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The new hardware feels altogether more 'pro' than its predecessor.

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Even though dedicated controller hardware is experiencing a surge in popularity of late – see NI's Maschine, Akai's APC40 and the Cubase and Sonar control systems – many of us are still seeking a 'do-it-all' device that can take control of our DAWs and plethora of plug-ins.

Novation's SL series has long been known as perhaps the best universal controller range around, and now the company has updated it to give us the SL Mk II series, with 25-, 49- and 61-key models, as well as the sleek white ZeRo SL Mk II, which lacks keys but has longer faders and a crossfader.

Overview

The action of the semi-weighted Fatar-made keyboard is very pleasing, and it has aftertouch too, with further Rick Wakeman-esque keyboard heroics being made possible via the XY pad and the combined pitch and modulation joystick.

The drum pads improve on the hard-faced originals, being made of a softer type of rubber. They're velocity-sensitive, and not especially precise in this regard, but still useful. There are 32 assignable buttons (including transport controls), and they're all backlit now, to reflect their status, as are the other system buttons.

As for those knobs, the lower row are of the traditional 'nought-to-ten' variety while the upper ones are endless rotary encoders with flashy new LED rings that denote the current parameter position. They turn more smoothly than the 'clicky', detented ones of old too.

The encoders feel slightly slack, as do the fader caps, but other than that, the unit feels really solid and well constructed without being heavy. Around the back are connections for USB (the device can be bus-powered); DC power (PSU not supplied); MIDI In/Out/Thru; a further MIDI Out; and inputs for sustain and expression pedals. The Mk II series has ditched the option for battery power – no great shame, we say.

The original SL models had dual LCD screens to show the parameter/value assigned to the controls, but the new units have only one screen. In use, we didn't miss it at all, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, sliders and pots are now touch-sensitive, so if you lay a finger on one, the LCD's focus will shift to its particular row. And the LED-encrusted rotary encoders and backlit buttons give clear visual feedback.

Automap

But aside from that, you've got the Automap 3 software to show you what's going on, and it's this that makes Novation's controllers so attractive (it works with all SL series devices and the dinky Nocturn).

Automap comes in two flavours, Standard and Pro, and you get the Pro version with SL Mk II, featuring multiple device support, keystroke assignment, XY pad mapping, drag and drop, and AutoView.

The Automap Server runs alongside your music software, providing a way for the controller to interact with so-called Clients. A Client can be: a 'wrapped' plug-in (instrument or effect), a compatible DAW's mixer, or the Automap MIDI Client, which provides good old MIDI control.

In the Plug-in Manager, you specify which plug-ins will be 'wrapped' to work with Automap (VST, AU, RTAS and TDM are supported). The system taps into the plug-in parameters you'd get when using host automation, as opposed to sending MIDI to them.

The odd plug-in might not play nicely, so you can opt out of wrapping it. We had trouble with Rob Papen's SubBoomBass, but Novation sneaked us a beta of the imminent Automap 3.1, which resolves the issue.