five buttons top left can do where you can select among several Mackie Commands (the ones that you can select from the dropdown menu)

Regarding the codes; it is more complex and you first should che"ck out the names of the corresponding mackie commands (see link) if you find what you want it might aork. basicallw doanload the consts.py file and see if you find the corresponding names. but its not that easy I know.
cheers

for function buttons i'm trying to do forward marker as'''send"
backward marker as "pan"
set buttion as "flip"

only because thats what's offered. IN control i select live, make changes and send the scene. but when i open ableton nothing has changed on it. its ok, i'm just trying to customize it .

the other stuff.. over my head. hopefully native kontrol will come up with something. i bought their lpc for launchpad since my nanolive 2 isnt an option anymore.
with the LPC and out of the box functionality of the nanokontrol 2 i'm pretty covered.

Hi,
had the same issue with the other options (Pan, Send, Flip). Do not seem to do anything at least in Live.
So if you get a bit into the Live Script, it is not to difficult to adjust the Live internal assignment and just manually "rewire the connections".

Unfortunately this forum is a bit difficult, no uploads, etc., so I will try without:
1) Download the file from the link above.
Extract and go to the folder
AbletonRemoteScripts 7.0.14 Uncompiled.zip\DECOMPYLED\MackieControl_Classic\

(I assume you use the Classic Setting in Live, if not take the standard folder, the consts is roughly the same)

Open the File consts.py and reassign the keys you want.

For instance, the NK2 has assiged the Bank <and> buttons which are defined in MackieControl as

SID_FADERBANK_PREV_BANK = 46
SID_FADERBANK_NEXT_BANK = 47

Where 46 and 47 are the respective MIDI Note ON codes sent by the NK2 and interpreted by Live.

Now look for the Command you want in the consts file (see the link to the Mackie Protocol above), e.g.,

SID_FUNC_UNDO = 76
SID_FUNC_CANCEL = 80
SID_FUNC_ENTER = 81
SID_FUNC_REDO = 79

So if you want e.g., assign bank back to undo and bank forward to Redo, just switch the numbers, e.g., switch 46 and 76, and 47 and 79.
(For other keys, use e.g., MIDI-OX to find out which key note they are sending!)


Now save your modified consts.py file and go in explorer to the Ableton folder where the scripts are located (on Win7: C:\Program Files (x86)\Ableton\Live 8.0.3\Resources\MIDI Remote Scripts )

In the MackieControl_Classic FOlder you will find the compiled Phyton files including the consts.pyc. Rename it to e.g., consts_backup.pyc and paste your consts.py file here. The rest of the files can be left untouched.
Now open Ableton and it will create the consts.pyc file automatically and you should get your new commands assigned to the keys you specified.


Nanolive for the NK2 would be nice, though not sure if it will be as flexible as the one for the previous version.

Cheers

thanks for the reply. I'm on a mac so i dont think i can open up the files. too bad. sounds really cool and not that hard, just swaping some numbers.

if you think it'll work on mac gimme a shout.

Hi, should work on Mac, too:
Just need to find the directory where the MIDI control scripts are located.
This is how to find them:

On OS X, to get to this directory:
Go to Applications, find Live.app, right-click and select Show Package Contents.
The directory is located in: Contents\App-Resources.

Good luck!!

I was actually just having trouble opening the consts.py file. It initially opens with a program called "Terminal" on mac. But, when i open it with "Text Edit" all is good.

I've been checking it out. What I'd really like to do is be able to somehow change the controls of the knobs. Ideally I would like to have the three marker buttons (set, <, > ) control sends, pan, and devices. So when i push a button the knobs are reassigned to the corresponding fuction. I dont know if this is possible or not. Looking at the file i'm not finding anything to do with device or device control. I'd really like to be able to control devices if nothing else with the knobs.
Looking at the files I'm trying to find how to control the knobs. I changed the numbers around in the following section

channel_strip_switch_ids = range(SID_RECORD_ARM_BASE, (SID_VPOD_PUSH_CH8 + 1))
SID_ASSIGNMENT_IO = 40
SID_ASSIGNMENT_SENDS = 41
SID_ASSIGNMENT_PAN = 42
SID_ASSIGNMENT_PLUG_INS = 43
SID_ASSIGNMENT_EQ = 44
SID_ASSIGNMENT_DYNAMIC = 45

but the knobs on the nanokontrol continued to just control the pan. no luck so far. i'm not even sure what these numbers do.
I'm continuing to check out your files though, thanks joemmi