Customer Reviews

Novation Remote Zero SL Keyless Midi Controller, USB MIDI with Automap Universal Technology

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aside from some minor glitches, this is a breath of fresh air. I tried the Korg NanoKontrol with no success. With Cubase 5, the NanoKontrol took 45 minutes to configure and every time I closed out of Cubase 5, the programming was lost, even though I saved the template. With the ZERO, the templates are saved and programmed in Automap, which is awesome. It works well with a few flaws....

1) The bottom row of buttons below the faders are not programmable. That row of 8 buttons only serve as navigation through Novation pages on the controller.

2) if you are lost in Automap, you are lost. You have to power down the controller, close out Automap and in most cases, close and reload Cubase 5 to get back where you were with the controller.

3) When changing from application to application, Automap doesn't always change over successfully, in most cases rendering the controller useless until you power down the controller, shut down Automap and exit Cubase. Then, power up the controller, restart Automap and restart Cubase 5.

4) I have found no successful way to program this controller to turn on and off Automation on the channels.

5) I have found no successful way to program this controller to control FX mix while setup for mixing. You have to completely leave the mixer setup to control effects. I just simply want to program the encoders to handle the mix if FX per channel only. Even the NanoKontrol could do that.

Now, all that being said, the controller is great. I use it as a studio engineer with mixing audio. Not midi, just audio. I have enough on the controller to have assigned record arms for all channels, mutes, solos and panning along with faders. After setting up the channels manually on Cubase, I can lose the onscreen mixer as the ZERO tells me everything. Track names, controls selected .... That alone is a major step for a controller. Then, tack on the controller doesn't makes sudden jumps in volume. When revisiting a track, you must return the fader to where the volume was last before you regain control of the track volume. No sudden jumps in volume and trashing your monitors. :)

UPDATE : 10-08-2010

I contacted tech support via email and got one of these issues worked out. The not being able to assign the rotory encoder to mix effects is actually a way of teaching someone like me how to use C5 the right way. The rotory encoders control the send levels. So, set up an EFFECTS CHANNEL for whatever you need, set the mix to high on the effect and assign the 1st send to the effect on the audio channel. The rotory encoder knob then controls the output of the channel to the effect, like an aux out on a live board. 1 down. That's a big hurdle and 1 step closer, to me. This thing truly is amazing and is a lifesaver. It makes my work a lot more fun.

Finally, a MIDI Controller with intelligence! The Novation Zero SL has AutoMap technology which means no more spending precious production time assigning MIDI to your software. With AutoMap you simply start your software and it will automatically assign the Novation to your mixer channels. With Logic Studio it can't get any easier. I've tried many controllers without success - I had my doubts, but as soon as I took the Zero SL out of the box and installed the MIDI driver Logic recognized it - faders, pans, mute, transport controls, all worked!! The LCD at the top of the controller offers excellent visibility in low-light situations and allows you to automate your mix without even looking at the software - in realtime. Also, the names of your channels will show up on the Novation's LCD and even better, your automation values will display changes in realtime on the LCD too! In other words, when you automate a pan control (or fader), the software will kickback the values to the SL so you can monitor automation without reference to the DAW - this is probably my favorite aspect of all. The quality of the unit is excellent and I'd recommend the Novation Zero SL to anyone who wants to control their DAW easily and effortlessly.