Ableton Forum

pluses and minuses or reviews my bday is coming up and i wanna get one just not sure which one to get also wanna get a zero mk1 or mk2 to pari with my launchpad thanks in advance

Main differences for me....

MK2 Feels a lot better.
Knobs are higher quality and sliders and drum pads also.
Back lit knobs and buttons are awesome for live.
Crossfader is a welcome addition.
The knob that does anything is really useful.
Lack of side buttons is a small negative..
Two screens on MK1 was great and is definitely missed on MK2, biggest minus for me.
Don't drop your MK2 even 6 inches when drunk at the end of a gig with the angle brackets are on as your screen may also crack from the inside like mine did

I have had a 37 MKI, a ZERO MKI, and now own just a 25 MKII

If it is studio only, the MKI is great, but for live stuff, the MKII, cos the backlit LEDs on the endless rotaries makes a huge difference.

So I would say get a second-hand MK1 unless you plan on doing gigs.

FWIW, the drum pads are shite on both.

condra wrote:
FWIW, the drum pads are shite on both.

this.

MK1 has the a display above the "mixer" section & FWIW it's pretty fKn practical

no one has any feedback

badguy#5 wrote:no one has any feedback

Did you miss the last four posts?

I'll add that I personally prefer the mkI purely because of the 2nd screen. I find it much more intuitive. Although I do prefer the mkII encoders and the rings are nice, the single screen kinda messes me up. Tough call, I have an SL61 mkI and an SL25 mkII. Might sell the 25.

Glotchrock, would you agree that a Zero mkII would be more suitable for DJ work in a dark club, while the mk1 would have the edge in the studio because of the second screen?

condra wrote:Glotchrock, would you agree that a Zero mkII would be more suitable for DJ work in a dark club, while the mk1 would have the edge in the studio because of the second screen?

Probably. I would say the increased visual feedback of the mkII is offset by the lack of second screen though. A case could be made for either being more important. Me I htink I'd prefer the screen.
But on the other hand, the smooth encoders on the mkII are certainly better for performance, whereas I don't mind the notched encoders for studio use. Actually I tend to use the them for selectors and menu style controls quite often.

The 2nd display on the mixer section of the mk1 makes it very usefull for studio. With the built-in Ableton template it shows the track names automatically. This is very very nice. Don't know why Novation dropped that with mk2. It's stupid.

Hi guys,

I am too looking at getting a Zero SL but not sure what model to get. I can pick up a cheap MK1 but wondering if I should get the MK2 for the simple reason that its newer, Novation are going to have the latest drivers for it and possible support if needed?

If the MK1 still supoorted does anyone know?

I want it for atudio work only. So you think the MK1 will be good for that?

i don't actually have my remote yet (on the delivery truck as we speak, should be here today).
But I don't think losing the second screen is quite as bad as it could be.
I am going by Novation's demo videos; haven't tried it myself yet obviously.
But this is what swayed me to go ahead and go with the mkii:
In their video, they push 'preview' and move sliders for volumes/pans/etc.
When you do this, the track names and associated values (volumes, pans, etc)
show up on the left LCD screen. So you still get them, just not over the sliders.

This actually is better to me than two screens, most of the time - less looking
back and forth, once you get your hands trained.

Anyways, you still get the track names, just not in the same way.

theophilus wrote:i don't actually have my remote yet (on the delivery truck as we speak, should be here today).
But I don't think losing the second screen is quite as bad as it could be.
I am going by Novation's demo videos; haven't tried it myself yet obviously.
But this is what swayed me to go ahead and go with the mkii:
In their video, they push 'preview' and move sliders for volumes/pans/etc.
When you do this, the track names and associated values (volumes, pans, etc)
show up on the left LCD screen. So you still get them, just not over the sliders.

This actually is better to me than two screens, most of the time - less looking
back and forth, once you get your hands trained.

Anyways, you still get the track names, just not in the same way.

That's how it works in theory, but in practice, it's a huge pain in the ass and not intuitive to look at the left hand screen and match up the column over there to the column on the right side. Looking directly over controls is fast and intuitive, but taking a second to look at the left side and think ok, that's the fourth one over and then find the corresponding sliders is just enough to be very annoying.

glitchrock-buddha wrote: That's how it works in theory, but in practice, it's a huge pain in the ass and not intuitive to look at the left hand screen and match up the column over there to the column on the right side. Looking directly over controls is fast and intuitive, but taking a second to look at the left side and think ok, that's the fourth one over and then find the corresponding sliders is just enough to be very annoying.

After playing with it some, I can see what you mean. I was kind of expecting after moving a fader, it would wait a few seconds, then go back to the automapped device, but it just stays on the faders until you touch another knob. Doesn't bother me that much, but it is a little bit of a pain - you have to touch a device knob to see the labels, to know which knob you want. I can definitely see the advantage of the second screen there. And maybe a couple of raised orientation dots on faders 3 and 6 would help (so your fingers can know which fader they are on without looking).

Overall... still think for my use the MKII is better. And my kids LOVE the LED rings, so they were playing with it a while last night too - bonus. But if I really needed quick access back and forth between faders and device knobs, the first SL would probably be better.