By aspect — in detail
The one genuinely divided axis. Most reviewers and owners find the synth-style semi-weighted keybed solid, responsive and pleasant — some rate it the best keybed they've owned — and it has channel aftertouch plus selectable velocity curves and an unusually high 10 kHz scan rate. A minority find it too soft: MusicTech calls it spongy and flat for 'proper' players, and a recurring owner note is a slight 'stick' on the first press of a key left idle, which clears once played (owners who otherwise love the board describe it as minor unit variation).
Measured
Novation's spec: 49 synth-style semi-weighted keys with channel aftertouch, selectable velocity curves and a 10 kHz keybed scan rate (the scan rate independently noted by the Brookes owner review). No weighted/hammer option is offered.
Where it splits
Solid, responsive and satisfying — a real semi-weighted action with aftertouch75%
“The keyboard feels very good and it’s very fast and responsive.”
Brookes Audio Design
Too soft for serious players — spongy and flat, with a sticky first press on some units25%
“The keyboard itself might disappoint ’proper’ players – it’s a little spongy and flat to me”
MusicTech
Pads
Strong consensus · 6 srcBroadly praised: 16 velocity-sensitive RGB pads with polyphonic aftertouch, in two rows of eight. Reviewers and owners call them responsive and fun for finger-drumming and step-programming, and they double as an Ableton clip-launch grid and the sequencer's step display. The only real nitpick is that two rows means banking to see a full arrangement.
“using the 16 velocity-sensitive RGB pads (which all feature polyphonic aftertouch) to program patterns on the fly while switching to another connected instrument to add tracks in real-time is a blast.”
Tape Op
“The 16 trigger pads are very responsive indeed (and have colour feedback to display strike velocity) plus they include aftertouch as well.”
Brookes Audio Design
Measured
Novation lists 16 velocity-sensitive RGB pads with polyphonic aftertouch, arranged in two rows of eight.
Controls
Strong consensus · 8 srcThe celebrated part of the board, and it centres on the standalone eight-track sequencer — a Circuit-derived, pattern-based poly sequencer that reviewers repeatedly single out as powerful yet genuinely easy to use, and that can sequence hardware, CV and a DAW together. Around it: eight endless encoders, eight faders with a dedicated row of mute/solo/arm buttons, five colour screens, transport controls, an arpeggiator, a 16-type Scale mode, RGB key LEDs and up to eight keyboard Zones. The gripes are minor — there are no dedicated displays under the faders, navigating a multi-track sequencing session can take some button-juggling, and originally the arpeggiator was shared across parts (later firmware added one per track).
“The five screens are lovely and work beautifully with the rotaries above”
MusicTech
“The sequencing features are amazing on the SL MkIII”
Tape Op
“The built-in sequencer and arpeggiators are fantastic.”
Brookes Audio Design
Measured
Novation's spec: eight endless encoders and eight faders (each with mute/solo/arm buttons), five colour LCD screens, transport controls, RGB key LEDs, a standalone eight-track polyphonic sequencer (Circuit-derived — 8 patterns × 16 steps per part, up to 8 automation lanes, 64 Sessions), an arpeggiator, a 16-type Scale mode and up to eight keyboard Zones.
Integration
Moderate · 7 srcDeep where it counts and shallower elsewhere. Novation authored an unusually rich Ableton Live integration — screens mirror your tracks and devices, the pads become a clip grid, and it's widely called a step above most controllers in Live (Logic support is decent too). Every source adds the same caveat: in most other DAWs it falls back to HUI-level control, and because Automap is gone, third-party plug-in control is much thinner than on the older SLs. A pre-release-firmware sync quirk (DAW-to-hardware) was also flagged by one reviewer.
“Ableton Live is the deepest I think, followed by Logic Pro X. Other DAWs have various levels of integration, or at the least just the Mackie HUI and controller connections.”
Brookes Audio Design
“I can't speak to DAW control, which is something that Novation seems to use as a selling point. I use Reaper, it seems to be pointed to Ableton mostly.”
u/IamTheGoodest · r/filtersweep
Measured
Per Novation: Novation-authored integration for Ableton Live plus scripts for Logic and Reason, HUI compatibility for Cubase, Pro Tools, Studio One and Reaper, and NKS support. The earlier Automap plug-in-wrapping system was dropped, so third-party plug-in control is shallower than on the SL's predecessors.
Two parts: a bundle and a config manager. The bundle has shifted over the product's life — launch units shipped Ableton Live Lite plus Loopmasters samples; current units add Cubase LE, a Komplete Select tier, Spitfire LABS, XLN Addictive Keys and Melodics lessons. Templates and mappings are created and managed in Novation Components (a desktop app or web page), which reviewers and owners find easy — with the notable limitation that you can't create or save templates on the hardware itself, only load them.
“The SL MkIII comes with Ableton Live Lite, plus 4 GB of samples from Loopmasters, so that adds value for you bedroom producers out there.”
Tape Op
“Setting up custom templates to control other things is relatively easy with Novation's Components software.”
u/IamTheGoodest · r/filtersweep
Connectivity
Strong consensus · 6 srcA standout, and repeatedly called the reason to buy it. On the back: USB, three 5-pin MIDI DIN ports (In, Out, and a switchable Out 2/Thru), two full sets of CV/Gate/Mod outputs plus an analogue clock out on 3.5 mm jacks, and three pedal inputs (sustain, expression, footswitch). The CV jacks double as MIDI-to-CV converters, so the board can sit at the centre of a hybrid rig and route almost anything anywhere — the closest thing it has to a killer feature.
“For me, the expansive connectivity (and the potential it represents) is really where the SL MkIII starts to shine: USB MIDI; 5-pin DIN MIDI In/Out, plus a third MIDI port that acts as Out 2 or Thru; Analog clock out; and two sets of CV Pitch, Gate, and Mod outputs.”
Tape Op
“I use it as a MIDI hub / expensive MIDI thru box. I really love the CV control.”
u/IamTheGoodest · r/filtersweep
Measured
Novation's I/O: USB; three 5-pin DIN MIDI ports (In, Out, Out 2/Thru); two sets of CV/Gate/Mod outputs plus an analogue clock out on 3.5 mm jacks; and sustain, expression and footswitch pedal inputs. Powered by an external 12 V supply — there is no USB bus-power option.
Portability
Moderate · 5 srcThe trade-off for all the keys, controls and I/O. It's a full-size 49- or 61-key board with no mini-key or compact version, and — unlike many controllers, including Novation's own smaller keyboards — it can't run on USB bus power; the included external supply is one more wall-wart to place. Some reviewers and owners explicitly wish for a smaller SL MkIII.
“Power it on via the included wall wart, (bus power is not an option)”
Tape Op
“There are 49 and 61 key versions of the SL MkIII – personally I would prefer a smaller version.”
loopop
Measured
Full-size 49- or 61-note chassis; requires the included external 12 V power supply (no USB bus-power option). Novation has never offered a mini-key or sub-49-key SL MkIII.
Generally solid and gig-ready, with a widely-loved rubberised base that keeps the keyboard planted on a desk or stand. It's plastic but doesn't feel cheap or flex, and the knobs and long-throw faders mostly read as quality. The dissent is about unit-to-unit variation: individual owners report faders that feel a bit cheap, an audibly clicking key, or a key LED that has yellowed over time.
“The build quality is solid.”
Sound On Sound
“the build quality is good (even though is plastic), the feeling of the buttons and pads are great, the faders knobs feels a little bit cheap, but the slide sesation is good too.”
u/TinoFiumara · r/Novation
Expensive for a controller at around $650, and reviewers say so — but the consensus is that it earns it if you use what it offers. The reframe recurs across sources: treat it as an eight-part multichannel controller with a standalone hardware sequencer and CV hub thrown in, and the price looks fair; it's often called the only real all-in-one of its kind. The caveats on value are that it's a 2018 design whose steady firmware updates have largely tapered off (and it lacks now-common niceties like an onboard chord mode), and that much of the cost is the sequencer/CV hub a DAW-only buyer may never use.
“They are not the cheapest controllers but, as Novation says, they come with a lot more than just control.”
MusicTech
“if you want a combo sequencer, hardware and DAW controller, the SL MkIII is the only game in town, and quite a good one at that.”
loopop
