Korg nanoKONTROL 2 black

I bought this to have some easy physical control of a home recording setup using the Samson Studio GT interface (bundled with Cakewalk Sonar X1 LE) and a small laptop.

Good things are that life is much easier with physical transport controls plus level on 8 channels plus buttons for record, mute and solo on each channel. Compared to working on a small computer screen it's just faster and easier and more relaxed. So I'm pleased with the purchase and for the price it's excellent value for money.

Less good things are the manual, there are instructions for interfacing with the various DAW software packages but those for Sonar are really not complete and it took me a long time and a lot of false starts to get the nanoKontrol installed and working. There are a few vital steps not explained. The worse thing is that having installed it, I think I've forgotten how I did it so I can't pass it on here. You'll have to study the various settings on your DAW software and read anything you can find online about nanoKontrol.

Also the buttons don't behave completely correctly. I tried switching on the record on all channels (mainly to see what would happen) and on the last channel the button would not light up, but when I pressed a different control the record button did light up.

So that feels like a software problem and I suggest you keep an eye on what settings you have before you start recording. I overwrote a track and I can't work out if I forgot to turn off record on that channel or the software turned it back on for me. But I'm definitely suspicious of it and looking out for random acts of vandalism by the software.

I haven't tried to reassign any of the controls but having read about it it looks like there is not a way to re-assign the rotary 'Pan' control to act as an input gain control. I think that's a midi issue but it's not helpful. I would also like to assign that pot to effects but again it's not clear whether you can do it. Given the vagueness of the instalation instructions I think I'll follow the rule of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and not bother to try the NanoKontrol software which you need to do any reconfiguration.

So basically it is very good value, it gives you direct control of the main settings for recording and mixing and for the price I don't think there is anything that offers more useful features. It's not a high precision device but it's good enough for a home studio.

As I'm only recording voice and acoustic instruments it is more useful to me to have good controls for 8 channels than the keyboard that comes with most of these midi controllers that offer fewer mixing controls. Anyway I have an old keyboard with midi output if I ever need that.

I purchased this as a DAW controller in order to be able to have a more hands on approach to mixing my songs.
I have to say I was very excited when I first started using it, as having knobs and faders to work with is MUCH easier and feels much better.

The only downside is that the controls are NOT motorized, meaning that you will have a very hard time mixing more than 8 tracks.
All in all, I believe this would be a very cool solution for live musicians working with synths, but not so much for mixing, unless you're automating.

The build quality is good for the price, the faders and knobs don't feel very sturdy and the faders are short throw, but I would say they are good enough to write automation


In conclusion, I would recommend this to either live musicians working with synths who need faders and knobs to assign to different parameters, or mixing engineers looking for a dirt cheap solution for automating volumes or effects.
In my honest opinion, I would rather have a DAW controller with motorized faders such as the Behringer BCF2000 or the Presonus Faderport (also available at Thomann), although the price point is higher.

I am using this with Cubase 9 and Live 9.

The controller is especially good as it is:
- Not expensive
- Portable
- Powered by a USB ( Therefore only one cable necessary)
- Easy to install in different DAWs
- Soft buttons ensure silent control (good if your a loud spacebar hitter like me :))




I am using it for the following purposes:
- Recording automations
- Position Bar
- On-the-fly crossfading

Highly recommend this as a cost efficient solution that can fit on any studio desk.

I picked up a nanoKontrol as an inexpensive means of getting my hands on some sliders to control my DAW. In this very simple regard it performs ably. It lives in my travel bag and is perfect for making music on the go, rather than carrying a large controller. If I had criticism then it would be around the cheap feel of the device - however that's also part of the charm. The plastic that tops of the sliders has come off in my bag many times on my travels - that said, they pop back into place without hassle. If you need a hands-on means of controller DAWs and plug-ins then I'd happily recommend this item as long as you can accept that it will feel cheap/borderline disposable! Some great templates available with a little browsing online to marry up with your DAW of choice.

A great idea and extremely useful in the field or in a cramped space - like a laptop mini studio.

It does not have the highest build quality and the USB connector feels like it might break, but it is still a solid little piece of hardware at a decent price.

The faders have a good feel to them and the buttons are well spaced and useful, the layout is well though out too.

My only real gripe, apart from the lack of a 32 channel mixer with EQ when using this, is that it's so small - my big hands struggle to only hit the intended button or fader. So not really for precision use or careful mixing, but a great product for rough mixes, recording in the field or just playback mixing.