Music producers and MIDI freaks alike have found themselves drooling following the announcement of Novation\’s new MIDI controller, the Launchpad Pro.

Built as the successor to the renowned Launchpad family, the Pro appears to hit home on a number of highly requested features from the Novation community. In addition to having the general basis of a Launchpad S, Novation has taken a step into the future: remixing the design and integrity of the Launchpad family, adding 16 new buttons (circular buttons found on the left and bottom of the grid), adding pressure & velocity sensitive pads and RGB lighting. Among other features notable, two new modes, Note Mode and Device Mode have been added. MIDI output has been also been integrated, allowing for direct wiring to hardware synths. Finally, the constants of bus powering makes the Pro an iOS compatible device running merely on bus power and class compliant drivers. This allows for this Launchpad to also be utilized as a companion for the Launchpad app.

Though it will not replace the LaunchPad S, it seems like this is a worthy continuation and fine development for the Launch product line and odds are, it will strike an excellent note (see what I did there) with producers, hobbyists and curious people alike. Novation has already launched a page for their new \”Professional Grid Instrument.\” Novation has also since then uploaded a demo video that you may watch below:

The Pro is expected to join the family, becoming the flagship for the Launchpad family starting this Spring for $299.