Keyboard Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 54) AUDITION NOVATION REMOTE 49SL COMPACT MIDI CONTROLLER KEYBOARD by Mitchell Sigman The “speed dial” endless rotary encoder makes it easy to control parameters with the mouse cursor, or change sounds on a soft synth. Instead of the original ReMote SL’s plethora of knobs and faders, the Compact trims down to eight endless, clickydetented knobs for your tweaking pleasure. Large, MPC-style velocity-sensitive drum pads are actually bigger than those on the original ReMote SL series. Transport controls let you run your DAW without taking your hands off the black-and-whites. Group switches let the encoders and buttons control the same number of parameters as the full-blown SL. The bright blue, 144-character LCD display shows parameter names on top and associated values on the bottom. The firm and substantial synthaction keyboard actually has weights underneath the keys — nice! Synth purists tend to prefer wheels to joysticks, so in place of the original ReMote SL’s joystick, the Compact version uses mini-sized pitchbend and modulation wheels. Hot on the heels of Novation’s successful, full-featured ReMote SL series of MIDI controllers comes the ReMote SL Compact series, in 25 and 49-key flavors. Novation’s innovative Automap Universal automated controller mapping software is retained, but with fewer physical controls in smaller, easier-on-the-wallet packages. Up until now, Automap has only supported the VST plug-in format on the PC side and AudioUnits for Macs, but Novation has recently announced a free Automap Universal update that supports VST on Mac, and TDM as well as RTAS for Digidesign Pro Tools users. 54 keyboard 03-2008 MIDI controller keyboard with drum pads, endless rotary knobs, and Automap Universal handshaking with music software. PROS Automap software allows a tremendous amount of control over DAW and plug-in synth parameters with a minimum of tedious mapping procedures. Classy-feeling keyboard. Large backlit display. CONS Pitchbend and modulation wheels are the only non-detented, “smooth” controllers on the keyboard. No dedicated program change buttons. $499; 25-key version, $399. Novation www.novation music.com http://www.novationmusic.com
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