Chamberlain Music is a Department for Education approved supplier for the Musical Instruments, Equipment & Technology Framework
The impact LX61+ USB MIDI controlled keyboards are jam packed with intelligent and expressive performance control not even available on many premium products. The velocity sensitive keyboard is a synth action with a medium tension. With 4 velocity curves gradually increasing in dynamics, there is a choice for any playing style. If you don't need velocity, 3 fixed velocity levels cater for a consistent output. Octave and transpose buttons as well as pitch bend and modulation wheels are within reach, so you can quickly shift the keyboard up or down an octave or semitone or apply additional articulation with the wheels.
Nektar DAW Integration custom designed for Bitwig, Cubase, Cakewalk, Digital Performer, FL Studio, GarageBand, Logic Pro, Nuendo, Reaper, Reason and Studio One takes Impact LX+ way beyond functionality normally offered by a USB MIDI controller keyboard. With Impact LX+ the hard work is done, so you can focus on your creativity.
There is more to the 4 Octave & Transpose buttons than meets the eye. 4 functions are selectable on the fly so you can make important changes at any time, even while you play. A key combination makes assignment quick and easy. Choices include sending out MIDI Program Messages, change the Global MIDI Channel or select any of Impact LX+’s 5 user presets with either the Octave or Transpose buttons.
Nine 30mm faders, 9 MIDI buttons and 8 encoders are at the center of the Impact X61+ control panel. Each control is fully MIDI programmable to send any MIDI CC message for use with hardware or software MIDI products. Used with Nektar DAW integration, the controls take on a life of their own, providing flexible pre-mapped DAW control giving you the best of both worlds. All MIDI controller settings can be stored in any of the 5 Impact LX+ presets for recall at any time. And if you switch Null on, any parameter values are stored when you change presets so you avoid parameter jumping.
For groove and beat creation, Impact LX’+s 8 velocity sensitive pads make life easy. Calibrated to trigger at a light touch, finger drumming is suddenly well within reach with a nice and even velocity response. Each pad can be assigned any MIDI note number or MIDI cc message for use as MIDI trigger or toggle buttons. But the best part is the “Pad Learn“ feature, which allows you to just select a pad, play the note or drum sound you want on the keyboard and assignment is done. No complex menus for a task that’s essential to getting the most out of your pads. Assignments are stored over power cycling so you don’t lose your settings when you switch your system off for the night. In addition, 4 pad map locations can store your settings for future recall.
The 4 colour LED illumination not only looks good but also indicate which pad map is currently loaded and can even tell you which type of MIDI message each pad sends. With Nektar DAW Integration, the pads are automatically mapped in for example Reason and Bitwig.. The two Clips and Scenes buttons are used in Bitwig to trigger…., Clips and Scenes. In Reason, a clever control of Reason’s location points create a similar experience with scenes triggering of any Reason song.
Six dedicated transport buttons are always within reach and mapped to control Cycle, Rewind, Forward, Stop, Play and Record. Press Shift to get access to alternate functions such as Goto L, Set L, Set R, Undo, Click and Mode. Dedicated Track up/down and Patch up/down buttons are located below the display.
Press mixer and the first 8 Impact LX+ faders are assigned to control 8 channels of your DAWs mixer. An alternate Bank up/down function moves control assignments to the next or previous group of 8 channels. Importantly, the selected track so the 9th fader is assigned to the currently selected channel so you always know where to find it.
The buttons under the faders follow the channel assignment of their corresponding fader and can control Mute or Solo. Pan for the group of 8 channels controlled by the faders is handled by the 8 pots. Fader 9 is used for control volume of the current mixer channel as well as master volume.
Activating the Instrument button assigns all controls to instrument parameters once an instrument track is selected in your DAW. Nektar mapping ensures this is done automatically, so you can start tweaking immediately. Better still, many devices and plugins are pre-mapped to match the blue control labels on the Impact LX+.
f you mainly want to use your DAW’s MIDI learn features, Impact LX+ is easy to come to grips with. There are 2 non-overlapping, read-only presets on the Mixer and Instrument buttons so you can quickly switch between independent and unique setups. These presets are also used for Impact LX+’s integrated DAW support. In addition, 5 user presets are programmed for GM compatible and “learn-friendly” setups plus they can of course be overwritten with your own settings. You for example could set up Impact LX+ for use with Pro Tools or Ableton Live, both of which have limited integration options. Using Impact LX+”s generic MIDI controller capabilities, setups can get you quite far. Here are links to setup examples.
On the back of Impact LX+ are the connection points including: A USB port for power and data connection to your computer or iPad (via optional USB camera connection kit), a foot switch jack, assignable (pedal not included) and an on/off switch. As a low powered USB device, Impact LX+ works with all USB devices that feature a Class compliant MIDI driver. This includes all version of Windows from XP and higher, Apple OS X 10.5 and higher plus Linux (as long as a USB MIDI driver package is installed). And if you are often on the move you can easily hook your Impact LX+ keyboard to an Apple iPad using the iPad’s optional USB camera connection kit (optional). Of course the Impact LX is powered by the iPad so you can work away for as long as your iPad remains charged.
Bitwig 8-Track gives you access to over 50 software instruments and effects for use on up to 8 audio or MIDI project tracks, and you can use any 3rd party VST plug-ins you might own, too. The ‘Bitwig Essentials Package’, a highly versatile handpicked selection of loops, clips and samples, is also included to help you get started. So put all that together and you have a powerful sketchpad for your musical ideas featuring the acclaimed workflow of Bitwig Studio.
There is also 5 cherry audio plugins included with your purchase. The bundle contains: Mercury-6 , a model of the classic Jupiter 6 synth, PS-20, inspired by the MS-20, OctaveCat, and approachable monophonic synth based on the original, DeamSynth, with digital and analog style waveforms akin to products developed in the late 80's/early 90's and Stardust 201, a classic tape echo with all the advantages of digital.
Chamberlain Music is an approved supplier for the DfE Musical Instruments, Equipment, & Technology Framework.
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