Quneo or Push?

[infinitesinewave]

It's unfortunate that Grid Mode is so unreliable for this style of playing...

In my first video, "School," I switch to Grid Mode after the intro and stay there for the rest of the song. It's not unreliable at all... at least for me.

I do remember that when I first started working with it in Grid Mode, it was not as responsive as I wanted. I did't use the "knob" in the Editor to change the sensitivity but punched it in manually. The Quneo manual gives you some settings for styles of playing to punch in manually. When I set it to the "light style" suggested setting in the manual... it worked like a charm. I should send KMI an email about that. That should be the "norm" setting.

[greaterthanzero]

The style of playing you exhibit in "Nothing Wasted" is not the style of playing used in "School".

"School" hunts and pecks with one finger per hand. "Nothing Wasted" uses multiple fingers on at least one hand, for more efficient movement, speed and dexterity. It's better technique.

To play the way you're playing on "Nothing Wasted" with a range of 64 notes, you'll need four QuNeos. I thought grid mode would cover that need, but not hitting wrong notes requires a rigid precision that may or may not come with practice. (I guess we're able to create some separation between corners in the editor, but I'd argue we aren't able to create enough.)

[infinitesinewave]

True. I just got 4 Quneos for that very purpose. 16 pads gives you two full scales. Good for leads and morphing synths live.

[MattKMI]

Hey,
I just wanted to point everyone in the direction of our new max/msp dev kit....

http://forum.keithmcmillen.com/viewtopi ... 1014#p4342

The kit gives you access to the raw sensor data from QuNeo!

Might be useful!

~Matt @ KMI

[greaterthanzero]

Hey,
I just wanted to point everyone in the direction of our new max/msp dev kit....

http://forum.keithmcmillen.com/viewtopi ... 1014#p4342

The kit gives you access to the raw sensor data from QuNeo!

Might be useful!

Definitely.

Looks like we're still only seeing 7 bit resolution, but the fact that we no longer need users to go into the editor and set up exactly the same preset that we developed around at least makes this a viable platform to distribute apps for. That's a huge improvement, and it is much appreciated.

[DJlogik]

I have both, and well... most of the guys here are spot on the money. They are very different instruments, and make no mistake, they are that. Instruments meant to be played more than controllers. However, depending on what you want to do, either are really great and have things the other lack.

The quneo presets honestly suck. They really do, except possibly for the launchpad emulation, but... it is soooo easy to program, that coming up with your own custom layout is pretty trivial, and you can totally wrap it around your play style, but... It blows for automation and recording. I'm sorry. I love mine, but it just doesn't lend itself well to mapping FX, fine grained control of faders, etc. For jamming, presenting a live set you've worked out or whatnot, it just can't be beat for the form factor, lightness, ease of use, and it slips into any laptop bag pocket. For that, it rocks. With the remote pack, you can even take it around a stage. It's cool as hell.

However, creating stuff from scratch, working on ideas, recording automation, playing in key, and deep workflow, you can't beat Push. You just can't. It's the fastest way to get from idea to recorded track. Live however, it's heavy, the velocity sensitive buttons are great, but not as expressive, there's no x/y control of any type, so multi dynamic FX are a bit of a b*tch to work with, and it's not got so much a learning curve as a learning brick wall. Seriously, it takes some geting used to. Also it's nowhere near as customizeable as quneo. Still, if you want to jam in the studio or with a friend, or really, really quickly work out a song from an idea, quneo doesn't come anywhere close to Push's capabilities.

They are very different tools designed for very different tasks. So comparing them is hard to do.

If you want to get a quneo useable IMHO, you are gonna have to spend some time in the editor tuning it up for your use, but it's inexpensive compared to push, fits in a kit bag like nothing else, and is a great companion for the road. So if you're on a budget, I might start there. If you're gonna be spending more time in the studio than playing live, or have a bigger budget, then Push is a clear winner.

Novation just launched the LaunchPad Pro which is their answer to Push, and has many of the same features of either platform, but not full, and is mid way in price.

I had a chance to fiddle with one lately, and if I didn't already have a Push, it would be my choice over either. It lacks the depth of Push, but has a great form factor and ease of use that Quneo doesn't without a lot of editing.

If you go the Quneo route, check out enhanced note mode - a new plugin / config. It's pretty helpful.

Sorry if it's vague, but I can't call a clear winner, because they are both so useful, but for totally different things. I think it really depends on how you are expecting to work and your budget. I love them both, but for different reasons.

[infinitesinewave]

DJ Logik hit everything on the head of the nail regarding the different options. The most difficult part in all of this is "marrying" a certain style to work with. I would advise that whatever route you choose, stick to it and develop your own style. I use a combination of Keyboards, the Quneos & the APC40 for producing in the studio. I use the APC40 for knobs & automation & the Quneos & Keyboards to experiment with musical ideas. Push is great for this as well but you can't take Push with you everywhere you go. The enhanced note mode is everything for me with the Quneos. You can't beat the portability and convenience of a Quneo when you're on the move. You sit down with your laptop, plug in a Quneo, throw down the Enhanced Note Mode in your software synth, and you're ready to play AND mangle. Don't forget the "mangle" part. For some reason, Novation followed their old formulas and forgot the "mangling" ability of their controller. With the Quneo, I MIDI map the long & short sliders to a couple of knobs and it gives me total control of my software synths & my sound designs. On a plane, in a coffee shop, in front of a lake, at the beach, a laptop and a Quneo is all I need. Nothing beats it for that except the Novation Pro for more range in the notes but since the Novation has no "mangle" controls (knobs), they dropped the ball in my book. You need to add a controller with knobs to the Novation pro in order to access the live power of a software synth and this entails another chord, another device, and too much of a mess, especially in tight spaces like a seat in front of a lake, a plane, and a coffee shop (All places I discreetly produce in with a Quneo). I just got back from a 2 month trip to Argentina, and without the Quneo, I wouldn't have written anything new during my trip because mangling sounds in my software synths live is extremely important in my productions. The Quneo is the size of an iPad and with the sliders, (I would prefer knobs) it work quite well for live improvisation with a software synth. It's compact, durable, and very cool but you only have 16 pads so you're limited when jumping octaves.

Infinite Sinewave
http://www.soundcloud.com/infinitesinewave