Novation 61SL MkII 61-Key USB Keyboard Controller

With 8 faders, 16 knobs and 32 assignable buttons -- all backlit by bright LEDs -- this 61-key MIDI controller is ready for the professional stage or studio.

Overall User Ratings (based on 7 ratings)
  • Overall:
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Sound:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Features:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Ease of Use:
    2.5 out of 5 stars
  • Quality:
    3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Value:
    3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Manufacturer Support:
    3 out of 5 stars
  • The Wow Factor:
    4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 3 out of 5 stars
(7) (see rating details)
Submitted February 2, 2014 by Dan S in Cobleskill, NY

"Novation 61SL MK2 61 Key USB Keyboard"

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
The Keyboard and midi controls are very good. The Automap 4 software has a steep learning curve and is not always consistent. Also, the functionality of the Automap 4 software varies greatly depending on what DAW you use. The software doesn't have great documentation and can be confusing. Overall if you can get past the learning curve of the Automap 4 software It's quite a good keyboard controller.

Musical Background:

Keyboards and guitar with 55 years of experience.

Musical Style:

Jazz (Great American Song Book) Blues, Contemporary Country and Blue Grass.
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Submitted May 14, 2015 by Francisco Gonzalez in Draper, UT

"Almost great Novation 61SL mk2"

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I purchased this with the hope of augmenting my Yamaha MOXF8's weighted keys with a controller with synth and/or semi-weighted keys. When I first laid my hands upon this keybed, I thought I had found the perfect controller. In fact, I liked the keys better than a MOXF6's synth weight keys I tried in a store. The problem came when I tried to use the pitch/mod joystick, and it would not return to center/zero on its own. It's possible I had a defective unit, but after playing with it for a while, my gut tells me it's a design flaw. One other slight niggle is that the aftertouch seemed overly sensitive. To be fair, I was comparing with a Roland A800-Pro which has the opposite problem where aftertouch requires too much force. My last experience with aftertouch was a Roland D50 and Roland U20, and I remember the aftertouch on those to be very nice and somewhere in between this unit and an A800. I did not try any of the software auto map features of this unit because I didn't want to open anything else once I decided it wasn't going to work for me.

Musical Background:

Played Clarinet from 5th grade to University symphonic band. I've dabbled in keyboards on and off for 25 years.

Musical Style:

Rock, blues, electronic, orchestral/symphonic.
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