The Hardware Megathread

#846

I see you’ve left plenty of room for blanking plates. Good move.

#847

I have bunch of stuff not in shot ready to go in too… though it wont be full quite yet. The bottom layer is saved for an elquencer and a bunch of audio processing/granular shite.

#848

Frankly, I’ve mostly heard complaints about all the “major” synth/gear companies large and small as far as costumer service goes. Way more complaints than praise. I think people often have ridiculous expectations at times (other times, shit just doesn’t do what it says on the can).

For my part I’m skeptical how bad any of them are. I’ve never had trouble even with the infamously bad ones (like NI for example, they are slow ish, but they do end up doing what they say the will in my experience).

#849

I’m sure everybody has their problems. I remember getting BPM latched arps from DSI on their instruments was like a 6 month endeavor of them saying “just play in time” and owners of various instruments saying “just add it in”. No one’s perfect, and I, for the record, am happy with my MB if what it is now is all it will ever be. I’m still not through exploring a quarter of the presets. I have probably 100 free pro-grade ones to go through when I figure out what patches I want to keep and how many I want to make. And I still figure out a new trick and get a little better at the gain staging (which is what I really wanted to experiment with) every time I sit down with it.

And yeah, there are some very unreal expectations being thrown around like “make the sequencer longer and add parameter locks” or “make every modulation destination assignable like the last four rows” (which admittedly would be nice).

#850

not hardware really but I’ve spent sometime tonight recording this online shortwave radio into Ableton, some great sample fodder
http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901

#851

Yea, it is something totally different when they say “this synth WILL do X when it is released” and it doesn’t–like your arp. And the solution isn’t “play in time” lol those numb nuts.

I guess it just gets on my nerves when people:

  1. buy something based on things it might do in the future then complain
  2. buy something when they’ve clearly not read one tiny review about the device then get upset over a laundry list of things it doesn’t do and bash the machine (so common in one TR8S group I’m in)
  3. My favorite one lately (which is totally unrelated) buy hardware then bitch about the fact they can’t do everything from their daw

jfc…the number of people who buy TR8S and get shitty about the fact that it doesn’t have like an elektron level melodic sequencer…it really blows my mind how someone can dump almost a grand on something and have no clue what it does…wish I had that kind of money!

#852

Its all set up and making random mad noses along with my tr8s now. Very fun so far.

ER_Build_July_2019_02
ER_Build_July_2019_02.jpg4032x3024 3.25 MB

#853

Does the TR8S sample too?

#854

#3 is maybe 80% of bs going on about the mpc live imo!

#855

lol, that is hilarious, specifically with the mpc live, why would you even buy it to control everything from your DAW? It isn’t a synth with a special sound or something like that (I’m guessing from what I know). I guess I could see wanting to do everything from the computer then just use the MPC for live performances. But other than that save yourself the cash right?

#856

Oops I think I had misread, people bitch the mpc doesn’t do everything a daw does is what I was getting at. Cuz, you know it isn’t one!

#857

ah ok, that could defo be a #4 for me though. From a distance I kind of view the new MPC’s as “daw in a box” but that being said I would not expect it to even come close to full daw functionality.

#858

Sure, but that ratio is radically different for some companies vs others. Moog, for example, has notoriously excellent customer service. Yeah, you end up paying a premium for the Moog name, but they do take care of their customers, if shit goes wrong. My personal experience with them was when the filter cut-off shaft started failing on my Sub 37 Tribute Edition. I reached out to Moog and they got back to me immediately. Presented a couple of options - either I can ship it to them and they fix it for free (but I’m responsible for shipping) or if I’m comfortable with opening it up, they can send me a board to replace myself. I opted for the later. They immediately sent me a new board, which was like half of the whole synth (there are 2 in there), and clear instructions on how to replace. Priority. For free. And I wasn’t even the original owner (bought used). I was up and running again quicker than the whole Arturia debacle with the MB2S.

I consistently hear good things about DSI as well. Just like I consistently hear shitty things about Teenage Engineering and Arturia.

#859

The new MPCs are “DAW-like” but are only just now getting automation in 2.6 (which isn’t actually released). 2.5 saw a ton of AIR effects added, 2.3 added 3 plugin synths from AIR, I mean they’re pretty powerful, but at the end of the day they’re still mid to low spec smartphones from several years ago wrapped in a fancy af controller. I like them, and I’d rather them be around than not (and I own an X). Considering their hybrid nature, I don’t know how far Akai can take the hardware compared to what the software would be capable of on a modern computer.

#860

If you wanted to, you could treat the current MPCs as DAWs, but I think you’d get quite frustrated. I prefer to think of them as modern-day grooveboxes.

#861

Yeah. I’m probably going to buy a Live after borrowing a friend’s (and she got to play with my X lol). I didn’t really feel lost on the Live without all the buttons I’m used to, and being able to relatively easily haul it to work or the park (or on trips), save projects to an SD card, and pop it into my X when I get home is really nice.

Akai is lazy af, though lol, with the Live showing CV Programs and inputs/outputs from the X it doesn’t have >_> why Akai…

#863

No, it can load samples (like 400+ of your own custom ones) but there is no direct sampling.

#864

Expanding a bit on my reply.
It’s also a workflow matter.
I usually keep all my drums (and sometimes stabs/effects/random shit) in one bank, then my soft synths in another track. Or more tracks.

Which is great if you’re building a loop or just jamming around, go to you drum bank, play on the pads, move to the bass line ands so forth.

BUT the Live has 2 different mute section for pads and tracks and they behave differently when switching sequence.
So if i want to play around with mutes, I need to alternate between the pad mutes page and the track mute pages, which is a pain, or explode the drum track, but then I need to do the same on all tracks and if I’m adding something track management becomes a pain…

#865

How do you like the TR8S? I find myself writing my primary riffs/patterns on it and finishing itb. Works really well foe that.

#866

Im really enjoying it as a jamming machine. It works great with the modular and other bits of kit like the volcas. As for finsihing stuff with it I dont really ever finish anything so I cant answer that TBH :slight_smile: