I’ve been using the Launchcontrol XL for some years now and I believe it’s certainly one of the best MIDI controllers available within the price range. Programming of the device used to be done through downloadable software but more recently has switched to an online interface called Components. This is an excellent interface although lacking in a few features that I think could improve it. Fortunately, Novation engage with their users very effectively and after I sent them a list of suggested improvements they got back to me saying they’d added one of them!

The feature is called multiple selection and essentially allows you to (for example) select a whole row and change the colour of all items in the row, or change the midi channel etc. It might seem like a small improvement but it allows you to get the job done more quickly with fewer mistakes which is exactly what these upgrades should offer. I’ve sent them other suggestions which may or not make it in the future.

Add Copy / paste buttons
fill a range of buttons with incrementing values
add a note field for every pad to remind us what it’s controlling
multiple (two) midi messages associated with each pad.

Since the Launchcontrol range has not been extended for some years, the Components page for it is not as modern or flexible as the Launchpad (which has several variations), but it’s good to see they are trying to extend it.