Novation Impulse or Novation 49 SL Mk II for Ableton?

[shhk88]

What's up people? I am sorry to ask again about midi keyboards. I did a lot of research and found numerous mixed messages about these two keyboards. I read that the quality of Impulse is really bad compared to Novation 49 SL Mk II. I am looking for a keyboard that will last me a while and works well with Ableton. Please feel free to share your thoughts and the pros/cons. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Not_Elba]

I had both for a short while, but I decided to go for the zero, because I couldn`t get a Novation Controler where the keys were all ok.
On the Impulse, A2 was defective, the MKII had 3 defective keys! and 3 others where you heared a click when pressing the aftertouch. Really annoying. Not very solid if you ask me. My ancient DX7 has more solid keys than that
All in all I liked the keys of the MKII more, but just because it felt more like a keyboard(which I prefer).
The Impulse keys were good also, felt stiffer and a bit more piano-like. The MKII-keys were more rounded at the edges (which I liked more) and if I remember correctly, the black keys of the Impulse were a bit shorter (in relation).
For my needs the MkII would be the better choice, but it depends.
The overall build-quality is better on the MKII, no doubt, but it`s also more expensive. The Impulse is definitely ok IMO and has a viable price-performance-ratio.
It has more knobs, and the display and the fader leds give you enough feedback without always looking at the screen.
For external plugin-control with a lot of knobs and faders, the MKII wins.
The drum-pads however are far better on the Impulse. I wouldn`t even call the black tiny things on the MKII drumpads. To me, they are totally useless for serious drumming (at least you can use them as additional control knobs)and the touch-sensitivity is also much better on the Impulse.
Both worked with Ableton 9 without problems (controlling Ableton mixer, instruments, effects, clip-launch and external plugins).

Nevertheless, if I would start again, I would choose the Push, MKII Zero and a good dedicated Masterkeyboard with non-defective keys

[c5]

I'm looking at the impulse as well and was wondering if you've used it without automap? Will most of the controls map using the built in mapping from Live or is using automap a must to get the most out of it? I've seen a lot of horror stories about automap and would prefer not to have to install it.

[timday]

We use the Impulse 25s at my workplace and they seem to map fine without automap - all the clip launch stuff works fine as does using it as a control surface, using macros etc. If you sync back to it the Impulse's arpeggiator works nicely as well, I've been having some fun with that.

I think with Impulse and Ableton you mostly need automap to set up your own custom mappings within the Impulse (e.g. cc mappings for the rotaries or keys for the drum pads) which you may want for particular setups or instruments. If you don't need to do that I wouldn't bother with it.

[Not_Elba]

I'm looking at the impulse as well and was wondering if you've used it without automap? Will most of the controls map using the built in mapping from Live or is using automap a must to get the most out of it? I've seen a lot of horror stories about automap and would prefer not to have to install it.

To be honest, I don`t use Automap much (but it works). I can midimap all parameters in Ableton (and my plugins) on the fly.

[mbakirov]

you can use automap for vsts, but for ableton it really works without it.
all the magic is done in python scripts provided.

[yur2die4]

I love my Remote SL mkII with all of my heart. It is loaded with potential. Plus it shows all the Ableton parameters you are controlling on the display. That is really hard to beat.

Are there any specific features from either controller that stand out for you? Sometimes something looks good on paper, but doesn't function as smoothly as expected.

For instance, on my mkII, the drum pads are not so great as actual drum triggers, and the xy pad uses a weird method (not nearly as smooth as Korg style. It requires a bit of pressure for it to pick up your finger position). Aside from those, everything else is amazing for me.

[Rdej]

What's up people? I am sorry to ask again about midi keyboards. I did a lot of research and found numerous mixed messages about these two keyboards. I read that the quality of Impulse is really bad compared to Novation 49 SL Mk II. I am looking for a keyboard that will last me a while and works well with Ableton. Please feel free to share your thoughts and the pros/cons. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hey shhhk88, I actually have a Novation 49 SL Mk II in the buy/sell section of the forums, if you decide to go with that keyboard feel free to message me. It's in great condition and will save you a few bucks.

[Martin Gifford]

I love the Impulse keyboard, drumpads, and arpeggiator. Don't like the sliders and automap.

The keyboard just constantly felt "right" to me. I never even noticed it because it was so perfect. Then after a few months, I thought, "Gee, this keyboard feels great." It is so seemless for me.

Of course, YMMV. Keyboard feels are a personal thing.

[distaudio]

I've had a MKII for awhile now. Initially I didnt like the key action but after awhile I have grown accustomed to it.

If I had one complaint it would be the drum pads. They aren't the best. But in regards to customisation of the device it is very deep and switching of mappings is a breeze with or without automap.

[shhk88]

Thanks for the replies!! A lot of mixed messages.. ha ha.. I am gonna go to a store to check it out this weekend.. Thanks guys