Livid DS1

[Jekblad]

Hey guys, hopefully you've all heard about our upcoming DS1. It's shipping soon so I thought I'd stop into the ole stomping grounds and answer any questions if you have them... Any burning questions I can help out with?

[login]

The 9 button matrix, what is it for?

[Jekblad]

Of course we encourage you to use them for whatever you want... but I pulled this from our top secret Ableton integration plans. Not final, subject to change but gives you an idea of what we're going for.

[PremEye]

Hello
I have some questions:
1) When is it expected to ship?
2) How do you change the color of the rings around the knobs?
3) Any chance of seeing the Ableton template in more detail before purchasing?
4) Any future plans for addition scripts made by Livid for Ableton?

Thanks,
Prem

[Jekblad]

1) When is it expected to ship?

Ship date is September.

2) How do you change the color of the rings around the knobs?

There will be a colored lens pack available for purchase, this way you can pop the knobs off and put a lens there to choose your color. There is a single backlit LED for the knobs vs an RGB led. This means that you can't change the background color via a script or something, but because they are knobs the values wouldn't update and it didn't make sense to us. A more standard mixer style felt better.

3) Any chance of seeing the Ableton template in more detail before purchasing?

We'll be posting the full integration soon yes!

4) Any future plans for addition scripts made by Livid for Ableton?

I feel like the best way to DS1 is manual mapping. Live performance templates or studio setups alike, the analog feel is sort of the aim. That being said we are making all sorts of scripts for it because the usefulness is pretty obvious. We usually only develop one script per platform per product, but we do sometimes partner with the best and brightest 3rd party developers out there to bring cool stuff to life that we didn't think of. There are too many ways to skin a cat, and we're sometimes "stuck" doing something that appeals to all users, it's great to have another dev approach it from a completely different angle. For example: http://isotonikstudios.com/isotonikbase2/

Thanks,
Prem

No problem!

[login]

1) When is it expected to ship?

Ship date is September.

2) How do you change the color of the rings around the knobs?

There will be a colored lens pack available for purchase, this way you can pop the knobs off and put a lens there to choose your color. There is a single backlit LED for the knobs vs an RGB led. This means that you can't change the background color via a script or something, but because they are knobs the values wouldn't update and it didn't make sense to us. A more standard mixer style felt better.!

So their intensity changes according to the value?

Also, you may want to point this out in the description, as it is now made me believe they we're rgb lights. Some customer may be disappointed if they also believe this.

[PremEye]

Thanks for your replies!
I am very much considering purchasing this.
My main concern (and others) was the way the knobs and faders will function while switching between banks of tracks. Obviously endless encoders would have been more functional. Do you have any opinion/advice on how well the DS1 functions using Ableton's takeover mode...any words if assurance for lack of better words...

[S4racen]

Looking forwards to getting our hands on this

Cheers
D

[TomViolenz]

Why only five encoders per channel?!

Why so expensive for only five encoders per channel?!

[PremEye]

Looking forwards to getting our hands on this

Cheers
D

Will Isotonik be creating their own script for DS1 in the future?
Sincerely,
Prem

[S4racen]

Looking forwards to getting our hands on this

Cheers
D

Will Isotonik be creating their own script for DS1 in the future?
Sincerely,
Prem

I think that's a probability, we've had amazing fun working with the Base controller!!

Cheers
D

[sigabort]

Glad I read this - also assumed that the encoder colours were scriptable... kind of surprising they're not...

[Jekblad]

So their intensity changes according to the value?

The LED does not change based on the value, because they are knobs vs endless encoders you'll always be able to see directly where it's at.

Also, you may want to point this out in the description, as it is now made me believe they we're rgb lights. Some customer may be disappointed if they also believe this.

Great point, we'll update that. I've sent an email to the web team, thank you!

My main concern (and others) was the way the knobs and faders will function while switching between banks of tracks. Obviously endless encoders would have been more functional.

The strength of the DS1 is definitely not in banking. It's like a souped up version of the UC33, great for live setups and templates where things are hard mapped. Knobs feel much better (to me) than encoders for certain situations, especially a live context. If you love encoders, check out our Code controller. We also released base with those touch strips which other companies are starting to get on board with as well, these controllers bank very well. A touch strip has a different feel than a knob of course... So it just depends on what you like.

Do you have any opinion/advice on how well the DS1 functions using Ableton's takeover mode...any words if assurance for lack of better words...

for the majority of my personal production tasks take over or pickup is fine. I prefer take over and using my ears to decide if I like it vs my eyes. I also like using DS1 and Base II and limiting myself to an 8 track template (twice as many as the beatles had). Of course 8 tracks for a real electronic production is a bit of a joke for most people, but it's a great starting point and way to create the meat of your track.

Why only five encoders per channel?!

That's all we could fit without smashing your fingers That's a complicated question to answer because we had hours and hours of discussion (AKA arguing and yelling) amongst ourselves to decide what went on the unit. We wanted the most features we could get into that form factor. When it comes down to it you can't make everyone happy which is lame. Sorry to those of you who wanted more... I should have fought harder. This concept is also why we made our elements line, so people could build whatever they wanted. Not exactly the same but a step closer to people being able to make their own configurations without it costing thousands and thousands of dollars in engineering and shop time.
http://lividinstruments.com/news/elemen ... ol-system/

Why so expensive for only five encoders per channel?!

It's a fair price for the quality of the unit, and not building things out of plastic in China. We hope people see the value as they have with our other products.

[beats me]

I didn’t know you work for Livid. Nice one.

I have an unrelated question. I have one of the original Ohm controllers with the 6 X 6 grid and is low tech by today’s standards and it’s just collecting dust. Any thoughts on how I can respectively unload it? Do you guys have a museum I can donate it to?

[Jekblad]

Glad I read this - also assumed that the encoder colours were scriptable... kind of surprising they're not...

It makes lots of sense to color endless encoders, like we did on Code. We felt like it made less sense for a standard knob. I'm also glad we're clearing our approach to coloring the knobs. Thanks!