Well, it is a MIDI controller, so it has no own sound. But the sound you can get of a decent VST plugin with all the real-time controls and essential playing skills is... 10!

Automap is a really intelligent software and does a lot of the work if you want to focus more on playing and exploring sound. I regularly check out new free VSTs via KVRaudio, and I must say I developed this hobby of automapping, layouting, and categorizing plugins! I am possibly just that type of person who likes patterns and systems... Oh and the reason I bought it second hand although there's the MKII version out for quite some time, I find 25 keys are just not enough, and 49 keys are just too big to be portable, so the golden 37 keys are a huge plus.

Don't believe the people who say it's complicated to learn how MIDI specs, Automap, VST things, DAW software etc. work. In other words, if you know how to fire up a plugin in your sequencer, then the Remote SL with its Automap is no challenge for you to learn.

Overall it's plastic, yeah, but hey - the price! People who complain about build quality of mass-produced MIDI gear always have the option to get super-quality gear for double the price or so. The drum pads are too hard, their response feels more like that of rubber erasers glued to the Remote's surface than useful trigger pads. The 8 faders are quite short, not optimal. But they do the job. I actually replaced the fader knobs to more 'grippy' ones. Unlike the new Remote MKII series, the MKI still has the second LC display above the faders! For my plugins it's unneccessary since I always assign fixed controls like ADSRs to all pages of the particular plugin, but for mixer mode (Ableton Live is what I am using) it's handy to see the track names in rows of 8 each. The buttons are not perfect as well, they feel weirdly 'slippery' (in a dry-rubber-slippery way) but then they sometimes get stuck to the surface. Also the assignable buttons don't have LEDs so it may be tedious to check the display first, which button does what, and then push it, then switch back to whatever controls I was editing, etc. Novation fixed this in the MKII version. The keys have often been praised for their quality. I agree! And it was with these keys I started actually using aftertouch. Nice. Oh and the Remote SL keyboards' Mod wheel can be switched from spring-loaded to free, not sure if the MKII models still have this feature.

I'd buy the Remote SL 37 again for it's features, even if the price for a MKII was the same.

Never had to. Support not neccessary = support good.

Features, displays, keys: yeah! Limited edition design: ummm... but I don't care that much about the looks.

semi-professional sound designer

electronica