Novation SL MkI vs II

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beats me
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Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by beats me » Tue Feb 05, 2013 3:01 pm

At a glance all I can tell on the MkII is they added LED rings and removed the second screen and possibly some other things. What’s the advantage with the MkII? Did the changes they made make sense?

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by yur2die4 » Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:55 pm

I know for sure that the mkII shows names of parameters and relays the values of those. I assume it is a kind of Mackie emulation turned Ableton script.

I can not confirm this with the mkI. It'd be nice to know though, I'd let any friends know incase they were looking for those features.

The buttons light up too.

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by sparklepuff » Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:02 pm

Yeah, it makes more sense than the MKI. Overall easier to use and get it to do what you want. I really wish they didn't remove the 2nd screen, I have no idea what the benefit to that is.
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beats me
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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by beats me » Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:15 pm

I got the MkI 25 around the time it came out and AutoMap was sketchy. I stopped using it because of that and also I wanted a keyboard with more keys. I recently blew off the dust and loaned it to my roommate. Seeing it all plugged in and fired up with the latest AutoMap repeeked my interest.

I think a little while back people were saying it has issues with Logic. Is that true?

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by rikhyray » Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:43 pm

MK II is much better - dedicated Automap buttons, backlights but I missed 1 octave (replaced 37 SL with 25 MKII) and the right display. If they dropped left display it wouldnt bother me much but mixer faders having displays 1 foot to the left make the mixer nearly useless. After having Mininova for a week, liked it so much that replaced it & SLII with Ultranova- have 3rd octave back, Automap for plugins control works OK and as bonus - synth and soundcard (which came handy already once when my main card broke down over weekend).
Maybe they will bring MK III but I am not sure I will be interested. iPads work so much better, at least for me, can use same units for different softwares/jobs like music(Live) DJ (Traktor) and I suppose I am not the only one. Is there really much future for plasticware controllers ?

beats me
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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by beats me » Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:02 pm

rikhyray wrote:MK II is much better - dedicated Automap buttons, backlights but I missed 1 octave (replaced 37 SL with 25 MKII) and the right display. If they dropped left display it wouldnt bother me much but mixer faders having displays 1 foot to the left make the mixer nearly useless. After having Mininova for a week, liked it so much that replaced it & SLII with Ultranova- have 3rd octave back, Automap for plugins control works OK and as bonus - synth and soundcard (which came handy already once when my main card broke down over weekend).
Maybe they will bring MK III but I am not sure I will be interested. iPads work so much better, at least for me, can use same units for different softwares/jobs like music(Live) DJ (Traktor) and I suppose I am not the only one. Is there really much future for plasticware controllers ?

As an iPad enthusiast I still see the advantage of actual knobs and faders. If nothing else it feels like you can be a lot more precise and you don't have to worry about your finger sliding off the parameter you want to adjust and moving to one you don't.

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by Timbeaux » Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:13 pm

i ve got an mk2 , too.

pro: many knobs, buttons and sliders.
display --> works with ableton

contra: automap is (in my case) still a beta which generate errors with ur other equipment
the range between the knobs is too small
the pads arent that much touch sensitive


I wouldnt buy me that controller again. after i bought me the apc40 i didnt switched my mk2 on again

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by beats me » Tue Feb 05, 2013 7:59 pm

Timbeaux wrote:I wouldnt buy me that controller again. after i bought me the apc40 i didnt switched my mk2 on again

I don’t see the APC40 as being that useful for general production or a program that isn’t Live.

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by glitchrock-buddha » Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:26 pm

In many ways I still prefer the mkI. I have an SL61 mkI and an SL25 mkII. I've been meaning to sell the SL25 because I had it as a sort more mobile version (using on the couch or in bed or whatever), but honestly it's a bit bulky for that kind of thing. I either want a super small thing (like my MPK mini) or sit at my full station.

Between using the two, I found that I much preferred having the second LCD than the extra in the mkII. Looking over there to match up which fader was for which control is actually super annoying. But this is really only a big deal if you use automap for plug-ins (which I do).

Other than that there are several pros and cons of the mkII. The speed dial or whatever it's called is actually quite useful. Throw the mouse pointer on a control and have temporary knob control of a parameter. Also, for Ableton device mapping, the smooth encoders are quite nice. I actually like the detented encoders on the original for VSTs though, use it a lot for parameters that have selections or single value increments, its handy to feel the click in that case.

I've toyed with the idea of getting a Zero mkII to use alongside my 61 mkI, could be the best of both worlds. Especially with the fact that I'll be replacing my APC40 with Push, I could use the extra controls again. That speed dial would be nice. Even having the choice of being on any two separate automap pages at once could be really great for synth work. That's always the problem with the SL, you can only be on one page at a time. It's tough making good templates, but rewarding. I find I buy synths according to what works well with automap (basically how many of the controls are automatable), with some exceptions.

SL + ipad is a great combo I will say. The ipad mini actually fits perfectly on the empty spot in the top right of the SL61.
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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by glitchrock-buddha » Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:30 pm

beats me wrote:
Timbeaux wrote:I wouldnt buy me that controller again. after i bought me the apc40 i didnt switched my mk2 on again

I don’t see the APC40 as being that useful for general production or a program that isn’t Live.
Agreed. The two have pretty much nothing in common, except that either can map 8 knobs to the selected device and control the mixer in Live. I like the SL for plug-in control mainly. Then a live controller such as APC40 for Live specific control.
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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by rikhyray » Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:02 pm

beats me wrote: If nothing else it feels like you can be a lot more precise and you don't have to worry about your finger sliding off the parameter you want to adjust and moving to one you don't.
Unfortunately the accuracy of the Novation "hardware" is not any better, faders too short, knobs - physically and electronically very loose. I recall Akai`s are bit better. I like iPad for faders, but for knobs, definitely real - Doepfer or Faderfox.
Akai MAX is good idea (originally of Stantons SCS3d) "motorised" faders that do not wear but unlike on iPad you are safe.

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by Timbeaux » Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:58 am

i thought u mean usability in live (cause here is alive forum).


anyway, i dont work that much with plugins, that i need to control everything. mostly i only need 8 macro controls. otherwise i would get lost in sound tweaking and not in making music.

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by beats me » Wed Feb 06, 2013 5:13 pm

I’m almost always mousing shit. So I think I could make things a lot more interesting if I was tweaking parameters with hardware more often, but I’m probably not going to do that if it involves a bunch of manual mapping BS.

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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by glitchrock-buddha » Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:50 am

beats me wrote:I’m almost always mousing shit. So I think I could make things a lot more interesting if I was tweaking parameters with hardware more often, but I’m probably not going to do that if it involves a bunch of manual mapping BS.
It takes some work only if you want to do a super detailed template of a big synth with 10 pages of parameters or something. And the reason that takes work is because you need to figure out the best layout and grouping of controls for each page. The actual act of mapping is extremely fast. So much fast than making midi templates. With midi you need to edit a template, set cc's to the different controls, name each control, then go and map the hardware to the controls you planned. With auto map you hit the learn button, touch a control on the unit and click the control on the plug-in. The name shows up automatically (you can change it if you want). You just keep doing this for as many controls as you want for as many pages as you want. No worrying about how many cc's you have or what channel it's on. For plug-ins it's the only to go. Plus for most effects and those simpler analog style synths, you actually get a workable hands on control surface.
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Re: Novation SL MkI vs II

Post by beats me » Thu Feb 07, 2013 8:00 pm

glitchrock-buddha wrote:
beats me wrote:I’m almost always mousing shit. So I think I could make things a lot more interesting if I was tweaking parameters with hardware more often, but I’m probably not going to do that if it involves a bunch of manual mapping BS.
It takes some work only if you want to do a super detailed template of a big synth with 10 pages of parameters or something. And the reason that takes work is because you need to figure out the best layout and grouping of controls for each page. The actual act of mapping is extremely fast. So much fast than making midi templates. With midi you need to edit a template, set cc's to the different controls, name each control, then go and map the hardware to the controls you planned. With auto map you hit the learn button, touch a control on the unit and click the control on the plug-in. The name shows up automatically (you can change it if you want). You just keep doing this for as many controls as you want for as many pages as you want. No worrying about how many cc's you have or what channel it's on. For plug-ins it's the only to go. Plus for most effects and those simpler analog style synths, you actually get a workable hands on control surface.

For plug-ins is that a one-time thing? Like the next time I open an instance of that plug-in everything will still be mapped the same? What if I open the plug-in in another DAW? And do I have to page through shit or is it as simple as I click on the plug-in on the screen and it automaps to it?

I seem to remember some template malarkey with the first automap. “No, don’t use template 2. Use template 6.” or something like that.

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