Novation 25SL MkII USB/MIDI 25-Key Controller Keyboard

Physical controls

Assignable controls:

• 8 Encoders (Infinite Rotation) with touch-sensitivity and 11 segment Led rings

• 8 Pots (270 Rotation) with touch-sensitivity

• 8 Sliders with touch-sensitivity

• 32 Buttons with integrated LEDs (37 in MIDI mode]

• 8 soft feel Trigger pads

• Xpression Pad (as on existing SL)

• Xpression Stick (as on existing SL)

System buttons:

• General Automap Operation Buttons (Learn, View, Browser Groups etc.)

• Octave up/down buttons with LED indicator

The central system buttons from the SL have been simplified; there is now:

• 1 Automap button with LED to toggle Automap mode on and off (this replaces the PLAY button) – this way, manual MIDI mode is separate from Automap mode and can be avoided completely if preferred

• Template and Edit modes have been combined into one edit mode, for editing both individual controls and overall settings within one Template

Connectivity

Rear Panel connections are as follows:

• Data Port: 1 x USB (Win XP/Vista and Mac OSX – Not Class Compliant)

• MIDI: MIDI ONE: IN, OUT and Thru, MIDI TWO: OUT

• Sustain Pedal: 1 x 1/4 Jack Input

• Expression pedal: 1 x 1/4 Jack Input

• Power switch: Ext DC/USB

Minimum Computer spec:

• Mac

   - G4/1GHz with 256MB RAM

• PC

   - Pentium 3/1GHz/256MB RAM (machines running Vista will require a higher spec)

Dimensions

25SL (25 key)

• Size:

   W=468mm, H=68mm, D=293mm

• Weight:

   3.3kg

49SL (49 key)

• Size:

   W=803mm, H=68mm, D=293mm

• Weight:

   5.2kg

61SL (61 key)

• Size:

   W=965mm, H=68mm, D=293mm

• Weight:

   6.1kg

Manufacturer's Description

SL MkII is the advanced range of USB/MIDI controllers from Novation. They have been designed to give you complete control over your music making software. We have worked with each of the main DAWs to make sure each of the 56 knobs, faders and buttons control the things in your software that you need them to control including directly access to your plug-in instruments and FX (you also get an Italian made, semi-weighted keyboard mechanism). 

Italian-made keyboard: Incredible feeling professional keyboard

Velocity-sensitive, semi-weighted action keyboard with assignable after-touch; the Italian made keyboard mechanism plays like a musical instrument rather than a computer accessory. SL MkII comes in three sizes: 25, 49 and 61 keys - as well as a keyless "ZeRO" version which is a compact desktop DAW controller minus the keyboard mechanism.

Automap 4 control software: Spend more time making music, less time reading user guides

Many MIDI controllers have knobs, faders and buttons, but using them is difficult and time consuming!

SL MkII (as with all Novation controllers) comes with Automap control software. This gives you instant mapping to the things you need to control, meaning you can make full use of faders, knobs and buttons on SL MkII to get hands-on with your DAW and plug-ins.

144-character LCD: Large screen shows exactly what you are controlling

SL MkII's massive LCD screen displays information about what each knob, button and fader is controlling. It is large enough to show the name and value of entire rows of knobs, faders or buttons, instantly displaying what each control is assigned to. The screen lines up with controls so you can identify what control is assigned to which bit of your software without having to look at the software GUI.

Intelligent Controls: Back lit, LED-ringed, touch-sensitive controls

Illuminated controls provide feedback information about what controls are doing. For example LED rings around encoders tell you the position of your filter cutoff, and back-lit buttons will indicate whether a track is muted or not.

Each pot, encoder and fader is touch sensitive so by simply touching the control you can bring up information about that entire row of faders on the LCD screen without having to move the control and lose your settings.

Works with all major DAWs and plug-in instruments and effects

We have worked with major music software manufacturers to ensure SL MkII gives you instant hands-on control. In addition to the major DAWs, SL MkII & Automap 4 have been specially designed to give you full control of 3rd party plug-in instruments and effects, like Native Instruments, UAD or FXpansion.

SL MkII and Automap also gives high-level control of the following DAWs

SL MkII also comes with a stack of free software and sounds

• Ableton Live Lite - powerful loop based music-making software

• Novation Bass Station - legendary analogue bass synth as a software plug-in

• Loopmasters sample library - over 1GB of royalty-free samples

• Mike The Drummer - 502MB of live drum loops and breaks

Features

High quality professional keyboard

Velocity-sensitive, semi-weighted action keyboard with assignable after-touch. Italian made keyboard mechanism plays like a musical instrument rather than a computer accessory

Illuminated controls provide instant visual feedback

Brightly lit LED rings around the eight smooth encoders, and backlit buttons provide instant visual feedback

Giant 144-character LCD screen

Long LCD screen is large enough to show the name and value of entire rows of knobs, faders or buttons, instantly displaying what each control is assigned to

Huge array of touch-sensitive controls

Touch any knob or fader and all information (name and value of whatever it is controlling) will appear on the LCD screen above it

Automap 4 control software

SL MkII comes with Automap software which enables you to instantly map software parameters to faders, buttons, knobs (encoders and pots) and other controllers.

Connectivity

SL MkII can be USB powered, with expression and sustain pedal inputs as well as MIDI in and out ports for connecting external MIDI instruments

Automap 

Automap control software - instant mixer, transport and plug-in control 

So many controllers promise customers hands-on control of their music software and fail to deliver. Novation controllers are different; they come with Novation's revolutionary new Automap 4 software.

What is it?

Automap is a piece of software that comes with all Novation controllers. It makes it fast and simple to control your music software with knobs, buttons and faders. It has been used by many top musician/producers since 2006.

How can it help?

SL MkII gives you control over the mixer, transport and plug-ins of all major DAWs, as well as plug-in instruments and effects that don’t come with your DAW, like Native Instruments, Waves or FXpansion. Automap enables you to see instantly which knobs, faders and buttons are controlling which part of your software. It also makes it easy to quickly change what the knobs are controlling.

See what you are controlling

Automap has a software edit page that looks just like the SL MkII control surface. This labels what each knob, fader and button is controlling, because with so many things in your DAW and plug-ins, it is easy to lose track of what is assigned to what. You can hide this window once you are finished with it, so you can continue making music.

Get instant control

SL MkII’s controls can be used to control your plug-in instruments and effects. When you open a software instrument/effect, the 8 knobs will already be linked to commonly used parameters. If you want to control different things in your software, just press the ‘Learn’ button, click on the software parameter, and wiggle the knob that you want to control it. This way you can get hands on control of exactly what you want almost instantly.