Ive tried many midi controllers but none have stood out too much. I am currently using a push with ableton and m32 keyboard which is handing for komplete kontrol vsts.
I gave up trying to build some kind of controller setup to emulate hardware and happy with the control i have now
I do everything with maschine and a komplete kontrol keyboard for over a year now. Rarely touch my standalone hardware boxes.
Ipad for couch jams.
I work hybrid (Elektron /Abelton) I use a launchpad X besides Syntakt /Digitone /A4, mostly to try out recorded scenes /clips - also pretty small, i had a Push1, but that was too large for my taste.
I went ITB for a couple of years after probably 20 years OTB. More than midi controllers, I found a really nice mechanical keyboard and good mouse to be really nice, as they both have a nice feel to them and are a joy to use.
For midi controllers, I just basically used a small keyboard (Keystep), something easy to set up that is bus powered. I think it depends on how much space you have, but the speed of getting set up is important for me.
For people going ITB for the first time, beware of plugins and VSTs. You’ll think going ITB will save you money, but it’s actually a money pit and it’s hard to recoup money on plugins. I learned a ton by going ITB for a couple of years, so it was overall a good experience in learning a DAW properly, but it was not cheap. Thankfully, I’ve broken the cycle of buying ITB stuff and didn’t spend any money on plugins or VSTs in 2022.
All of that said, I think the perfect setup for me is the middle road of a modest hardware setup, combined with the power of the DAW, when needed. I leaned a lot more towards OTB in 2022, but in 2023 I think I will try to strike a better balance between the two.
100% this.
ITB/OTB just makes me think of The Wheel of Time with synths rather than magic and shit. The cycle never ends!
2022 was mostly a year of picking up some bits of hardware. I’ve enjoyed a few choice pieces and generally focused on these OTB bits. Nothing track worthy came of it but that’s fine with me. I couldn’t pass up the V Collection upgrade last week and sat down to try these new synths out and just ended up thinking “fuck me, why do I bother with OTB stuff” all over again 
it just feels so much more immediate and inspiring for me. I’m a preset guy at heart and quite like having a random preset dictate where a tune will go.
I’ve lived through this cycle enough times to be wise enough not to flog things immediately. That path leads to regret and a sense of missed opportunity! But I do think I’m headed for an extended period of evaluation. In truth, the thought of distilling everything down to a laptop, Push 2 and a OP1F is quite appealing.
To me, it’s not about emulating hardware as that is an impossible task. What matters the most for me is just being able to twist a knob instead of dragging a mouse over a soft knob when recording in an automation. Sure, if I know that I just need the filter to go from 0 to 127 over an 8 bar time frame, I’ll just punch that into the sequencer, but for things like dynamically controlling the filter of a lead, I find that nothing beats a proper hardware knob. This is where a midi controller is the most useful (aside from playing keys) and in my experience, the Keystep 37 mimics the MPC’s q-link knobs quite well (4 physical knobs over 4 banks of cc values). That’s all I need really.
Interesting comparisons folks, so a huge range of options from no controller to a mix of pads & keys (although this option seems quite popular here.)
I heard not one but multiple semi known produers say they could basically take a laptop and an OP1 anywhere and get the best of both worlds. You’re probably in pretty good company there!
I can understand the appeal of that, but in reality, I just ended up with crap loads of synths and stuff I never touch or don’t know how to use properly. Not just talking about V collection, but ITB in general (Komplete, etc).
I think having a handful of things I know how to use well is much better than having (virtual) rooms and rooms of virtual gear. Again though, I totally get it, because I think these big collections play to human nature to hoard (
).
(I have V collection and Komplete Ultimate, not the latest ones though, and so much other stuff 
)
Wait is in the box mean your in the DAW or out the box mean your in the DAW? Lol
ITB = DAW, OTB = hardware.
In practice you’re just going from one box to another. 
I bought Pigments and a few FX, but now I use mostly Ableton’s built-in instruments and fx. I also prefer not to have to deal with floating AU and VST windows that take up too much space and have terrible interfaces.
I guess I was outta the box this whole time ! 
I also like the advice that less (addons) is very much more whichever angle you take. So for example, you may find your future self locked out of your music due to a software not being maintained, or through a subscription model (not much you can do about this mind.) In theory mostly stock plugins seems fair advice, not just because of the financial side but just for forward compatibility.
For me it tends to be the opposite: in hardware it feels like I’m constantly asking questions in an endless optimization problem since there is a fixed amount of money, physical space, and analog inputs I can dedicate. E.g. “Do I need a FM synth right now in the setup? Which one? How to pay for it – can I squeeze the budget or sell something else? Where will it fit ergonomically? Which mixer/interface inputs am I gonna allocate? (is this finally time for an ADAT expansion? How to pay for that?). Am I gonna need a new 20ft snake cable? Hmm, do I still like [other synth] enough to keep it, or are the UI quirks finally going to drive me to sell it… ?”
On and on. These questions don’t exist in software; there is no optimization problem to overcome. If I want to explore more in FM synthesis (say), I either use something free or spend a comparatively small amount of $ and then get on with it – when I’m done and my interest has moved on to something else, the software becomes invisible until I want to use it again. No financial balancing, no limitations of inputs, no cabling hassles, etc. All I really have to do is decide on a starting point.
Yes, a dedicated UI separate from the computer screen has a lot of value, but more and more I feel like this value is vastly overshadowed by the ability of the computer/DAW to just get out of the way and provide a open conduit for creativity. YMMV and perhaps I’m simply too fucking OCD 
ive gone back itb after a 3 or 4 year stretch wrestling with hardware. works massively calmed down and i now actually have time in the day to create. ive got an ableton track going on my laptop and an ableton track and a bitwig track running on the deskktop and i’m properly jiving to all 3. it’s cool going from one song to the other and moving each forward incrementally, and then moving on when i’m bored. think i may have finally found my personal answer to breaking out of the loop.
when ive got 5 or 6 mostly arranged tracks im looking forward to reinterpreting them with the digi boxes / OT. i feel this method will work better for me rather than attempting to compose on elektron machines.
I’m in a peculiar situation: I want to try working in the box, but I don’t have a dedicated music computer at the moment, and I don’t have spare money for that setup. Also vintage hardware is often cheaper than plugins (the most I’ve paid for a vintage synth is $200 for a JX-3P, otherwise it’s usually closer to $50).
I’m rebuilding my studio after moving, and it’s such a tedious process.
On the other hand, I don’t enjoy sequencing it, and I can’t stand soft synths. Maybe a hybrid setup is what I would benefit the most from.
I think going hybrid is a great idea. I also totally hate softsynths, no matter what anyone says I think they all sound terrible. And sequencing itb is pretty much the least fun an inspiring thing I know of. However, I think a lot of itb effects sound great, and arranging in a daw is so powerful. So I do all my initial sound generation and sequencing otb and use the daw for effects, arranging, mixing, etc. I do miss my hardware tape delay a bit, but otherwise I am really happy with this setup. And hardware effects are even more of a rabbit hole than hardware synths, so it saves a lot of money too.
Hybrid is the way to go. I like using both hardware synths and plugins. Plus the tools are great in both Logic and Ableton.