Korg Nanopad2 and Renoise...?

Evening All,

So, for my sensible purchase this year I’d like to get something small, portable and fun to inject more ‘feeling’ into recording in the box with midi / vst action.

I’m drawn to the Korg Nanopad 2 - anyone used one with Renoise? Any limitations - or is that more down to the VST being used to control it? I have a small Akai LP5 25 and LPD 8 - which are great for ideas / mapping controls to wheels - but very tempted by the x/y expression input on Nanopad 2.

So, anyone have any insights to share?

Cheers

Not tried the Nanopad, but if the pads are anything like the quality of the keys on Nanokeys, then I would avoid it. Felt like playing a tune on broken teeth :badteeth: :badteethslayer:

I guess though as a drum pad they should / would make them a bit tougher? :drummer:

I have one Nanopad2 and it’s a good tool overall.

But as said above, the pads are not the most sensitive you can find for finger drumming.

This works for my setup though: I use it mostly as a one hand remote for Renoise functions: transport, gui navigation, track selection and mute.

I’m playing guitar at the same time and most keyboard shortcuts aren’t practically accessible since they require both hands, so this makes my workflow way faster.

The things I like:

  • Form factor: it just fits fine in front of a notebook without protruding or getting in the way, since there are no knobs.

  • The XY Pad is in itself great especially in combination with the note generation mode and the arpegiator. You can use it like a melodic instrument in itself (think KaossPad).

  • It is perfectly neutral and generic, it doesn’t force you to work one way or another.

  • The editor is very flexible, you can reassign everything the way you like (runs fine on Linux with WINE).

I don’t like:

  • responsiveness of the pads - it’s quite frustrating to plays keys or drums with that.

  • lack of visual feedback for the pads - as a remote it is not really convenient to use the pads for muting tracks for example.

  • my kids jumped on it and I am pretty sure it doesn’t feel like it used to :wink:

For the price it doesn’t have much competition though (apart from the other Nano controllers).

I’m eyeing toward maybe replacing it with a Keith McMillen K-Board - which seems to address all my gripes with the Nano.

I have NanoStudio, works fine with Renoise, Id’ expect NanoPad to be the same.

The “keyboard” (just buttons) on the Studio feels a bit fragile, but I’m not a heavy-handed player¯_(ツ)_/¯