The primary attraction there is that it's a great deal cheaper, if not quite as functional as the Push 2. Personally, we like the combination of Push 2 with the small Novation keyboard, just so you can have the feel of an actual piano if need be.įor piano players, or those who want to use Ableton Live in more of a performance environment, the 49-key Novation might be a better option.Īs a pure substitute for the Push 2, the Akai Ableton Controller is your best bet. The primary distinction between the Novation and Akai option is rather obvious, in that you're deciding between a controller with or without a keyboard. Akai Professional APC20 Ableton ControllerĪll of these MIDI controllers explicitly state a compatibility with Ableton.Novation Launchkey Mini (25 key version).We've narrowed it down to three devices that we'd be most likely to recommend outside of the Push 2: Price: How much do you want to spend on an external MIDI controller?.Piano keys: Does it come with them and, if so, how many?.But, we prefer to direct folks to the MIDI controllers that were made, like Push 2, with pre-mapped controls for Ableton Live already built in.Īside from Push 2, there are a few MIDI controllers that were actually designed by other companies with Ableton Live in mind.Īssuming you have that as part of the core feature list, you should also consider the following: Practically-speaking, many of these controllers function similarly to one another. However, we do have experience with some of the other MIDI controllers in the natively-supported list from earlier, which allowed us to pick out a few of our favorites for Ableton users. Moreover, Ableton Push 2 is just a well-designed and fantastic product in its own right, regardless of how friendly it might be to Ableton Live. If your focus is getting something that is most closely-tailored to Ableton Live, their own MIDI controller makes the most logical sense.

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