Arturia MicroLab Mk.3 – Improved Quality, Lower Price!
For musicians on the go!
4,3 / 5,0 | 
Arturia MicroLab Mk. 3 White · Source: Arturia
Arturia MicroLab Mk. 3 Black · Source: Arturia
Arturia MicroLab Mk. 3 White · Source: Arturia
Arturia MicroLab Mk. 3 Black & White · Source: Arturia
Arturia’s littlest controller in their Lab range, the MicroLab, gets the Mk.3 treatment in the hope that it can persuade you to stick it in your backpack for music-making on the go.
When it comes to making music on the move, or if your bedroom studio is, how you might say, “capacity-challenged”, then most companies have a miniature version of their controllers to ensure you don’t miss out. Arturia’s MicroLab has been one of the most popular in recent years.
The Arturia MicroLab Mk.3
And now it has a fresh new design and look to bring it into line with the rest of the Lab controller range. I have to be honest, though. There’s not a whole lot here to get into details over, but let’s give it a go!
The MicroLab Mk.3 sports the clean design that we’ve already seen with the MiniLab Mk.3. It sports the same 25 velocity-sensitive slim keys and faux wood ends. It also has touch strips for pitch and modulation.
Limited but Useful Controls
Some manufacturers don’t get the pitch strip quite right, in as much as no matter how hard you try to place your finger dead centre, it always results in a slight shift in pitch just when you don’t need it. No such issues here with the MicroLab. Place your finger on the centre notch and nothing happens, but slide in either direction and you’re away. They also double up as Category & Preset selectors within Analog Lab.
Above the strips are the only four buttons on the unit. The Octave + and – 1 buttons sadly don’t offer a Transpose option under Shift, like the MiniLab, but you do get the Chord and Hold functionality, which is nice. The Octave buttons do offer ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ functions under Shift, again for use in Analog Lab. MIDI output channels are selected in the usual way with the first 16 keys of the keyboard whilst holding Shift.
Rear Connections
On the rear there is a USB-C slot for power and MIDI (the cable is provided) and there’s an assignable control port for a pedal or other MIDI CC controller. I’m guessing most people won’t be packing a sustain or expression pedal in here, so it’s most likely to be used with some of the smaller controls, possibly like the Loopop PLUS 3 device.
The keybed is actually quite nice to play and the whole unit is light and sturdy enough to endure the rigours of travelling. Six rubber feet should keep it planted on your desk or aircraft tray table!
Bundled Software
The MicroLab Mk.3 comes bundled with enough software to get the beginner going. You get Analog Lab Intro and Ableton Live Lite so that you can get playing and recording right out of the box.
In Conclusion
I kind of liked the Mk.2 and its colourful “bumper” that also doubled up as cord storage. Aside from that, the Mk.3 is more of a cosmetic upgrade, apart from the keybed which is lifted straight from the MiniLab Mk.3 and is incredibly good at this price point.
Overall, the MicroLab Mk.3 is an improvement over its predecessor in terms of quality and manages to do this at a lower price point, which has to be welcomed!
The Arturia MicroLab Mk.3 is available to order now, in White or Black, for just €59.
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