anyway lol the keyboard on the novation is a fatar so the feel and the quality are there it’s just if you want to take the risk with the automap ,there are many happy users of automap …OR to the next generation of controller , would you take the risk ???
it’s selling point is 1 motorized fader lol
Interesting, I wonder if it works better than automap?
it’s not released till march on the cubase support so it looks like we will just have to wait and see 
thats what I figured.
thanks
So, I have just done exactly this. I got rid of my Axiom 61 (its on ebay right now) and have bought the novation after receving advice from others i inc filter freak.
This is my opnion.
Build wise its OK but not that great. Its light and plastic throughout. My other keyboards are a lot more money and build is far better (Roland 700NX - Nord C2)… Its a step up from the Axiom, but not by much build wise. The axiom faders were practically toys. However the Mk2 though plasticky and light weight, has 360 rotaries with lights, and tuch sensitive knobs - so its better tech wise.
Cubase 7 is not officially supported, but as I had Cubase 6 on my system it worked. I ma told if you dont have this it does not work - by their tech.
Surround Panners dissapear, but if you disable them in the MKii mapping they come back
Just to be clear every plugin you have gets a wrapper similar to JBridge. You then use the ‘wrapped’ versions with the MKII.
I found that some plugins got wrapped and some didn’t. Not sure why, but maybe its because of their location. I decided to tidy up my VST locations and found a bit of a mess so I have tidied al the DLL’s into Steinberg/VSTPlugins, something I was meaning to do anyway.
Currently NO plugin is being recognised by the MKII/Cubase as being mapped. Perhaps something to do with the sometimes too clever algo in Cubase that ignores plugins with similar names. Not sure at this stage.
I plan to dinstall AUtomap today and then reinstall. Hopefully that should clear things up. I do notice that after deinstalling automap its easy to leave some wrapppers behind. The best thing gto do is to first decommision them using the Autumap software (detick them) this erases the wrappers, then deinstall
I have got a few things ‘working’ with the software, but I find the blue VDU screen especially difficult to read - its not large and in the position I have it, just above and beyond my Roland its obscured. The video tutorials on the site are for Automap 3, but now its Automap 4.6 which looks entirely different. The video for the hardware is where the guy tries to explain the Zero AND the Mk2 interface at the same time - slightly confusing.
I found out that you can use the “Edit mapping screen” to see what is controlling what and maybe this is going to help.
Is it worth buying? Well TBH I am not sure. It’s not a suprise to have a couple of days of set up issues and so far I have only found one definite flaw (the surround panner support) but it’s easy to workaround. Installing the Automap software probably can be less painless for some, and I think eventually I shall get it working. It remains to be seen if it is really useful with my heavyweight plugins. The concept of automap seems good though and I would hate to map all my plugins which include Some VSL, Halion 4, Padshop pro, omnisphere, trillian, RMX, Kontakt 5, Truepianos, some Play software, various orchestras, BFD2 and a NI B4.
Is there an alternative? Well my research has not found anything better.
BTW a thanks to filter freak for his help
Zero
id say if your that unhappy with it take it back and wait till you find something your happy with , maybe im a lucky one but i certainly haven’t had the issues your talking about with the wrapping , you fine even thou some plugin’s in the same folder look as thou they have not wrapped they are and still work with automap (thats what i have found anyway) .
If you think the screen is to small and unreadable then you ever haven’t got the keyboard at the right height (i hear you say you have it ABOVE another keyboard ?)then of course you won’t see the display ,can you see out of a car window if your sitting on the floor ? .
All in all i find there are many happy users of the automap and novation (fatar) keyboards and as you have only had it a couple of days i suggest if your that unhappy with it take it back and leave the novations to the people that like them ,and there are lots of us !
john
padshop pro is mapped btw and why can’t you just set the directory to scan for your plugin’s for these instruments after all thats what automap is for , if you don’t want to map them why buy the keyboard?
Filterfreak, I get the fact you like the keyboard more than I, I am just registering my opinion - which is just that - subjective.
Currently Automap is not mapping correctly here, but to be fair Novation are stating they dont yet support Cubase 7. Maybe it’s because of Cubases’s algo (above) or its because I moved the plugins and remapped. All the correct paths are in Automap. No doubt I can fix this today with a reinstall. My last deinstall left a lot of detritus around - some automap files were left behind some went.
As for moving the board it’s not practical. Many controller keyboards live above the main keys. I should like to see a bigger screen, viewable from the front, even for those of us that wear glasses.
As fro the mapping issue - that’s what I meant this is the good thing about automap - hopefully I wont have to do this again.
As for bringing it back to the shop, thats my deicsion. Maybe it IS the best on the market. Its build is not great and it has synth keys rather than weighted which I suppose is fine for many - even most. There is the studiologic keyboards, which seem to be upmarket but I have never seen one. Maybe after I work this out I shall keep it, its too early to say.
I acquired a Novation ZeRO SL and set up the automap software. I found that the software that I wanted to control - Kontakt the Sample modelling Mr Sax did not work with it. Major disappointment! However when I uninstalled the automap software I had to delete every single automap dll manually - major pain. At the moment I am wondering if I want to try again with C7. I am being put off by some of the previous comments.
I did wonder whether the software contributed to some instability?
Mr S
I dont want to want to put you off - yes I have had a bit of a pain in the butterdish but I think it may all be worthwhile.
VST has come a long way and I must say I dont fully understand the techy differences between VST, VST2 and VST3
But it would sure be nice if keyboards were automatically mapped to a given VST by some kind of GM like standard.
In the meantime Automap is a pretty mature bit of software - @ version 4.6 (IMO) even though using wraps has it issues because the whole idea of wrapping a VST is a very strange concept - a workaround if you like.
One of my dreams is to have a tablet with an interface that handles all these VST’s and the mixer and bluetooths or wifis its results to CUbase proper on the PC. Would be great for sitting back in the studio.
I would be prepared to persevere if I could be assured that Automap does indeed work with Kontakt. I was sure that the automapped Kontakt was causing stability problems. Session Drums is difficult enough as it is.
After reading this thread on Friday, I ordered a Novation Zero SLMKII controller that day it was delivered Saturday and spent all day with it.
Kontakt works with automap in Nuendo 5.5 64bit. I have not tried it with C7 yet. I will do that today.
What I have found so far is the quality of the hardware is acceptable considering the price. Automap is great software, but many of the Automapped VST’s are not set up logically IMO.
For example, on some templates a parameter like EQ gain is mapped to a button, so you push the button, and it turns the gain to maximum. Hit it again, back to zero. so you have to re-map it to a pot or fader to get in between values.
But tweaking the templates is very easy thanks to automaps drag and drap re-ordering feature. Anyway everyone works differently so customizing is inevitable.
All the plugins showed up right away, you just have to make sure plugin directories are setup correctly in automap.
Kontakt is complex. different libraries have different controls that need their own mapping. For example I am customizing one for Damage, one for Evolve etc.
I also us V-control Pro on the iPad, though not a keyboard controller, it works great for tweaking parameters on any plugin via touch screen. I use this when sound designing whilst at my keyboard so I don’t have to keep going back and forth to my desktop to change things.
Lots of potential with the Zero SLMKII, I like it so far and will keep it.
im glad some one else on here is happy lol , it should work exactly the same in c7 with no problems .
Automap is a wonderful bit of software if installed and used as instructed and once you have set your folders up as you have said .
glad to here your happy chappy
I bought a novation 37sl and did not like automap so I exchanged it for an Axiom
Also like the keys on the axiom
I had automap for almost 3 years and tried hard to love it, then i gave up and decided its not worth my short precious time to troubleshoot instead of making music. Throughout the years i have developed Zero tolerance policy that kicks after a while, I used to love native instruments, owned Komplete for a while then got tired of there authorization system failing all the time “i still have an elicenser USB key from the first version of reaktor”… so I decide not to use there software anymore and seek better alternatives… i do not have a lot of time to geek around and improve my troubleshooting skills, i prefer to make music…so far giving cubase the benefits of the doubt!
Komplete works fine. I have not had an authorisation fail or anything like. Certainly no USB key as everything is done online. The only issue I have had with Komplete is the CPU hit with Modern Drummer and Session Drums.
I know that they have fixed it, but it took good 3-4 years of a fluad authorization system ni was developing to make it work! Version 1 of reaktor came with the same USB elicencer that cubase is using today! Then the mess started, I am glad it’s working for you, I just lost my faith in the company long time ago… Back to the topic, ooooops
Could you explain this more fully - I would be very grateful. Thanks.
Yamaha would have every cubase user using a MOX6/8 if they had their way, be interesting to see what’s introduced at NAMM in a few weeks. Novation SL Zero MKII is good once setup up, though the default mappings are horrible and need lots of reworking to remap so you know the filters and volume (for example) are always on the same controls.
Kontakt can be a bind though, there are so many random controller numbers assigned by different software houses, can’t get it to recognise the difference between Sound Irons Venus/Mars mapping to Samplelogics Synergy. Best not to auto wrap during setup, found easier to go back and add them one at a time, otherwise, as mentioned, you end up with two of everything in the plugin folders.
Unless Yamaha have something up their sleeve, (an affordable mini Nuage maybe) doubt if there will be any thing good controller wise at this years NAMM as C7 is so radical, especially the new mix console, it will probably take a year to mature enough before third party controls are released. Think V-Control will be first off the block, works great but not the same as actually grabbing a real fader or knob or button with your hands.
I bought Cubase to use with my Nektar Panorama keyboard. If you haven’t seen the Panorama, check it out here:
www.nektartech.com
They just announced a Cubase implementation similar to what I already have for Reason. Sweet 