Novation 49 SL Mk II Reviews

4.2/5.0 based on 3 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Paul Bates

An awesome addition to any studio, project or otherwise, the Novation SL Mk II 49 will give you a hands-on approach to your music production at a superb price-point.

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Customer Reviews

Elo The Source Beatz
from Ohio
October 31, 2009Music Background:
Producer / Recording Engineer / Sound Engineer

One Of The Best I have Had !!!!!

This Controller is Sick i have used alot of Controller but this one is in a space of its own not for the person who is just having nothing but fun this Controller is for rhe real hart to hart Music Producer ect.. it has all of that and some you must be ready for this Controller it need tou to give it a run rof its money novation put there foot down on this one auto map is real nice and user User Friendly its not a plug and paly from the box to the daw you can set what you want from the samml things to the big stuff I can go on and on about this Master Controller.

Greg Mackender
from Kansas City
February 25, 2012Music Background:
performer

A great desktop controller

A solid feeling instrument. The keyboard has a good feel, quick action. Knobs and sliders have a good quality feel, not a given in $500-and-under price range. I needed physical midi ports as well as USB, and the MkII has a full compliment, including 2 out ports. Pedaling: Sustain AND expression (assignable). The pad controllers aren't as up-to-date in size and feel as some other more recent controllers, but surely usable. The Automap software is well thought out, and works fairly seamlessly in the background. Plan to spend a little time learning and making sure your version is current..there's a lot of depth (and potential) there. Finally, the display is great, and keeps itself updated in whatever mode you're in. A 'con' to the above 'pros' : Power supply is now optional, and pricey (USB powering works just fine however).

Jason
from Los Angeles, CA
May 4, 2011Music Background:
Longtime Hobbyist

Quirky Software

I suppose this is a step up from the other controllers I've tried, but it is really quirky and is definitely not worth $500 (maybe $250 or $300?). It works okay inside Logic controlling your plugins ... except that the sustain pedal port doesn't work at all, the drum pads are terrible (some trigger very low velocities, others very high --- no matter how hard they are pressed), and the Automap software is slow and buggy. It's next to impossible to use the x/y-axis pad, as well. This thing has to enter a separate mode to transmit standard MIDI --- not something that it is particularly good at --- so it is almost useless if you're trying to control Arturia or NI plug-ins in standalone mode. Finally, for some reason, two of the dials on mine will never work until you manually modify the parameters they're set up to modify using your mouse. After that, they work (no clue why this is so).

inSync Review

Paul Bates
1-31-2000

The Novation SL Mk ii 49 is an awesome addition to any studio, project or otherwise. This controller will give you a hands on approach to your music production. Keeping the awesome 49-key semi weighted keybed aside, it features 8-trigger pads, 8 sliders, 32 multi-use buttons, 8 encoders, 8 pots, Xpression pad and Xpression port. The features could go on and on. To make sure you can get the USB powered SL Mk ii running quick, it comes with Ableton Live 7 Lite and Automap 3 PRO software to make the process of assigning controls a breeze. As a final thought, the SL Mk ii is also a fully functional control surface for your DAW. When I record in my home, I am not always next to my computer so the transport controls are a life-saver. There are many USB MIDI Controllers out there but consider the features they offer and you find yourself begging for the Novation SL Mkii 49.