Akai Fire – a controller designed specifically for FL Studio
Akai Fire – The first ever dedicated hardware controller for FL studio is designed to greatly enhance your workflow.
The new Akai Fire controller is created specifically for Image-Line’s highly-acclaimed music production software suite, the layout mimics the iconic step sequencer within FL Studio and offers RGB LED feedback to make navigation easy. The new FL Studio control surface features an intuitive “performance mode” for launching clips on-the-fly, similar to how you would with an Ableton Push controller, this puts FL Studio up against Ableton as a choice for live DAW sequencing.
The Akai Fire features four rotary encoders for controlling mix levels, filters, EQs and effects and a host of user-mappable controls. Furthermore, the navigation and browsing section making finding and sequencing new sounds almost instantaneous, with an intuitive OLED display which displays relevant data such as current parameter values or track selection. The controller has a full transport control section and using shift and alt function you have access over almost all of the necessary functions within FL Studio.
Can you trigger drums with it?
The Akai Fire integrates seamlessly as a drum pad controller for FL Studio’s FPC plugin, and using the function buttons along the bottom left, you have the ability to freely switch between triggering drums and clips, making it a great system for live performance. You also have the ability to connect multiple Akai Fire units to one system, allowing for control over all the different function pages at your fingertips.
The Akai Fire is unbelievably well-priced considering what the competition is at the moment, it’s retailing for USD $199 (Around R3000 excl. duties). It works on both PC and Mac, as FL Studio supports both platforms now, and the unit ships with a license of FL Studio “Fruity Fire Edition” with free lifetime updates.
For more information check out Akai’s website.