Novation Impulse 25

128 Customer ratings

4.5 / 5

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65 Reviews

Novation Impulse 25
$154
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SB
Tricky installation for Win+Cubase users
Simone Buralli 30.11.2020
PRO's: Construction and feeling are good as expected by Novation. There is no equivalent products at the same price.
CON's: installation and sw compliance (I have Windows 10 and Cubase 11).
The sw installation is quite messy:
1) the start guide makes you land on a page where you can download the driver and a support software: "Automap";
2) If you follow the built-in instructions you will not succeed in properly setting up the midi in your Cubase: the Impulse will not work in "DAW" mode but only as a generic midi controller;
3) Then I discovered among Novation's support pages that, in this order:
i) you have to setup Cubase differently from the starting guide to make it recognise Automap (despite of Automap being unable to configure Cubase because is supports till Cubase 9.5 only. Cubase 10 if you find the unofficial beta version);
ii) BUT...you can get rid of Automap with the latest firmware update (you can perform it via Sysex)...and it works but...
iii) if you use it without Automap the product works only partially because the 8 rotary encoders (knobs) cannot be used as volume controller but only as pan+send for the first 8 tracks;
iiii) I went back back to i) configuration (with Automap correctly set in Cubase 11) and corrected the installation guide with pen to avoid struggling once again at next computer change.
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W
Great Choice!
Wentbackward 15.05.2020
I had very specific requirements: Operability with Ableton Live, full size keys with some weight, aftertouch, bus powered (USB) small/portable keyboard so I can leave this lying around the house away from my workstation and simply plug into my laptop to be instantly running when needed. Novation and Live is pretty much guaranteed to work so it was kind of a no brain, plug and go choice. Even though there are lots of cool new toys on the block, I went for something that has been around for a while. I'm not really into customing all the controls, so I plugged it in, that was it, it just works. The control of Live is not written down anywhere (that I could find) so had to watch a video (It's Shift + Octave to change Live track ;) ). It is a lot bigger and heavier than I expected so the 2nd idea of having something to throw in my travel-on luggage is not going to work. I'd recommend to consider the 49 with the extra faders. The 25 is small/portable as in something you'll leave lying around the house / take to a jam, but not really portable as in something you'd travel with a lot. It's a fantastic, well made product, keys and pads feel great, the whole thing is solid and built better than I imagined given the price.
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ja
amazing price/quality relation
just a dude 18.01.2020
i bought this keyboard mostly to play basslines and use the integrated arpeggiator with rack synths,wich is a pretty rare feature. The semi-weighted keys feel great for plastic ones and the aftertouch works quite well, the drum pads are thick and responsive and as an mpc user i can say they dont feel so bad.
The knobs aren't great but they are infinite rotation and work fine,
all the buttons are thick rubber and the mod/pitch wheels are also covered in this sort of textured plastic/rubber, the pitch is a bit slow on the return but i actually like that.
Overall a great buy, honestly my only regret is not buying the 49 keys version. 4/5*
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NL
So intuitive, you won't have time for the manual
Nicola L. 03.10.2014
I'm using this controller with Ableton Live9 on a Windows 7 machine.

The installation was smooth, and the integration with the software amazing. I haven't had the time to read the instruction manual yet, as I'm having too much fun playing with this gem.

The layout of the controls is extremely comfortable, knobs are exactly where they're supposed to be! All the controls, knobs, pads, control buttons, wheels, slider, and last but not least, the keyboard, are very robust and highly responsive.

The device is powered via USB, which is quite handy, but may also be a limitation if you wanted to use the controller stand-alone, e.g. connecting it via MIDI to a synth (and without having to turn on your PC).
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TE
Novation's Creative Impulse
The Eric Johnson of Helsinki 27.07.2017
The Impulse 25 feels quite like a piano. Its keys are responsive and seem to have something like aftertouch, which at this price point is rare.

It's perfect for Ableton Live. It maps pretty seamlessly with Automap, and the drum pads are essential to break out of routines. If you want the best of both worlds -- both to have a responsive, realistic playing surface, with the convenience of a 25 key instrument which is small enough to compose on the kitchen table or on your bed, than this is the thing.

Novation stuff is very high quality. I play an old Korg M50, and sometimes a full-size keybed by M-Audio, but I find myself returning to the Novation stuff over and over again. It just works.

In sum, while there is bigger and more powerful, for the price this is a steal. Of course it'll work with other DAWs too, and of course it's only a controller, but hook it up with Kontakt or Ableton or Steinberg and you're good to go.

In sum if like me, you don't want to waste time mapping MIDI channels, and all that stuff, and get on with composing, remixing, and sound design, there is a whole lot worse.

And as a pianist most of my life, I can say that this reminds me of my grandma's piano. Just smaller, and capable of stuff my grandma would love.
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SO
Fun!
Samuel O. 18.05.2013
I use this keyboard with Logic Pro 9 and Reason 6, it wasn't as easy to setup as the tutorial videos for Automap suggested. It seems that you have to rescan for control surfaces every time you want to use it, otherwise you can only get the basic key functions out of it. That aside however it's the most productive midi control surface/keyboard I've used. The built in arp and roll functions make composition interesting and diverse music fluid. And the control surface features once working make automation fun and easy and well as automation whilst playing. Good product.
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V
so many features
Vilen 08.08.2021
Pros:
- So many features, that I still don't know the half of them after using it for 3 years already.
- love the semi-weighted keys, brings natural feel.
- the quality is unquestionable.
- endless knobs
- the play/stop/record buttons are very useful

Cons:
- its quite big and have, so you will need more space for it on your workstation
- the pads are too tight and could've been bigger

To sum up, it looks cool, its convenient to work with, but takes much space.
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M
Not bad but was faulty
Michaelvm 23.10.2018
This is a pretty decent keyboard with a lot of features. First of all its quite big. The keys are well done though you have to apply a lot of pressure to work the aftertouch. The pads are fairly hard but thats ok. The compatibilty with Reaper is not good although you can program the transport keys on your own. My problem with this board was that the rotaries where a bit sticky. Not really nice to twist. One of them got stuck every couple of twists so you had to increase your force. Sent it back to Thomann. Since they could not reproduce my problem I got my money refund and gonna try the AKAI MPK
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DavidBarata 14.12.2020
Very good Keyboard, solid materials and a very nice keys!

I'll recommend
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D
Love it
DrummerCaetano 02.10.2020
It's all i was looking for, it is increibly volatile and solid at the same time.

I will use it for making soundscapes and all of that in the studio.

I think any kind of producer can use it, cause it also has an awesome drumpad. In my case, I programmed the pads for making the program change while playing live, isn't that great? Just like if it were a guitar pedal or something like that.

It was a difficult choice because i needed something small, but with 20 euros more I could have gotten the one with 49 keys...
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Novation Impulse 25