SLAB, the first controller built for Serato Studio, wins Red Dot Best of the Best 2026

SLAB gives DJs an MPC-style pad controller purpose-built for Serato Studio — native plug-and-play, no mapping — and wins Red Dot Best of the Best 2026.

AlphaTheta Corporation · Serato

创意是什么Build the first hardware controller made for Serato Studio: MPC-style pads and dials that take beat-making out of the mouse and into the hands, with zero MIDI mapping.伤筋动骨

当时的题目

Serato Studio launched in 2018 as an entry-level DAW so DJs could start producing music without the steep learning curve of traditional software, but it stayed mouse-and-keyboard only. AlphaTheta partnered with Serato to design the first dedicated MIDI hardware controller for the platform.

它是怎么成立的

Serato Studio was built in 2018 as an entry-level DAW for DJs who wanted to start producing without learning Pro Tools or Ableton. Its one gap was hardware: making beats still meant mouse, keyboard and a screen. AlphaTheta Corporation answered with SLAB, the first controller designed specifically for Serato Studio.

SLAB is deliberately conservative about the parts DJs already understand and radical about the parts that slow them down. It borrows the classic MPC desktop layout — 16 velocity- and aftertouch-sensitive pads, encoders, a touch strip — and adds native integration: pad backlights sync with the software, a large circular play button brings a DJ-deck feel to production, and the transport section sits on the left so a right-handed pad player's hands work side by side instead of crossing over.

The design goal was to remove the friction between musician and software. Plugged in, SLAB unlocks a full Serato Studio license with no MIDI mapping or setup; a general-purpose MIDI mode still lets it control other DAWs. The whole unit weighs 1kg and is compact enough for cafés and on-the-go setups.

The jury response was decisive: Red Dot named it Best of the Best 2026 in Product Design — AlphaTheta's third product to earn the honour after the DDJ-REV7 (2022) and OMNIS-DUO (2025) — and it also took an iF Design Award 2026. MusicTech's launch coverage noted it 'lights up when they're together and works the way a dedicated controller should work'.

妙在哪

It removes the mapping tax: instead of a generic MIDI controller that must be configured, the hardware and software were designed as one system.
The left-side transport is an ergonomic insight from watching how right-handed producers actually reach for controls, not from convention.
Reusing the familiar MPC layout means no re-learning for the exact audience — DJs — it was designed for.
A compact 1kg body and bundled software license turned a piece of gear into a complete mobile production kit.

做出来什么

SLAB won Red Dot Best of the Best 2026 — AlphaTheta's second consecutive year and third product with the top prize — plus the iF Design Award 2026; reviewers credited the familiar MPC layout and left-side transport for keeping the production flow uninterrupted.

可以借走的

Don't fight the habit a market already has — borrow it: SLAB reused the MPC layout DJs already know, then added native software integration so the tool disappears and the workflow never breaks.

后来

SLAB went on sale at $299/£259/€299 with a full Serato Studio license included, and reviews from Mixdown and other outlets emphasised how well the dedicated layout kept workflow flowing. The Red Dot Best of the Best 2026 award in June 2026 — AlphaTheta's second consecutive year at the top — was a signal that the company's DJ-to-production strategy had found a repeatable design language, following the DDJ-REV7 in 2022 and the OMNIS-DUO in 2025.

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