Nektar Aura Beat Composer and DAW Controller

Drum Machine-style Master Control for Your DAW and Hardware

At its core is the included Nektarine 2.0 software, which gives Aura complete control over your VST, VST3, and AU plug-in collection — you can control up to 16 different instrument plug-ins simultaneously via its ultra-sensitive pads. DAW integration is built right in — just press the “DAW” button for full control over Ableton Live, Logic, Reaper, Studio One, and other popular options. You can even customize Aura to be whatever type of USB or MIDI controller you need it to be, with 16 user presets to store your pad and control assignments. If you’ve been searching for a capable controller to bring your software and hardware together in the familiar form of a 16-pad drum machine, Nektar Aura is your solution.

Nektarine software lets you work with your plug-ins like hardware

In a world of multi-purpose USB MIDI controllers, what sets the Nektar Aura pad controller and sequencer apart? Most notably, the Nektarine 2.0 software that gives you an entirely new way to interact with your plug-in collection. Nektarine can host up to 16 of your virtual instrument plug-ins, with four effects plug-in slots for each — you also have additional slots for send effects. And using Nektarine’s mixer page, you can customize volume, panning, and mute/solo for each plug-in.

In addition to plug-in control, Nektarine makes it easy to browse through thousands of patches to find the sounds you need fast. And because Nektarine can run in any DAW that hosts AAX, AU, VST, or VST3 plug-ins, it basically allows you to create your own custom virtual instrument and effects rack, and then access that within your DAW of choice. Outside of your DAW, you can run Nektarine as a standalone application, putting all of your custom sounds at your fingertips without having to reference a DAW project.

Built-in integration with the most popular DAW software

Taking control over your DAW software with the Nektar Aura couldn’t be simpler — just press the dedicated “DAW” button and you’re ready to select tracks, control the transport, enable recording, and so on. And while Aura can be a capable USB controller for practically any software, Sound Town Electronics is pleased to report that full DAW integration is built right in for the following:

• Ableton Live Suite
• Apple Logic and Garageband
• Bitwig 8-Track and Studio
• Cockos Reaper
• MOTU Digital Performer
• PreSonus Studio One
• Reason Studios Reason
• Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo

Create sequences on the fly

Tired of having a great bass line, drum beat, or synth line pop into your head, only to lose it by the time you load up your DAW and try to capture it? The Nektar Aura can become a hardware step sequencer on demand — just press the “Seq” button. The control pads become a 16-step sequencing interface, with up to four parts for a total of 64 steps. You can save your patterns for instant recall, and each pattern or even parts within a pattern can have different lengths — exactly what you need for creating polyrhythms. And while built-in sequencing is convenient for capturing ideas, it also makes Aura a sweet master controller for your hardware synthesizers and other MIDI gear.