I have always been huge fan of my M-Audio Axiom Pro. so asking me to review a Focusrite Impulse 49 controller is hardly fair - however setting aside my Axiom fan-boy gush, I decided to take on the challenge with an open mind and to see what was wrong with it. By the way that last line was a joke if you missed it.
Joking apart, Novation have been working hard in the last few years to try and get a look into the huge market share that M-Audio have been commanding with their controller keyboards. Controller keyboards have to tick so many boxes these days, firstly as a MIDI keyboard controller with a great action and then offer all the other bells and whistles such as performance and DAW control.
Comparisons are bound to be made, so right off the bat I will explain the key difference in the way that an Axiom handles the more powerful side of control versus the Novation. M-Audio Axiom Pro employs a system called Hypercontrol which maps controllers for the DAW and associated plug-ins at a system level. Novation use a system called Automap, which is in effect another piece of software that sits on your system and does some clever translation between the keyboard and the DAW and plug-ins. Automap has not always had a good press, so I was keen to see how the latest incarnation, Automap 4, would stand up to scrutiny, especially from this Axiom fan-boy.
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