Comparison: Novation Remote SL 37 vs Remote SL 25 Compact

[benjamind]

A friend of mine has both of these and I decided to do a thorough test run on these so I visited him and gave them a go.

I've settled on a Remote SL 37.

There is more than meets the eye when you consider the differences. I found the original SL is better, and not merely because of the additional knobs and faders or different modwheel/pitchbend mechanisms.

Knobs and sliders and mod/pitch mechanisms aside, one of the subtle differences I notes was in the keyboard itself.

The SL and SL Compact have subtle differences in the key action. The original SL had a better action that was like the original ReMOTE series but with a better bounce in the key strike with smoother action than the original ReMOTE, so out of the original ReMOTE (non SL), SL and the SL Compact, I found the best key action was with the SL, with the original ReMOTE coming in second, and the SL Compact coming in third. To describe the key action of the SL Compact, I could say it has a somewhat rubbery resistance as I depress the key that feels quite different to the key action of the original SL and original ReMOTE, and this is what put me off the SL Compact.

The pitchbend/mod mechanism was smoother in the original SL with better control and more fluid action, going by my experience with the original ReMOTE which had okay mechanism but wasn't as smooth as the one on the SL.

Going by my experience, the SL Compact is good if you don't like the original pitchbend/mod mechanism of the original ReMOTE series.

But if you like the original ReMOTE pitch/mod mechanism then the original SL is your best bet.

Novation have definately come a long way with their SL line when compared with their original ReMOTE line which was also great but lacked the Automap feature and a somewhat smoother pitch/mod joystick of the new SL line.

I like both the pitch/mod wheel and pitch/mod joystick mechanisms of both these SL controllers, but I'll spend the extra coin and get the original SL and not the SL Compact. The keys on the SL Compact just don't feel the same as they do on the original SL.

Ben