LiveSet · controllers
Around 69 controllers auto-recognise on connect: no Learn step, no remote-script hunt. LiveSet maps each control by its role on the device, so a Push and an APC mini fall into the same layout. The status below is sourced from the same spec the app uses, and anything unlisted still works through MIDI Learn.
How the mapping works
Recognition happens on connect, mapping follows the role of each control, and the surface shows you the layout as you build it.
Around 69 controllers are recognised the instant they connect. No remote-script hunt, no template-of-the-month, no Learn step for anything on the verified list. The settings panel shows the status of the exact model you just plugged in.
The pads on a Launchpad are pads and the encoders on a Maschine are encoders. LiveSet binds each control by its role on the device rather than by a hardcoded MIDI number, so you can swap a Push for an APC mini mid-set and the mapping simply carries over.
Promote the knobs you touch to macro tiles under your hands, and see the mapping in place on the surface as you build it. Pad LEDs reflect scene state in both directions, lit from what is playing, read as input for what you fire next.
How a tier is earned
A controller is only marked Verified if its entry cites a source: a manufacturer document — a programmer's reference, a communications-protocol PDF, a MIDI implementation chart, or a stable link to an open-source implementation whose layout has been independently confirmed. Novation, Akai, Korg, Roland, Native Instruments and Elektron all publish the first kind.
A test enforces that rule, so nobody has to remember it: it walks the table and fails the build if a Verified entry has an empty source, or one that is not a URL. Of the 69 entries, 47 carry a cited source today.
What gets taken from the document is specific: the exact port name as the operating system reports it, and the pad grid as its bottom-left note number, row stride, rows and columns. So a mapping can be worked out from the geometry. That lets a mapping be parametric instead of a list of MIDI numbers.
The table, by tier
Eleven vendors, and the table below is the whole count. Each row carries its own tier, so about two thirds of them say something other than Verified.
Status legend
Cross-checked against the manufacturer’s MIDI implementation chart and tested on a live rig before every release. Auto-binds the moment USB clicks in: no Learn step.
The MIDI parses correctly, but we have not yet laid hands on the unit to promise it works at a gig. Auto-binding stays off, and MIDI Learn covers it as a fallback.
A device with its own sequencer. LiveSet syncs to its clock and accepts manual triggers from its pads to fire scenes. It never tries to shadow the device’s grid into its own.
Every controller, by model
One row per model. If we have not physically tested a unit, it stays tentative even when the MIDI parses fine: the chip is honest about what we have laid hands on.
| Controller | Family | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launchpad Mini MK3 | Novation Launchpad | Verified | 8×8 pads, no faders. The default. |
| Launchpad X | Novation Launchpad | Verified | Velocity pads and pressure, both respected. |
| Launchpad Pro MK3 | Novation Launchpad | Verified | Aftertouch plus the sequencer-mode button rows. |
| Launch Control XL | Novation Launchpad | Verified | Eight faders and 24 knobs: the canonical control bank. |
| Launchkey MK3 (25/37/49/61) | Novation Launchpad | Verified | Keys for instrument tracks, pads for scenes. |
| SL MK3 | Novation Launchpad | Tentative | Parses cleanly. Awaiting a hands-on pass. |
| MPC Live II | Akai MPC and APC | Verified | 16 pads, chromatic from MIDI note 36. |
| MPC One | Akai MPC and APC | Verified | Same pad layout as the Live. |
| MPC X | Akai MPC and APC | Verified | 16 pads plus 16 Q-Link knobs. |
| MPC Key | Akai MPC and APC | Verified | Pads, keys and Q-Link knobs in one box. |
| APC40 mkII | Akai MPC and APC | Verified | 8×5 scene grid, 9 faders, 8 knobs. |
| APC mini | Akai MPC and APC | Verified | 8×8 pads and 9 faders. Minimal but rock-solid. |
| LPD8 | Akai MPC and APC | Verified | 8 pads and 8 knobs. Small, still recognised. |
| Fire | Akai MPC and APC | Verified | 4×16 step grid maps onto the step sequencer. |
| Maschine Mk3 | Native Instruments Maschine | Verified | Primary test rig, pad LEDs reflect active and queued scene. |
| Maschine Mikro Mk3 | Native Instruments Maschine | Tentative | Pad input works. LED output not yet confirmed. |
| Maschine Studio | Native Instruments Maschine | Tentative | Pad layout parses. LEDs untested in the wild. |
| Komplete Kontrol S-series Mk2 | Native Instruments Maschine | Verified | Keybeds for instrument tracks. Transport mapped. |
| Komplete Kontrol A / M32 | Native Instruments Maschine | Verified | Compact keyboard. Transport and bank up/down working. |
| Push 2 | Ableton Push | Verified | Pads, 8 encoders, display strip and transport. |
| Push 3 | Ableton Push | Tentative | USB-MIDI mode parses. Standalone-mode interactions untested. |
| BeatStep | Arturia BeatStep, MiniLab, KeyLab | Verified | 16 pads and 16 knobs. Pads trigger scenes. |
| BeatStep Pro | Arturia BeatStep, MiniLab, KeyLab | Verified | Two sequencer lanes, both readable as input. |
| MiniLab Mk3 | Arturia BeatStep, MiniLab, KeyLab | Verified | 8 knobs on non-contiguous CCs, handled. |
| KeyLab Essential | Arturia BeatStep, MiniLab, KeyLab | Tentative | Parses. Encoder bank values need a cross-check. |
| Digitakt 2 | Elektron, clock and manual | Clock / manual | Current groovebox flagship. Clock-syncs and accepts triggers. |
| Digitakt (Mk1) | Elektron, clock and manual | Clock / manual | Same clock and trigger behaviour. |
| Syntakt | Elektron, clock and manual | Clock / manual | Analogue drums plus digital synth voices. |
| Octatrack MKII | Elektron, clock and manual | Clock / manual | Sample-mangling pairs naturally with the slot model. |
| Analog Rytm MKII | Elektron, clock and manual | Clock / manual | Analogue drums and per-track effects. |
| Model:Cycles / Samples | Elektron, clock and manual | Clock / manual | Entry-level Elektrons. Clock-sync works the same way. |
| Korg nanoKONTROL2 | Korg, Behringer, Roland | Verified | A common test rig, faders, knobs and transport. |
| Korg nanoPAD2 | Korg, Behringer, Roland | Tentative | Pad input parses. Awaiting a hands-on pass. |
| Behringer X-Touch Compact | Korg, Behringer, Roland | Tentative | Motor faders parse. Not yet confirmed on a rig. |
| Behringer X-Touch Mini | Korg, Behringer, Roland | Tentative | Encoder bank parses. Cross-check pending. |
| Roland TR-8S | Korg, Behringer, Roland | Clock / manual | Drum machine. Clock-syncs and triggers scenes. |
| Roland AIRA Compact | Korg, Behringer, Roland | Clock / manual | Compact groovebox. Clock-sync in the same way. |
| Roland SP-404 MK2 | Korg, Behringer, Roland | Clock / manual | Sampler. Syncs clock, triggers manually. |
Family by family
A short note on how LiveSet treats each family, and the documentation each status is checked against.
The first family we mapped end-to-end. The 8×8 pads become the scene matrix or the step grid depending on the active tab. The side buttons handle scene launch and row mute.
Verified against — novationmusic.com support. MIDI implementation docs, per model
Akai’s MIDI implementation is documented well and we audited every model in the current lineup. The MPC pads share a chromatic default layout verified against the manuals.
Verified against — Akai per-model MIDI implementation charts
The Maschine Mk3 is a primary test rig and its pad LED feedback works in both directions. The Mikro and Studio variants parse the same way, but stay tentative until we confirm the LED output against the manufacturer doc.
Verified against — NI HID and MIDI docs for the S-series Mk2 and Maschine Mk3
Push 2’s pad grid, display strip and encoder bank all map end-to-end, scenes, effects and tile values reflect onto the display and the eight encoders. Push 3 parses the same MIDI, but its standalone-mode interactions are untested, so it stays tentative.
Verified against — Ableton’s published MIDI map for Push 2
Arturia ships curated CC layouts, knobs sit on hand-picked synth-control numbers instead of contiguous CCs. LiveSet maps them by position regardless, so you get the same auto-binding as a Launchpad.
Verified against — Arturia MIDI Control Center default presets, downloaded 2026-05
Elektron boxes are full instruments in their own right, so LiveSet pairs with them instead of remote-controlling them: it clock-syncs to whatever is sending MIDI clock and accepts manual triggers from their pads to fire scenes.
Verified against — Elektron user manual for Digitakt 2 OS 1.x, MIDI section
Smaller-vendor controllers split by case. The well-documented ones are verified. The ones whose docs we cannot easily source stay tentative until we lay hands on them, and the groovebox lineup runs in clock-and-manual mode.
Verified against — Per-model docs. See Settings → Devices in the app for citation URLs
Not on the list?
Every knob, pad and fader is learnable as a fallback. We would rather do better than that, though, send us the manufacturer’s MIDI implementation chart and the exact model name, and if it is documented it will likely make a coming release. Around two controllers land per release.
Submit a rig
The full spec and a way to get in touch live at liveset.app.
From the Atelier
The set does not care which grid you own, as long as it is in the box or learnable. Read the rest of the feature set, or open the full spec at liveset.app.
