Nektar has announced the Impact LX49, the first in a new range of Nektar USB controller keyboards.

With intelligent mapping for major DAWs, Impact LX49 is designed for musicians and producers to get up and running without having to worry about MIDI assignments to get started. Based on the technology developed for the Nektar Panorama series, Impact comes pre-mapped and configured.

Just like Panorama, which features multiple modes for main control navigation, Impact LX49 allows the user to switch between Mixer, Instrument and Preset modes. Presets include five memory locations for users to store their own setups. Navigation options include track change, patch change and a plug-in button that opens or closes the currently controlled plug-in window on the computer display.

Impact LX49 also features eight velocity sensitive pads that also can be used as MIDI buttons. A pad learn function enables pad presets to be programmed by pressing the target note on the keyboard. Four pad memory locations store pad settings for later recall, completely independent of the preset settings.

Nektar Impact LX49 will be available in the third quarter for US$159.99. For more info go to www.nektartech.com .