Novation, Akai and all that controller crap

[evanb]

I am trying to figure what controllers to get for my new setup, I use logic and ableton and need a keyboard controller as well as drum pads. i am not so interested in the apc40 or launchpad. I will be using this only in the studio, I have always wanted an MPK but have always heard bad things about mappings for logic and ableton whereas automap I have used and it works pretty good.

Will I be best going with a Novation Sl 25 controller and a MPD26 or MPD32 or will a MPK 25 or MPK49 do the trick? I am looking for something to make beats with ableton or logic and just basic key chords and bassines so I don't need more then 25 keys

I would probably get the older novation SL since I am not trying to spend allot of $$

[intensemojo]

I absolutely love my Axiom Pro 49, works perfectly with both Live and Logic in Hyper Control. I searched long and hard for a keyboard controller that works easily with these DAWS and AP49 was the choice for me.

[evanb]

I absolutely love my Axiom Pro 49, works perfectly with both Live and Logic in Hyper Control. I searched long and hard for a keyboard controller that works easily with these DAWS and AP49 was the choice for me.

How are the pads on the axiom?

[intensemojo]

as close to MPC-like as I have used. Sturdy, sensitive and very playable.

If you want a 25-key, get the Pro25 over the std as the keys are better, knobs don't click and it has HyperControl. From experience well worth the extra $$. I think 49-key is the sweet spot though

[flippo]

I'd look at the novation nocturn keyboards perhaps? Automap would come in handy for studio use, as would the fast dial, plus you've got buttons and drum pads. Aftertouch on the keys, too.

[outershpongolia]

as close to MPC-like as I have used. Sturdy, sensitive and very playable.

If you want a 25-key, get the Pro25 over the std as the keys are better, knobs don't click and it has HyperControl. From experience well worth the extra $$. I think 49-key is the sweet spot though

Yeah I had the original Axiom25 and the knobs SUCKED.. Absolutely useless, you'd turn them slow and it'd go nowhere, as soon as you turned them fest they'd shooot up way past where you wanted to go. Good to hear they fixed that on the newer models cause besides the knobs it was a good controller..

[SubFunk]

i use booth, live and logic

and i have an old roland synth (XP-30) which serves as my main keyboard, i actually bought it mainly because of the feel of the keys, besides it's nice and classic sounds (the classic and awesome JV sound module is built in) i can't deal with most of the pure controller keys in terms of key feel.

and i use in addition a PadKONTROL form korg which i give a double thumbs up!! (even i will get soon a maschine, i want make this pad redundant, the feel of the pads is just to good) plus i use a nanoKONTROL (korg released an awesome plugin for it for logic so it auto maps as a mixer and EQ controller automatically every time you fire logic up, it's great. and it behaves similar with the myr script by http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=122993 under live (a little more manually setup is required, loading up the right template, etc.) i use the altered 'SubFunk' template myr made, it lifts that little controller onto steroids.

that, good keys (the XP-30 is unfortunately not made anymore), the pads and the knobs / sliders from the pad/nanoKONTROL give me all i need / want,

so basically i am saying get a korg Pad and NanoKONTROL and choose a keyboard in addition.

the only sympatic all in one controller i know is the korg KONTROL 49, even the pads are nothing like the ones on the PadK, and i love pads, using them more then keys, though... and i don't know about any convenient plugs and scripts for it either... but maybe they exist, you should check, cause it makes a massive difference to the workflow and is a time saver and i hate fiddling around with controller shit only to be able to tweak something.

[3dot...]

I use LaunchPad+BCR+SL25..
couldn't be happier..answers all my needs..
I'd get a bigger launchpad if they were available..
and I think next time I upgrade...
I'll get rid of the sl25..
get a zero-sl...
and a smaller footprint midi kbd instead...
makes more sense for everything to be seperated imo..

[napalmbrain]

Apple Logic 9 onwards has integrated support for All novations controllers now. woohoo! My SLMkII can control ALL logics plug-ins directly which is very cool...

+1 Novation SLMkII without hesitation...even though I tend to use Live now for most things.

Also, the MkII just got a big update in Ableton Live 8

http://www.youtube.com/user/NovationTV# ... 2piHzob4q0

[evanb]

I know I dont want to use the novations pads thats for sure, what about maybe a nocturn and MPD32. I could use the MPD32 faders and transports for mixer and transport control as well as beat making and use the nocturn with the heads up display for tweaking settings on vsts and instruments

[intensemojo]

Here you go, these helped me decide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czDlf8k-rA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PWfcggZAMI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjuUixwW9gI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JPdOnBwDsU

[Eunjihan]

Thanks intensemojo for those youtube links, you saved my life. I was looking at the 'control' section of the axiom pro manual and it was so vague as to being useless so I gave up on it.

As for the Axiom Pro 49 it is a great piece of equipment even if m-audio are now owned by the bastards at Avid. Yes they make good standard industry equipment, but typical Americans that they are, they buy up companies left right and centre to create a monopoly. Politics aside, I have to hand it to them for creating the almost perfect midi controller. I just hope they will resolve the numerical keys and Impulse issues. What's the point in playing drums on the keys and not being able to control parameters? As it stands, it is a joke. I am sure Ableton and M Audio will join forces to resolve this in the future......

I tried the Novation Nocturn 49 with Ableton and it was a disaster. Drum pads would play by themselves and sometimes 3 or more would go missing while I sat there looking at it wondering what was going on. Also, the drumpads are awful. You have to smack them in the middle or else they won't work. Unlike the axiom pro pads which are very responsive even when you hit them on the edges. And when it came to assigning encoders to paramaters I ended up controlling the same parameter with all 8 encoders. Needless to say I brought it back.

The keys on the Axiom Pro are so much better than the Novation's fatar keys (even on the SL Mk II) and the keys on the Akai MPK 49 are just too stiff.

I was thinking of getting the Novation Launchpad, but the faders jump up in increments of '6' so that was no use to me. I like the faders on the Aximo Pro, even if they feel a bit stiff at first, they do work very well. It's a bit like getting a new car, it takes a while to get used to.

Eun Ji Han

[madlab]

novation nocturn support sucks in live. No real implementation.
WE WANT IT. WE'VE BEEN ASKING IT SINCE THE NOCTURN WAS LAUNCHED. IT IS NOW THE CASE FOR THE REMOTE WITH AUTOMAP.
I already have a X-station, a nocturn, a korg pardkontrol. should I buy one more controller to get proper support ?