| I have mixed feelings about my MkI but I'm glad I didn't drop the extra coin for the mkII. First, if you want the latest automap, you can always drop $35 or whatever to have it with the Mark I. Second, the Mark I keys are better and you get an extra screen. So it all depends on workflow. It's a pure studio piece for me, so there's no need for visual feedback with 3400x1200 of screen in front of me, but for a live show I could see the MkII having advantages. I'm actually happy with the hardware for the level of stuff I do right now.
That said, Automap is really hit or miss with the remote SL. I found that some automap wrapped plugs don't respond well or become glitchy, and worse, automap simply didn't work with Digital Performer and Native Instruments synths, which was one of the big reasons I bought it in the first place (worked fine in Ableton LIve, though) and is one of the sets of applications they ADVERTISE AS ACTUALLY WORKING. All I'd get is wacky button behavior.
Posting here and on their user forum brought me no answers, so I sprung for a call to Novation tech support in England. The tech support rep was very responsive and helpful and spent lots of time with me until he confirmed that it was a bug. Then it was sent to the developers and after a couple months I gave up sending followup emails as the TS rep obviously wasn't going to be able to set the agenda for the coders. I guess I would be less disappointed if Novation didn't actually advertise automap and the Remote SL MkI as working with Native Instruments synths and Digital Performer. I think it's kind of corrupt to falsely advertise, but then in an vaporware-filled industry, perhaps it's par for the course.
Long story short, when I use DP, I still mostly mouse my synths and plugs. But I've been doing that for 10 years so I don't feel any different. I just thought I'd have another option. |