KVR Audio

Pistachio · Post by **Pistachio** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 1:18 pm

To Zchris, you don't need to use templates with Live. Live IS supported, in fact more than most DAW's since it gets its own template that launches automatically when you launch Live. You really shouldn't be looking at CC tables to set it up. Heck, in Live you don't need to look at CC tables for anything. Did you even know you can press the "Automap" button on the device and it will stop using the Live template and go into automap mode? At which point it will have the same functionality as all the "supported" DAW's.

Take a moment to learn how the software works because you are doing something terribly wrong. I jumped straight into it (using Live) without reading anything but the quick start guide and had things working with no problems. I was amazed when I loaded my first plug-in and everything mapped automatically, then I realised that they also map rather randomly and in a fairly useless fashion. You then need to use automap to create your own custom mappings, which isn't hard at all and is done in an easy to understand and graphical way through the automap GUI.

Automap won't map things nicely for you, but it is certainly a nice way to map things manually. The real problem is more in regards to hardware. The sliders are kinda crappy. The drum pads are crappy. The XY pad at first is REALLY crappy, but once you use it for a while it gets slipperier and easier to use. I would have liked two rows of endless encoders instead of one. The build quality on the SL MKII seems slightly worse than the SL Compact, although this has mainly to do with the coating on the knobs and the black faceplate on the Compact seeming nicer to me. I am happy with it though, but those are the major flaws in my opinion.

kelldammit · Post by **kelldammit** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 5:50 am

i tried an mpk49 when they first came out too, and some stuff i liked, other stuff i just couldn't live with. i never got the chance to get too far with it, though...even though it seemed to be built like a tank, the lcd flaked out within a week, so i never got around to anything like setting up transport or any mixer controls or the like.
i liked the keybed action. it was very nice/solid, perhaps a bit "heavier" than the novation keys, but certainly not piano-esque full weighting (which i dislike). unfortunately, there were no optional velocity curves...so for those with a lighter touch, it is what it is.
i liked the backlit controls and pitch/modwheels, but their overly large sizes sort of made it feel a little "playskool" for my tastes, though imo, it's a huge plus for live performance. no real hangup with that.
the pads...the best way to put it is...if you're planning on using them for triggering loops or one-shot samples, you're golden. if you plan on "playing in" drum or hihat parts, don't bother unless you're doing dinosaur stomp rock. they're nowhere near responsive enough to be useful for "real drumming", imo. you can actually FEEL the trigger switch at the bottom of the pad's travel. this was a pretty major buzzkill for me.
another minor annoyance, i had to manually configure it to host sync clocking EVERY TIME i turned it on. that should be saveable in nonvolatile memory, imo. it's just irritating.
so, in the end, it went back, and i'm pretty happy with the sl compact. my only real gripe is the lack of backlit transport buttons. i don't use automap, so i don't have much to say about that...

kell

lhm1138 · Post by **lhm1138** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 11:27 pm

Max the mac wrote:comparative review of M-audio Axiom pro 49 and Novation remote SL 49 Mk2....

This is one of the most useful user reviews I've ever read. I wish more people were this detailed and thoughtful in posting reviews, instead of just "it sucks" or the like. I salute you, Max.

Elektroid · Post by **Elektroid** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:14 am

kelldammit wrote: another minor annoyance, i had to manually configure it to host sync clocking EVERY TIME i turned it on. that should be saveable in nonvolatile memory, imo. it's just irritating.

Just to let other people who are interested in the MPK's know, this was fixed in Firmware Version 1.05

Version: 1.05
Date: 3/12/2009
New Features / Changes:
1. Added the ability to save PAD THRESHOLD, MIDI
CLOCK, TAP AVG with SAVE GLOBALS
2. Fixed issue where ports would not show correctly on
Mac OS 10.5.6
3. Fixed issue where assignable switches could not send
program changes above 32.

Also worth noting is that the MPK61 & MPK88 both have 5 different velocity curves for the keyboard.

C-note · Post by **C-note** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:38 am

Been working for months now trying different keyboards/controllers etc including all mentioned here and thought I would share final setups.

Cubase: Yamaha KX8, Kore Controller, Novation Nocturn, Maschine + all the other stuff like Liquid Mix, UAD 2 etc

Live 8 performance/studio setup: Novation Remote SL61, Nocturn, Akai APC 40, Maschine and Roland FC-300

Cheers,

C

kelldammit · Post by **kelldammit** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:58 am

ELEKTROID wrote:
Version: 1.05
Date: 3/12/2009
New Features / Changes:
1. Added the ability to save PAD THRESHOLD, MIDI
CLOCK, TAP AVG with SAVE GLOBALS
2. Fixed issue where ports would not show correctly on
Mac OS 10.5.6
3. Fixed issue where assignable switches could not send
program changes above 32.
Also worth noting is that the MPK61 & MPK88 both have 5 different velocity curves for the keyboard.

thanks for those corrections. i'm glad they fixed/added those things. i didn't mean to be unfair, so i hope i didn't come across that way. they were just the issues at hand when i owned the unit. now if they'd just make those blasted pads useable, i'd consider going that route for a 61 key unit.

kell

como baila · Post by **como baila** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 4:15 am

What I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is the 'drag and drop' programming feature of the Automap 3 Pro software.

Once you learn to use it, all your years of controller programming blues just fade away ... as you blissfully do what you'd always wished you could.

And also, I don't think any one made a clear distinction between using the Automap as a control surface for a DAW and using it as a control surface for 3rd party VST/VSTi hosted in a DAW. It is only the former that is any issue due to different ways the DAWs are designed. The controller maps for the VST/VSTi once customized works flawlessly in any DAW.

Como

rob_lee · Post by **rob_lee** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:02 am

I bought an SLII49 and i have automap 3.4 and i can't even get mine to run in automap mode..it always says automap offline

so i gave up..mine is always in advance mode for some reason.
What bugs me most is when i watched the demos it seemed so easy yet i can' even get that screen up on the automap software that lets you edit your parameters.

Message:

Two clients connected - No devices connected

So it won't work for me at unless im doing something wrong here.

Rob

Vstsoundbanks · Post by **Vstsoundbanks** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:10 am

rob_lee wrote:I bought an SLII49 and i have automap 3.4 and i can't even get mine to run in automap mode..it always says automap offline ...

Are you using a midi cable for the SL MKII? Automap will only work with a USB cable.

rob_lee · Post by **rob_lee** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:12 am

Vstsoundbanks wrote:
rob_lee wrote:I bought an SLII49 and i have automap 3.4 and i can't even get mine to run in automap mode..it always says automap offline ...
Are you using a midi cable for the SL MKII? Automap will only work with a USB cable.

Hi

Yes i only have the usb cable connected.No matter what i do im always in advance mode..

Rob

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:22 am

rob_lee wrote:
Vstsoundbanks wrote:
rob_lee wrote:I bought an SLII49 and i have automap 3.4 and i can't even get mine to run in automap mode..it always says automap offline ...
Are you using a midi cable for the SL MKII? Automap will only work with a USB cable.
Hi

Yes i only have the usb cable connected.No matter what i do im always in advance mode..

Rob

In my opinion Automap only works in the fantasy land of Novation videos.

I had a Nocturn and an SL49 and neither worked the way they were supposed to. Both would only work when connected to a powered hub btw.

I'll never touch Novation controllers again.

Well, I might touch them....

rob_lee · Post by **rob_lee** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:34 am

You might be right geoff

Well iv'e been on days with this and i'll give it till the end of today then i'll be putting the KB on Ebay and buying back my Axiom Pro25.

Should have stuck with what worked for me in the first place hehe..

Rob

electro · Post by **electro** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 11:14 am

Automap works fine.

Automap has an option to reset Novation controllers to their hardware default setting. That should be the 1st thing you do if you ever encounter any problems.

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 11:16 am

electro wrote:Automap works fine.

Automap has an option to reset Novation controllers to their hardware default setting. That should be the 1st thing you do if you ever encounter any problems.

Correction, automap works fine for you.

Meateater · Post by **Meateater** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:58 pm

Guys,

Well so far from writing, i've had my Novation 61 SL MKii for 4 days and to be honest, i'm bloody impressed with it.

Pro:

Nice Keybed, much better than a lot of junk i've encountered recently, even on the Korg M3 !

Nice X-Y Joystick that can be physically tuned from the rear.

Amazing feed back from the LCD and LED switches and some rotary knobs. All controls feel right almost and move well.

Automap seems to work well, though the problem is that many VSTis have a lot more controls, so you will need to remap what is important to you unless you download a profile that is already made by somebody.

Contains Midi interface ports as well as USB, and USB does not require a PSU.

Nice Integration with Live once it is all set up, for some reason it does not use automap mode on none Ableton devices, but you can switch to this easily with a button press, or you can quickly configure in ableton these parameters that are important and they will show up.

You can press 1 button and it will bring up automap instantly and you can see all key assignments and the GUI controls moving. Press it again and it vanishes from your display.

Cons :

A bit of manual reading is required to set it up right as it is quite powerfull.

Drum pads while improved, are still well, not very good and not very sensetive, but I have to try and calibrate them a bit again to see if I can get them better. They do the job but don't expect MPC quality.

X-Y Touch Pad (not Joystick) requires a bit of pressure and could do with being more sensetive also.

So :

At first I got a bit confused with some things in Live and found out it was cos I was trying to use automap in Live, when in fact you dont need to as the latest software versions of Live and the keyboard have something special built in. Namely all track on/off, Arms, Stops, Plays, Naviation of Session, Mixer Controls of volume, pan , sends etc etc, are all mapped out.

I was impressed with installation, I installed the software and it automatically updated itself from online, but then it then went online and automatically updated the SL MK II firmware as well, all very seamless without me doing a thing.

Now here is a big NO NO, and I have been answered by Novation here at KVR, but its still bogus. In order to use two Novation products together you need Automap Pro. You have to activate a license and you get 4 goes, after than you can ask Novation for more license activations. But what if your PC breaks and you need a new license fast ? What if you are at a venue and something happens to the PC but you still have your hardware gear and all your work is on external drives or backed up, and nobody is in the NOvation office ? How can the use of hardware gear be restricted by license usage and activations ? This is madness and Novation must see the error of their ways and rectify this, you have been warned if you want to make a purchase. Please check out Automap 3 fully.

To conclude, I am impressed with my purchase and consider it rather cheapo for £370 I paid from DV247.com (always use these guys cos they now offer a 4 year warrenty on all new gear purchased). I'm curious what SL MK III will look like, better pads, motorised faders ? Due to the open nature of the product, i'm sure it will last me a very long time and is probably the only controller you would need (apart from 88 weighted piano action controller, check out the Akai MKP 88 its awesome if you want that).

ME

:::Axiom Pro vs. Novation SL MK II::: What do u think???