Hi, I just read about the soon to be released Novation XL3 and was wondering if anyone else has checked it out as it looks promising. Thanks!
I currently use 8 of the MKII versions and have 4 of the new MK3 versions on preorder
The beauty of them is that they have the ability to change the USB Device IDs. This means once you do that that each one shows up as its own device and your OD and software doesn’t get confused
They have 8 user presets they call"scenes" where each of the 24 knobs, 8 Faders, and 16 buttons can be set to any MIDI Channel and CC you want or to MIDI Note On/Off data
I set up my rack spaces to mirror the controls of the device
The new MKIII has encoders for the knobs which should be awesome
Thanks for that info! Looks like I’ll be getting one myself
Cool
One tip I can share is that you get 8 user scenes which are complete programs and setting for all of the knobs, faders, and buttons and it switches pretty much instantly
I have all the knobs and faders set up as MIDI CCs and have user 1 on channel 1, user 2 on channel 2 and so on
I make very heavy use of them for sound design with software synths
So when I go to set up widgets and rackspaces in Gig Performer I use scene 1 and if that gets maxed out, I just hit user and button 2 and I am in user 2 instantly and you can have 8 banks so that’s like having 192 knobs, 64 faders and 128 buttons all in one unit
That along with the power of Gig Performer makes for INSANE power around sound design
Then what I do with multiple units is just have the first one on user one, the second on user 2 etc. but the system works with one unit or 8
Quite impressive! Thanks again for that info
My only real wish for the device is that Novation would offer some kind of more useful display.
An add on display, something like Icon has with the P1-M and P1-X, would be great.
If I have to remember where every knob is for every rackspace with no display then I can’t realistically have more than a couple knobs. In that case I don’t need an XL3.
Screens like Novation puts on the SL MK3 keyboards would do nicely as well.
I agree it needs more of a display. They cut costs by just having that tiny screen, Ikon looks impressive but it also costs about three times as much. I also like that the XL3 has setups for Ableton Live and Logic
Mine is already on order for the end of July or early August when it hits the streets. Can’t wait.
You don’t really need a screen however. I just make the rack space look like the layout on my Launch Control XLs and everything is labeled there
I also try to make everything as universal as possible as I go from synth to synth
The level of Oscillator 1, Operator 1, Partial 1, or anything that is might be the equivalent to that is always the first fader on the first unit or user 1. The level of Oscillator 2 is always right next to it on fader 2, oscillator 3 right next to it etc that works out across all 8 faders. Having 8 comes in handy for things like the DX7 emulators that have 6 operators, or things like the Triton plugin that can have a bunch of layers, I have everything duplicated on User 5 for the same thing but for 9-16 for things like the Synclavier that have 12 partials
There is a review online here of the new controller.
Custom User mode is what is if interest with Gig Performer. You can assign any of the encoders to anything, and name them and the name will show up on the little screen when you adjust the parameter, or press and the shift key and turn a knob and it will display without changing the value
You can also make the LED for that control any color you want and it will get brighter as you turn that value up, or get darker when you turn it down