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Novation have been quite canny with the Impulse series and provide traditional MIDI controller programming features as well as compatibility with their Automap system. A clever fader-scaling pick-up system is used to avoid abrupt jumps when physical fader positions don't match on-screen level or pan values - the next best thing to motorised faders. Here you can also configure the Impulse's bank of faders and buttons, which are ideally suited to mixer control. Multiple 'pages' of parameters are available for more complex plug-ins. When you use Automap, the mapping of the Impulse's controls to DAW parameters is detailed in a notification window (top left) and an optional floating Mapping Editor. Still, I'd much rather have the pads than not. But that never really worked: the short hits only triggered intermittently. In Roll mode, I wanted to be able to hold down one pad (to get a repeated hi-hat pattern, for example) while playing other pads normally to trigger conventional drum hits. Taking a two-fingered approach generally gets round that, but it's not ideal.
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Pads frequently don't respond when you strike their edges or corners. But there are two drawbacks I immediately discovered.
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The pads feel really good to hit with the fingers, and the aftertouch response is great - progressive and predictable. They're also velocity and aftertouch sensitive, and can be switched with the adjacent Roll button to generate repeated note triggers. That's not the case with some other controllers I've tried.īefore we go on, a word about the drum pads. Still, I was pleased to discover that aftertouch response remains largely the same whether you're playing chords or individual notes. They generate aftertouch, but you have to push harder, and there's little sense of feedback. The black keys (which, incidentally, have a very different matt texture to their white neighbours) have no such extra range of movement, though. It's a little 'on-off', but with care, smooth gradations are possible. The white keys offer an additional 3-4mm of travel beyond the keybed, and aftertouch messages are generated within that range of movement. Aftertouch can also be disabled - and while we're talking about aftertouch, the implementation here is not bad, but not perfect. Four useful velocity curves are on offer, and there's an option to turn velocity off completely. It's a synth-style action for sure, but the feel is positive, and there's meaningful resistance that makes playing evenly throughout the velocity range quite feasible. The top and bottom keys don't protrude beyond the casework, and in use everything feels firm and well constructed.Īs for the keyboard itself, I've no real complaints. The case appears to be 100 percent plastic, and when you pick up an Impulse it creaks and flexes a little. The placement and spacing of controls is somehow really 'chunky', and exceptionally clear. The white, grey and red colour scheme is a bit 1980s teenagers' bedroom, but the end-cheek fins are a contemporary-looking alternative to yet another Moog-wannabe wood imitation. The Impulse's back panel features a USB port, inputs for sustain and expression pedals, and a pair of MIDI I/O sockets.įrom a visual point of view, these controllers are rather fetching. The rear panel also features quarter-inch jack sockets for sustain and expression pedals, and a Kensington lock slot, which will be welcomed by the education market. All the models offer eight endless rotary encoders and DAW transport controls, but the Impulse 49 and 61 also have a bank of nine buttons and faders (which are non‑motorised and not touch-sensitive).Īround at the back, on all models, a USB socket handles the MIDI connection to your computer and is also the only power source, but there are also MIDI In and Out sockets. They're programmable in the traditional sense you can use the LCD display and associated controllers to set up key splits and layers, and assign MIDI controller messages to faders, encoders, buttons and pads. All have velocity- and aftertouch‑sensitive semi-weighted keyboards and eight backlit pads. Beyond that, their feature sets are broadly similar. There are three models: the Impulse 25, 49 and 61 and, as you've already guessed, the numbers refer to how many keys each model has. Impulse is the name of the latest USB MIDI controller keyboard range from Novation. The Impulse controllers are cost-effective, yet seem generously specified - so where's the catch?