Allen & Heath Xone K2

I use this with ableton as the controller for the effects on my stems during live performance. It is intuitively designed and with the layer function actually provides 3x the controller for your buck. I sold my APC 40 mkii and use this and a push 1 (I use the push 1 for clip triggering and volume control on a more granular level and use the xone K2 for volume/FX on 4 main stems for each track in my live set (I send each track to one of four return tracks: vox drums bass other). the K2 is dope the knobs provide good resitance rotating, the sliders slider real good, and the layer functionality is easy to use with the color coding (switching layers of midi controls makes all the buttons light a different LED color so you get an extra layer of brain recognition)

only negative is that the there are basically no set up guides that ive found for using with different DAWs as a midi controller. to use as a "blank" controller the K2 has to be in the "layer latch" mode where none of the pads are latched. to get any automap funtionality you have to download the "midi remote script" online.

Bottom line i love this controller. it's well built and versatile, once it's set up it very nice to work with.

The Xone k2 has a very good built quality as you expect from Allen & Heath. It is very portable and comes with its own case. The K2 has 3 latching layers which means 3 banks that you can use for your personalized mappings. You can easily configure it's midi channel and which buttons/ knobs can be affected by the latching layers. You can connect multiple k2's with each other via Xlink or connect a k2 with an other xone mixer that has xlink, which is a big plus if you have few usb's on your laptop.

The only think that I don't like is the built in sound card due to it's driver and also it doesn't have good latency. If you have a xone 23C, 43C, DB2, DB4,PX5 this should not effect you but if you use any other mixer then I recommend to purchase an external soundcard.

Overall all I am satisfied with this controller, I recommend this controller for those persons that like to create their personal mappings. Also it suites very well with traktor or abelton.

There is very little to say about this which hasn't been said already. It feels well built, does what I need it to do and the internal soundcard is very useful. I have used it for impromptu performances with only a laptop and a set of headphones. I just plugged the master out into a mixer's line-in and I was all set.

Update:
I have since used this as a controller alongside a DJ mixer (not using internal soundcard). In this regard it performed very well as I prefer using a real mixer. I was still able to control EQ with both the K2 and the DJ mixer which was handy as although my old mixer has nice EQs, it doesn't have kill switches which were easily mapped on the K2.

Due to the compact size, the very useful layout, handy soundcard and supplied carry case, it really is a great multi-purpose tool which I recommend warmly.

I purchased two K2 and I'm very impressed with them. The configuration option are extremely versatile. For a DJ or producers who loves to tinker and have a custom setup made exactly for YOU, this device is exactly what you need.

I love the fact that you can link two K2s together with a LAN-cable, so you don't use one of those precious USB-ports (especially on a Mac) and the fact you don't need drivers (assuming you have a Mac). I owned the previous model (the 1D) which had some glitches, but so far the K2 has performed really good.

The audio interface is not super hi-fi, but it's perfectly adequate. My only complaint is rather cosmetic. It's handy that the K2 is so slim, but it looks funny next to a DJ mixer. The included hard case (which is good too, btw) acts as a riser, but it's more for gigs and not very elegant for studio.

Given the nature of midi controllers who can argue they 're all about control? Yes, exactly what I 've bargained for, XONE:K2 is what I needed.

Handling/ Quality:
First of all it has a great feel on the chassis, nice knob feel, nothing seems or feels "plastic" and/or low quality material here. Allen & Heath done a great job introducing this line of product.

Features:
Use it anyway you like! Really. As a DJ-ing mixer or an Ableton Controller it feels -and behaves- as one should expect it to: Just great! Lots of options! The fact is that all of it 's buttons and knobs can be assigned to any given known and used midi command in the book. Very helpful and diverse. Nothing seems to be put on it by chance, everything serves a purpose and that is it 's grand advantage.

Sound:
Not much to be said of sound on midi controllers, yet, you can expect it to behave just great even when you got 2 sets of hands playing over it. (Yes it is true, we really had two sets of hands messing with it simultaneously so...

OVERALL:
It is perfect