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Korg nanoKONTROL2

Korg nanoKONTROL2

Eight faders, 293 grams, and fifteen years of the same argument — is it a real control surface or a very cheap one?

The eight-channel nanoKONTROL2 of 2011: eight 30 mm faders, eight pan knobs, per-channel solo/mute/record buttons, and a transport section, over a single mini-USB cable. Not the nine-fader 2008 original nanoKONTROL, and not the battery-powered, Bluetooth nanoKONTROL Studio. Black and white are the same unit.

OverreviewMIDI Controller11 sourcesas of 2026-08-20

Korg's original nanoSERIES invented the flat-pack MIDI controller in 2008: keys, pads and faders squeezed into slabs thin enough to sit in front of a laptop. The nanoKONTROL2 is the 2011 second draft of the fader one, and it has outlasted almost everything launched alongside it. Eight faders, eight knobs, twenty-four buttons and a transport section, powered and connected by one cable, still on sale and still being reviewed a decade and a half later.

Its reputation is unusually stable, and unusually split down the middle. It is the answer people give when someone asks for faders on a budget — and it is also the controller people describe fighting for an afternoon before it worked. Both things are true, and the reason turns out to be a single setting most buyers never find.

The overview

A slim, USB-bus-powered DAW control surface: eight faders, eight pan knobs, solo/mute/record on every channel, and a transport section with cycle, marker and track-select buttons — 293 g in a 325 × 83 × 30 mm slab with no power supply, no 5-pin MIDI, and no pedal jack. Sources agree almost completely on what it is for: it is the cheapest credible way to get eight physical faders onto a desk, it disappears into a backpack, and one cable does everything. They also agree on the trade the price buys — the chassis is 30 mm tall, so the fader throw is short, and the plastic is plastic. Where they divide is setup. The unit arrives in a generic MIDI CC mode and has to be switched into a DAW-specific Mackie Control mode before its transport, banking and lights work properly; reviewers who found that switch describe a surface that behaves like hardware costing far more, and reviewers who did not describe hours lost. Windows users hit an extra hurdle the Mac has never had, because macOS is class-compliant and needs no driver. Prices swing hard: Korg's own shop asks $119.99, while dealers routinely sell it for $52–$70.

Where they agree

  • It is genuinely tiny and light — 293 g, 30 mm tall, and it runs entirely off USB bus power with no adapter
  • Eight faders, eight knobs and twenty-four buttons including a full transport section, for less than most two-fader controllers cost
  • One cable carries power and data, including to an iPad, and it needs no powered hub
  • Korg's free editor remaps nearly every control and stores the mapping in the unit, so it travels with the hardware
  • For the money, the amount of hands-on control is treated as a bargain by editorial, owner and community sources alike

Where they split

  • Fader feel: surprisingly fluid and precise for the price, or too short in throw with cheap-feeling knobs
  • Build: a real step up from the original and solid enough for £48, or toy-grade plastic whose faders are the first thing to go
  • Setup: a proper Mackie control surface once you switch it into DAW mode, or an afternoon lost to drivers and a thin manual
The verdict, mappedEvery aspect on one axis — criticized to praised. Hover a point for its spread; click to jump.
CriticizedNeutralPraised

By aspect — in detail

Controls

Contested · 7 src

Sources split on how the faders feel. One camp finds them surprisingly fluid and precise for the money and welcomes the extra per-channel buttons the second generation added; the other finds the throw too short and the knobs cheap next to a full-size fader. The physical cause is not in dispute — the whole chassis is 30 mm tall, so a long throw was never possible. The one loss everyone notes is the ninth fader, which the original used as a master.

Measured

Korg's specification lists 8 knobs, 8 sliders and 24 buttons, plus REW/FF/STOP/PLAY/REC transport and cycle, marker and track buttons, in a chassis 30 mm tall — one fewer channel than the nine-fader original.

Where it splits
surprisingly good hands-on feel for the money59%

“the nanoKontrol2 has lost a fader but gained much nicer rubberised, back-lit transport controls and an extra button next to each fader making solo, mute and record arm much simpler”

Chris Barker, Future Music 241
short-throw faders and cheap-feeling knobs41%

“The new version seems more geared towards mixer control, then, but with such short faders and basic functionality, the value of this is questionable.”

Computer Music, MusicRadar

Integration

Contested · 9 src

The decisive axis, and the one that explains most of the disagreement about this controller. It ships in a generic MIDI CC mode and must be switched into a DAW-specific Mackie Control mode, written to the unit with Korg's free editor, before the transport, channel banking and LED feedback track the software. Sources that made that switch report a surface behaving like far more expensive hardware; sources that did not report a device that half-works. Two further variables sort the reports: the operating system, since macOS is class-compliant while Windows needs Korg's driver, and the DAW, since FL Studio is not on Korg's supported list.

Measured

Korg lists Pro Tools, Logic, GarageBand, Digital Performer, Cubase, Ableton Live and SONAR as directly supported, plus any software controllable by control-change messages. macOS needs no driver at all; the Windows USB-MIDI driver was last updated to 1.15 r63e on 2026-01-20, the Logic/GarageBand control-surface script to 1.0.1 on 2025-03-10.

⚠ vs. listeners — The failures owners describe cluster on the computer side, not the hardware: Windows driver installs and DAWs outside Korg's list. Korg has confirmed one genuine incompatibility of its own — a 2022 notice telling nanoKONTROL owners not to update to GarageBand 10.4.5 — but a 2022 one-star review reporting no Apple Silicon support is contradicted by Korg's later Mac releases, the Logic and GarageBand script having been refreshed in March 2025.

Where it splits
behaves like a proper control surface once it is in DAW mode37%

“Mackie User Control as implemented in the NK2 is really a big step forward from standard Midi CC control”

Johannes, Nord User Forum
getting it working is the hard part — setup, drivers and unsupported DAWs63%

“I found the nanoKontrol2 to be the only device that didn't work completely as planned without tweaking”

Chris Barker, Future Music 241

Build

Contested · 6 src

Sources split, and the average sits at neutral only because the extremes cancel. Against the original nanoKONTROL it is a clear improvement — firmer shell, buttons that no longer stick. Against anything costlier it is thin plastic, and the faders are the agreed failure point: caps that pop off in a bag, travel that loosens, and at least one owner replacing the unit roughly annually. Nobody claims it is built badly for £48; the disagreement is whether that is the right frame.

Measured

293 g in a 325 × 83 × 30 mm plastic chassis, with no metal in the specification and no user-serviceable fader assembly.

Where it splits
solid enough for the money, and a real step up from the original36%

“Very sturdy built, the knows don't hang (as it was the case with the previous version), layout is nice and the pots and faders seem pretty solid.”

Johannes, Nord User Forum
toy-grade plastic, and the faders are what gives out64%

“although the nanoKontrol2 is the most wobbly in terms of build quality”

Chris Barker, Future Music 241

Connectivity

Moderate · 4 src

One mini-USB socket, and that is the entire list — no 5-pin MIDI, no sustain or footswitch jack, no CV, no Bluetooth. Reviewers in 2011 read that as elegance, since a single cable carries power and data and the unit runs happily off a laptop or an iPad without a powered hub. Owners writing a decade later read the same socket as the weak link, because Mini-B has aged badly and a loose one drops out mid-session. Both readings are about the same connector.

“Drawing little power, they will happily work without a powered hub.”

Chris Barker, Future Music 241

“My only caveat with it is the outdated mini B port that sometimes disconnects it and reconnects it during sessions.”

un__, Thomann UK owner review
Measured

Korg's specification lists one mini-USB connection and USB bus power drawing under 100 mA. Thomann's technical data confirms no 5-pin DIN, no Ethernet, no Bluetooth, no footswitch and no foot-controller connection.

Portability

Strong consensus · 6 src

The strongest agreement in the set, and the reason the design has survived fifteen years. It weighs 293 g, is 30 mm tall, needs no power supply, and fits in front of a laptop or in a backpack pocket. Editorial reviews, owner reviews and community posts say the same thing in the same words.

“This controller is relatively small and does not take up much space at all.”

JimboSpins, Audiofanzine user review

“Very lightweight and can come in clutch.”

un__, Thomann UK owner review
Measured

293 g, 325 × 83 × 30 mm, USB bus-powered at under 100 mA — low enough to run from an iPad through a camera-connection adapter without a powered hub.

Software

Moderate · 5 src

The free KORG KONTROL EDITOR is what turns this from a fixed layout into a general-purpose controller: nearly every fader, knob and button can be remapped, given a range, and stored in the unit so the mapping travels with it. Opinion on the editor itself is mixed rather than split — most sources call it straightforward, a minority find it opaque — and the recurring structural complaint is that you need it at all to reach the full feature set. It is not abandonware, whatever its age suggests.

“Installing and setup with the Korg Software is piece of cake (Win7 x64).”

Johannes, Nord User Forum

“The supplied software is programmed for unusable, too complicated for that stuff.”

Brandski, Audiofanzine user review
Measured

KORG KONTROL EDITOR reached v2.5.1 on 2025-06-10 for both Windows and macOS — still being maintained fourteen years after the controller launched. Korg also bundles a software package with the unit, which has included Reason Limited and iZotope Ozone Elements over the years.

Value

Moderate · 8 src

Near-unanimous, and the most durable thing anyone says about it: eight faders, eight knobs and a lit transport section for the price of a cheap microphone is treated as an outright bargain by editorial, owner and community sources alike. The one dissent is not that it is expensive but that it is worth buying up from — an owner who replaced his with a Behringer X-Touch One argues the extra outlay solves the setup problem outright. Note that the price you see depends heavily on where you look: Korg's own shop asks roughly double what the cheapest dealers charge.

“to get this amount of faders, rotaries and back-lit push buttons for such a low price is quite extraordinary”

Chris Barker, Future Music 241

“At this price, I cannot believe more people are not purchasing it.”

JimboSpins, Audiofanzine user review

“If you can afford a bit more, go for the Xtouch.”

Richard aus Q., Thomann UK owner review
Measured

Korg's US shop lists both colours at $119.99; Equipboard's cross-merchant table, updated 2026-08-20, spans $52.00 to $119.99 across eight stores; Thomann UK sells it at £48.

Best for

  • Anyone who wants real faders for volume and automation without surrendering desk space
  • Orchestral and film composers riding CC1 or CC11 by hand while playing
  • Laptop rigs, live sets and travel, where 293 g and bus power decide what comes along
  • Logic, Ableton Live, Cubase, Digital Performer or Pro Tools users who will actually load the DAW-specific mode
  • Anyone curious whether a control surface suits them, before spending real money to find out

Skip if

  • You want a fader that feels like a fader — the throw is short and the caps are small
  • You are on FL Studio, or another DAW outside Korg's list, and don't want to map everything by hand
  • You need 5-pin MIDI, a sustain or footswitch jack, or CV — there are none
  • You'll gig with it daily; owners who do report the faders degrading and the caps working loose
  • You want motorised faders that follow the mix back — that is X-Touch and FaderPort territory

At a glance

↳Consensus
69 / 100weighted mean across 11 sources — an aggregate, not a single verdict
↳Type
MIDI Controller
↳Sources
11 · 6 classes
↳As of
2026-08-20
↳Owner rating
4.3/5 · 766self-selected — skews high

Where to buy

Sources11 reviews across 6 classes. Weight reflects expertise × independence; echoes collapsed.
  1. s1Korg nanoKontrol2 reviewComputer Music / MusicRadarEditorialaffiliate2011-06-01w0.75
  2. s2Korg nanoSeries 2Chris Barker, Future Music 241Editorial2011-05-23w0.85
  3. s3nanoKONTROL2 specificationsKorgMeasurementunknownw0.90
  4. s4nanoKONTROL2 downloads — drivers, editor and control-surface script release datesKorgMeasurementunknown2026-01-20w0.85
  5. s5Reported issues between KORG nanoKONTROL series, taktile series and the latest version (10.4.5) of GarageBandKorgMeasurementunknown2022-02-05w0.70
  6. s6Customer reviews — Korg nanoKONTROL 2 black (4.3/5 from 766 ratings, 386 written)Thomann UKOwner2026-08-20w0.70
  7. s7Customer reviews — one-star filter (13 ratings, 9 written)Thomann UKCritical2026-08-20w0.55
  8. s8All user reviews for the Korg nanoKONTROL2 (3.8/5 from 10 reviews)AudiofanzineOwner2014-08-28w0.60
  9. s9Korg NANOKontrol 2 ReviewJohannes, Nord User ForumCommunity2011-09-12w0.75
  10. s10Korg nanoKONTROL2 — reviews and cross-merchant pricing (4.0 from 107 ratings)EquipboardOwneraffiliate2026-08-20w0.50
  11. s11BEST MIDI CONTROLLER UNDER $100 - Korg NanoKontrol 2 ReviewSunday SoundsVideoaffiliatew0.40

Limitations & method

Consensus-of-sources synthesis · as of 2026-08-20 · not a measurement verdict or ground truth.