Prices are up for the US now:

Nova Musik- The Electronic Musician's Wonderland.

$399,499,599.

I'm still thinking...

Managed to get a mk2 61 key for £440 instead of £500 so i ordered that. Should be here tomorrow. If i don't like it it's going back.

The prices for these Novation controllers are pretty steep. Berhinger can be had for just over $125. Compare with the $399 for the Novation and the screen and touch sensitivity don't become that attractive. Then again there is the Euphonix for $1000 with yet ore features. I do like the Novation, but the prices are basically saying they're shooting to be upper scale controller.

Let us know how it feels compared to the old controllers. I would think the build quality and feel of the knobs and sliders should be a lot better.

I doubt they will be better quality but i live in hope. A lot of the value in the software for me. I'll write a mini review for here I'll try and compare the keys, quality and feel of the controls from memory of the old one and whether I think the missing 2nd screen is an issue. As I see it, there's not a lot of decent options for controlling your plugins for a decent price (I do resent paying novation's prices but don't see a real alternative for the money). One press of a button and you've doubled your controls with name tags ect. I can't comprehend how euphonix can charge £900 for a set of 8 sliders - It's beyond me. Then novation is expensive for what it is but it seems like great value when compared to the top end controllers.

Yeah, I agree. But then I look at Behringer and wonder how they are able to hit such a low mark since the quality of these others isn't phenomenally better. I wouldn't be suprised if Behringer came out with their own software for the BCR2000 and had the whole thing less for $200, which is half the price of the Zero. (Euphonix unit with the screen is nice, but the other with 8 sliders seems like a bad deal.)

To me, used novation SLs will be a steal of a deal comparatively once you buy Auto Pro 3 for it.

so nobody knows the difference in the keys?

I think Pete might be able to tell us once he gets his mk2.

Got my mk2 and controlling ableton is a bitch...automap really is a fcker! My automap button won't light up and i'm stuck in advanced modes with some god damn fruity loops templated (I don't use fruity loops).

Anyway...

Keys feel the same, nice and springy for fast synth playing.

Drum pads much better, still little stiff though - you'd want a separate drum pad whether you get the mk1 or mk2.

Encoders are really nice - not the sturdiest but lush and my favourite controls on the unit - I didn't like the old mkI ones.

Buttons - a massive improvement - they feel perfect and give feedback - responsive compared to the clunky and sometimes squeaky mkI

Faders & Pots feel a bit smoother and more resistant in 'controlled' way

Touch sensitivity is useful for quick assigning and I don't really miss the screen, I just look at my computer for info so don't really even use the screen that's left.

Having said all this I get the feeling that novation quality control is about as existent as their customer support (my message on their website won't even send properly to contact customer support) - my unit has a scratch on the xy pad and looks like it's got bite marks on the joystick.

Not sure whether to keep or send back mainly because of my love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with automap.

Good to hear about the encoders, buttons, keys and pads. I wish the faders would've been a big(ger) improvement on there. I felt the mk1 ones were a little cheap and sometimes stiff.

The quality issue is kind of amusing. They don't seem like they want to make a high end unit, but they have a higher price tag, yet automap sounds like it's still not up to par. Is it the economy to cut costs?.? Small team for development? .. Well I do appreciate the offering by them of the mk2, but $400 for the Zero is a lot. Drop it $50 and it would've seemed more reasonable. I wonder if the faders are better on that.?

What model did you get Pete?

I got the Remote SL 61 mkII. I'm glad I went for the 61 key as I won't be traveling with it and have enough space - just the right amount of keys i'd say as I wasn't sure whether to go for the 49 but i'm happy with my decision.

Another thing that struck me with the mkII is that it all feels a bit more interactive with the lighting feedback. It more a few small improvements than anything else. The touch sensitivity can be turned on and off too.

I just need to fins some way that works to get my novation back to factory settings since using the template editor, automap software etc. didn't work. My automap and the mixer, instrument, user buttons ect. have stopped lighting up since i seem to be stuck in advanced mode on some random fruity loops template. The more ironic part is my email to novation's technical department won't send via their website! The maual should also be better.

I'm exceptionally frustrated since programming synths is a dream when using automap (not in advanced mode) - If only ableton and reason could be used this way.

Also, one can't edit ableton mappings without hassle and the parameters are not displayed if you do so according to Novations website.

I would suggest looking on the ableton forums for into on how to implement automap, I think i remember seeing it discussed. I thought I saw someone say they "tricked" live into thinking their mkII was 2 control surfaces. So one was the normal way, and the other was another control surface that the novation was emulating, to control the live mixer stuff. I may be way off though, and cant remember any more than that so I'd suggest doing some more research.

I'd really appreciate to know some major differences between MK1 and MK2.

Are Keyboard, XY Pad, Aftertouch response basically the same?

Cheers, i'll try and find something about that. Need to get my unit working normally first though.

XY pad looks and feels the same although i've not used it for anything. The keyboard and aftertouch feel the same.

ed. can't seem to find that post at all

Search for a thread in the feature wishlist forum on ableton's site called "The Automap 3 Mixer Control petition for Live 8" by "dj ray"

Towards then end of the thread there's a post by "mazmith" with the following:

"i get mixer control and plugin control with the novation by essentially tricking ableton into thinking it is another controller that has these capabilities. i set the control surface in live to the bcr2000, and the input/output to automap. then i see which cc#s and such the bcr2000 sends to live and mimic those settings on the novation. you then have instant mapping of all of live's mixer controls/fx/instruments. it takes about a day to set up, but it works well. i have also use the trigger finger with the bcr's controls, so i know it works with several controllers. just find the data sent from a controller that has instant mapping capabilities and copy that."

Of course I can't swear by that or even know what he's sayin 100%, but there are other posts in the thread that may explain it more.

Hope this helps.

Edit: and if you get it to work like this or learn more in general I'd really like to hear about your experiences because I've been looking at getting an MKII maybe and Live is my main DAW

Edit 2: I was just looking around more on ableton's forums and found a couple other threads that seem helpful:

"Novation Remote SL MkII and Native Live Instruments/Effects"

and

"SL 61 MKII - Novation are making me lose the will to live!"

The first one seems like it might even have a visual depiction of how to use the MKII automap with live.

Thanks. LoL, that second one is mine

SL 37 mkII for me.

I've got both a Novation SL61 and an SL61 MKII, and if I had to choose, I'd pick the latter.....

I'm guessing that's what you would prefer, as I do as well. Wish they would've skipped the 25 keys. It's small, but too limiting (ok we've been here before )

I would choose the mk2 over the 1 except there is no SL37. If it didn't fit so well in my studio I might go for the mk2, but the prices are more than the old ones when they came out, right? I love that everything is now lit up. They should light up the drums pads too like Korg.

All my software problems are fixed, i now have all my plugin's working with automap and easily mapped ableton in advanced mode just using midi learn...sweet! I think the lighting feedback does make all the difference really. Novation's support seems quite good actually and we're getting a new forum.

Great to hear that!

So Novation is getting a new forum on the novation site?

I'm up in the air on how much of a difference the new Mk2 is going to make. I like my SL37. I like the size and 2nd display and enjoy the neutral grey color. I actually like lots of lights and color, but the old SL has a wonder color scheme and charm.

I'm wondering if the extra dedicated 'Plugin' Inst' and 'Mixer' buttons make things a lot more intuitive... and how much so? The buttons look nicer to press, but do I need to spend $250 after I sell mine to get that. The current SL is a great deal if you get the Automap 3.0 Pro with it. Do the lit buttons make everything more understandable as to what's assigned and going on? I'm just trying to weigh how much of an improvement all this is.

I would basically be sacrificing the perfect sized keyboard for my studio, to having to make room for a SL49 (25 is too small) and I would actually have make it fit in the tight spot my SL37 is.