im about to buy a midi keyboard..

so im wondering whats your opinion on novation remote sl compact (25 keys), compared to remote sl or some other midi keyboards?


are those extra faders and knobs on regular remote sl worth extra 100 euros? this is my first midi keyboard so i have no idea will i use these things or just stick to the mouse...

Yeah, they are, either buy a real SL, or forget about extra controls altogether and buy a really cheap one. You could also have a look at Korg's Kontrol, or Edirol do one that looks good too, with a few less controls.

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i dont mind the sl remote compact... faders are of little use (for me) and you only have one row of LCDs on the full remote anyway.

to be honest though, the way the novations rely on the wrapping plugin is pretty shit. this is the reason i didn't buy one.

I've got one in the post, what do you mean by wrapping the plugin?
Do you mean that you only ever load the novation wrapper and then load your plugin inside it?
I won't use that feature if that's the case It'll still be a great controller (since I want faders for Djing) but I was thinking that Automap would be pretty cool...

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quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips Do you mean that you only ever load the novation wrapper and then load your plugin inside it?

yes, if you want full automapping.

if your daw supports automap universal, you don't NEED to use the wrapper. however, the parameters will just be assigned to the knobs alphabetically, so its 100% gay doing it this way and there is almost no point.

if you want a decent control layout, you have to use the automap wrapper.

if you don't want automapping, you can just use it as a normal midi controller and switch templates manually. this sort of detracts from the point in buying it though...

Ah right... I think Ableton support Automap universal, I'll see how it works and report back, maybe theres some way to get the best of both worlds...

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quote:

Originally posted by echosystm i dont mind the sl remote compact... faders are of little use (for me) and you only have one row of LCDs on the full remote anyway. to be honest though, the way the novations rely on the wrapping plugin is pretty shit. this is the reason i didn't buy one.

so are you saying that automap isnt the greatest thing after all?

what is your opinion on m-audio's axiom?

quote:

Originally posted by misticni so are you saying that automap isnt the greatest thing after all? what is your opinion on m-audio's axiom?

automap is a fantastic technology, i just hate that it uses a wrapper. music software is buggy enough without having extra shit like this, lol.

m-audio axioms are pretty good value for money. i was going to buy one, infact. however, i have heard (dj rann told me, i think?) m-audio have a lot of quality control problems with these.

if i was going to buy new controllers, i would probably get a cheap behringer umx and a bcr-2000 (if more knobs were needed). but this is just my personal preference and it would suit what i need.

make sure you actually go to a music store and have a play around with them before you buy them. i'm currently using a big yamaha semi-weighted keyboard. you'd think that because it is semi-weighted and more expensive, that it would be better. it's not. i hate the weighting on these keys and much prefer my crappy old synth action keyboard. with these semi-weighted keys, the initial force required to press the keys makes it impossible to get any sort of velocity sensitivity - the keys are basically either on or off. i learned piano on a 100+ year old piece of shit upright, so maybe this snappyness is what a piano is SUPPOSED to feel like, but my cheap synth action keyboard definately felt more like our old piano.

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips Ah right... I think Ableton support Automap universal, I'll see how it works and report back, maybe theres some way to get the best of both worlds...

Live 7 and Automap Universal 2.0 work great together

Don't forget to look for used gear.

I got my Novation Remote SL 61 key for half price, $300, on Ebay. Very worthwhile.

On a side note, you know what's interesting, something I've found:
You can have the gear that'll do the job best, but YOU have to be able to utilize it to it's fullest as well. In my case, I've got this great midi controller that could control my Cubase 4 mixer controls, all my most used VSTi soft synths, and a ton of other things if I'd bother to learn 'em.... But I barely use it. Why? Because I don't have it in the perfect position at the correct height, sitting right in front between me & the monitor. Thats the only reason I am not utilizing it.
Sad, very sad.
I need a new desk.

thank you all for replys!

Well, I promised I'd report back on the Novation Remote SL, and I got it last week started playing with it on the weekend. I think I can say that its a pretty pro piece of kit, the keys are lovely, very responsive. The rotary encoders aren't appropriate for adjusting parameters in live DJ sets IMO, you cant move them fast enough because they click. But the normal pots are fine for this, they rotate through 270 degrees. Buttons work fine, drum pads are OK once their set up, but they aren't maybe as good as an AKAI. The faders are decent but maybe a little flimsy and the transport controls are also very useful. I had a bit of bother getting it going at first, but it works now, took me a few hours though. All in all, its a good piece of kit as far as I'm concerned.
Theres three ways to control things with it
Normal midi: standard midi, you need to map the parameters onto the controller manually, and before you do this you have to assign CCs to all the controls, fiddly but good for DJing.
Automap sequencer: maps everything for the sequencer automatically. full control of all tracks etc, very nice.
Automap plugin: controls the plugins via a wrapper which is not as bad as you'd think. It works fine and causes no problems, its just like using the actual plugin itself.
So it has my seal of approval

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