Akai Pro MIDImix - New Portable Mixer/DAW Controller

Akai Pro MIDImix – New Portable Mixer/DAW Controller

The Akai Pro MIDImix was shown at Musikmesse 2015 in Frankfurt this past week and the big news is that it is being cited as a $99 controller. Notwithstanding import duties and the rand/dollar exchange it should retail for around R 1500 in South Africa, hopefully.

One has to understand that there are many factors affecting the landed cost and from my insider knowledge I have seen firsthand that retailers are not making more than a very basic margin of profit. I thought I’d just add that before we end up debating the legitimacy of prices in SA.

What is the Akai Pro MIDImix?

DAW controllers or mixers have been around for a while and this is essentially what the MIDImix is; a controller designed to manage your DAW mixer thus making it quick and easy to set levels, mute channels when necessary and control EQs. The big sales point though is that the Akai Pro MIDImix can do so at the press of a single button thus making it super simple to tell your DAW mixer where to set the levels. It is called the SEND ALL button and when you hit this, all the mapping info is sent to your DAW.

What makes this SEND ALL button so special?

Well controllers like this and specifically in this price range have not, up to now, offered this type of feature. Usually one would have to move each fader slightly for the DAW to pick up the individual setting but now with SEND ALL….. yup you can send all the existing settings in one go. Admittedly those with the more expensive controllers with motorised faders and recall features won’t be interested in the Akai Pro MIDImix, but that’s the whole point; it offers small project studios as well as producers on the move a cost-effective and portable solution.

Anatomy

The Akai Pro MIDmix looks a lot like the APC Mini and if so should be a pretty robust piece of kit despite its plastic fascia. You get 8 line faders, a master fader, 24 control knobs and 20 buttons in total plus 1 to 1 mapping with Ableton Live. A Lite version of the software comes with the controller for those not yet using Ableton.

Features at a glance

Midi mixer to control virtually any DAW
8 individual line faders, 1 master fader
24 knobs, arranged 3 per channel
16 buttons arranged in 2 banks provide mute, solo and record arm functionality per channel
Sends all mixer settings to the DAW with a single button press
1 to 1 mapping with Ableton Live (Ableton Live Lite included)