MAXIMUS MISCHIEF Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 gettin a midi controller to use with ableton which one of these do you think is best? the novation is slightly more expensive even tho it has less keys. im wondering if anyone with experience with either can tell me some pros and cons about each i like the novation for its look and the LCD showing what each knob is doing things i like about mpk are the arpeggiator (dont know if the novation has that too, wasnt advertised), and the 61 keys http://www.novationmusic.com/products/midi_controllers/sl_mkii http://www.akaipro.com/mpk61 thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wahrk Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Having purchased a Novation SL 49 Compact, I can say that the keys on it feel awesome, BUT automap is shit. I've had nothing but problems with it. Other people get along with it just fine, but I could not. Making custom setups for it is kind of a pain and pretty much a must if you want to use anything other than the keys for any program that it's not automatically mapped to. It does alright with Live I guess. I'd recommend the Akai personally. They make great hardware. The encoders/sliders have a great feel to them (way better than the Novation's IMO) and I'm sure the pads do to (because it's freaking Akai). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest arbee Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 yeah I'm in the same situation. I want to get a new midi controller with 49 keys. Kinda leaning towards the MPK49 because of the low price (compared to novation's stuff) and it seems to get pretty nice reviews on the net. waiting for opinions here, too. thnks . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAXIMUS MISCHIEF Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 Having purchased a Novation SL 49 Compact, I can say that the keys on it feel awesome, BUT automap is shit. I've had nothing but problems with it. Other people get along with it just fine, but I could not. Making custom setups for it is kind of a pain and pretty much a must if you want to use anything other than the keys for any program that it's not automatically mapped to. It does alright with Live I guess. I'd recommend the Akai personally. They make great hardware. The encoders/sliders have a great feel to them (way better than the Novation's IMO) and I'm sure the pads do to (because it's freaking Akai). interesting.. can you explain the problems with auto map and why its such a bother? and why the akai would do better? also does the novation have arpeggiator or any other good features worth mentioning that the akai doesnt have? i really was leaning towards the novation.. if youve had problems with it id like to hear what kind thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wahrk Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 interesting.. can you explain the problems with auto map and why its such a bother? and why the akai would do better? also does the novation have arpeggiator or any other good features worth mentioning that the akai doesnt have? i really was leaning towards the novation.. if youve had problems with it id like to hear what kind thx My main problem with Automap is that, unless you have the pro version (not included with controller), you can't use the software to map the mod wheel or transport controls, only the knobs. If you don't use Automap, then you have to build a template on the device in which you must manually assign all of the knobs and whatnot to separate MIDI CC values or whatever messages you want to send, as new templates just set everything to send the same message for some stupid reason. AND it doesn't load consistently load the last template you had selected upon startup. At least not with the Remote SL. I don't think it has an arpeggiator either. I'd say if you like the Novation, go back a generation or two before they started the Automap thing and grab one of the older models. Otherwise, the Akai is going to feel great and map easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAXIMUS MISCHIEF Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 allright goin for the akai thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wahrk Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 allright goin for the akai thanks No prob. I'm surprised that not many other people chimed in on this thread though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iamabe Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 I agree that automap is flawed but I've had luck using it as basically an easy learn / graphical interface for making assignments for like, Massive, etc. Otherwise I use automap ableton templates which work fairly well. It's nice cycling through ableton FX / midi instruments and having everything premapped within the ableton mixer control base. Also, I really like the look/layout/feel of the remote SL's (and Mk II's). Im sure the AKAI has nice build quality but I dig the novation too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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