Novation celebrated the Pro with champagne (resting on a backlit image of the Pro) at last night’s media event
Novation has taken their ubiquitous controller and brought on a number of features that go well beyond anything we’ve seen in a controller at this price range (the Pro will launch with a street price of just $299).
Enhanced full color RGB LED pads: The pads look better than ever on the new Pro – which match the color of your clips in Ableton Live
Pressure/Velocity Sensitivity: Each of the 64 pads send MIDI data based on how hard you hit the pads
More buttons: The Launchpad Pro incorporates 16 additional circle buttons, located on the left and bottom of the pad grid, allowing quick access to Live mixer and playback controls
Midi Output: The rear of the Pro now has MIDI ports, meaning you can run it out directly to hardware synths and play the instrument in Note Mode (more on that below)
Still Bus Powered: Despite all of the added features, the unit still manages to work under just bus power – there is an optional power adapter. It’s also class-compliant, making it suitable for iOS use.