so the Beat thang is actually at my local bestbuy

[starving student]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENZJYcLV ... ideo_title

http://www.beatkangz.com/shop/hardware/ ... order.html

and they're not even waiting til the 17th to put it out, it's out now
go get one and let me know how that shit samples and also if it's possible
to turn off all those damn lights or at least dim them.

[starving student]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCTZDvQK ... er&list=UL

[starving student]

I don't like the way this thing looks but it seems very intuitive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POS9mtqr ... re=related

[starving student]

very intuitive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv76RWIp ... ideo_title


I might have to pick this thing up, this is a little un-expected. this is what's refreshing about some tools
we get so focused on the tools that feed our egos through their complication but a tool like this looks like something a baby could freak, this is what allows one to push away the distractions and get on with the creativity. very interesting

[starving student]

it's intriguing, the answers I don't have yet though are

1.can you sequence patterns of different tempos together into a song so that your whole song is one tempo

2. they've got a mixer sections that looks easy to use but can it be automated?

3. how long is the battery life?

[starving student]

with 3 hours of battery life and fantom power I wonder just how good this thing would be for field recording, I think the beat thang is pricey but if it was good enough to condense allot of tools we use down into one easy to carry battery powered unit it just might be a viable option. I know the last field recorder I had cost me about $400 bux, before that I was using a $200 minidisc recorder........

I am very intrigued by this maschine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcmNBTNV ... ure=relmfu

[starving student]

hey would love it if any of you mod maniacs would take a look at it and let an infidel know just how mod-able it looks from your particular eye view?

[matthews]

fuck it i'll bite.....

1) it looks like shit
2) it doesn't look like it can do anything ableton + a maschine / launchpad / mpd / mpc / apc / etc., can't do. Not even remotely close.

Correct me if I'm wrong...

EDIT: Just saw the retail price. $1,499.99. Give me a fucking break.

[EpikureeR]

sry but from my point of view this thing is a fail.

it doesnt bring anything groundbreaking new, and for this price there are many much better alternatives out there.

epikureer

[starving student]

what?? 16 layers in instrument mode and also drum sample mode, shit is nuts. as a rudimentary synth and just the simplicity of it is going to have people designing synth patches that usually don't even have interest in that kind of thing, and for the type of sampledelic cats that like to really abuse limitations and esoteric options and features I think this is going to be major, watch this clip check out the layering and imagine cats layering field recordings and all kinds of shit into a playable patch, if this thing has velocity sensitive pads and automation no matter how ugly it looks it's going to be a beast for underground hiphop

so funny how it's marketed towards those r&b rappers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dLQMSarFkM&NR=1

[starving student]

sry but from my point of view this thing is a fail.

it doesnt bring anything groundbreaking new, and for this price there are many much better alternatives out there.

epikureer

first of all no it doesn't do anything ground breaking per say, but the way it's combining workflow is kind of on some maschine ethos type shit

1. it's software is upgradable keep that in mind and look at what it can do in version 1, for instance they already said they're putting audio tracks in the next version

2.phantom power mics on a fucking sampler, are you for real? look at the layering, it's the only hardware sampler with both kinds of layering, all others have one or the other like do you wanna layer some drums or do you want to make a synth patch, fuck the price for a moment and look at the layering video.

3. automatible pitch wheel and modwheel, again not ground breaking in the least but on a box like this are you fucking kidding me, you could grab one of these and a damn microkorg and create some very dope shit, not to mention what sample and manipulate types like myself could get into, c'mon be honest

and yes yes yes it does cost toooooooo damn much but it won't stay at that price, how could it.

[starving student]

its' got
time stretching- my beloved ableton has it but my beloved maschine doesn't have it
automated pitch and modwheel
16 levels of sample layering , two different layering sections one for drums and one for instruments
3 hours battery life
256 megs of ram
capable fx by that i mean you can put fx on one pad but not another if you want
resampling/ with fx
it's small as fuck
2 sd slots
2 usb ports, you can even stick a thumb drive in the mother fucker
what sampler do you know that you can do that shit with?

plus it does some maschine type integrate with the plug in on the computer type shit, not to maschines degree but look at it from a portable samplers point of view. I think this things closest
competition is the octarack


and yes it still cost too much but it's the kind of thing that, and as a musician i know you can understand this it's the kind of thing that the price would only hurt us at the time we bought it and every other time we thought about how much we spent, but if they got all of these features that it has right then while we were using it we wouldn't feel the pain of the price

[starving student]

flying lotus
madlib
prefuse73
james blake

they should have dropped the price
and marketed to these kinds of beatmakers.
and if they add some side chain comp cablity to top it off
then it would be one of the first things you'd reach for when
on the go

[matthews]

first of all no it doesn't do anything ground breaking per say

So $1500 for a piece of equipment that isn't at all groundbreaking. umm.....

it's software is upgradable keep that in mind and look at what it can do in version 1, for instance they already said they're putting audio tracks in the next version

So is software on $200 controllers. Every week it feels like I'm updating firmware on a controller. And with ableton suite + vst's, I can already get any sound I want. Period.

phantom power mics on a fucking sampler, are you for real?

Anyone who would shell out $1500 on a piece of equipment like this, already owns an audio interface that's much more capable than what you'll find on this unit.

automatible pitch wheel and modwheel, again not ground breaking in the least but on a box like this are you fucking kidding me, you could grab one of these and a damn microkorg and create some very dope shit, not to mention what sample and manipulate types like myself could get into, c'mon be honest

You can do all this in ableton with so many other controllers already, for years and years now.....its so standard.

its' got
3 hours battery life
256 megs of ram
it's small as fuck
2 sd slots
2 usb ports

Sounds like my blackberry. Except my phone has twice as much ram

Not trying to bust balls or anyhting, but this is a colossal fail. And a cash grab. You really don't wanna spend $1500 on this.

[starving student]

no I really don't want to,, and I wouldn't.... I've got a $200 dollar limit on most things but oh the things I've gotten for 2 bills include some nice vintage synths and maschine, but thats not the point.
I would never compare this thing to ableton or any computer program, I'd only compare it to things that you don't need a computer to use and right now, spec wise it's looking like it's competitor would be the octorack and that damn linn drum 2 if it ever comes out.. this little thing is quite impressive for a tiny piece of hardware, it's like a tiny asrx on steroids although the asrx has some tricks this one doesn't have


it's true what you said about the mic too but still the wrong comparison imho, even though it's a computer it's not best compared to such, much better compared to instruments, now if you've ever sat in a park, or at the beach, coffee shop or anywhere making music with your laptop you know how much of a hassle it is, this is why I prefer taking an mpc-500 out instead of a laptop to make beats on the go, but this thing packs allot of functionality into something that can feel like an instrument over time probably much more than a laptop and a controller, for this little sampler to have phantom power is definitely useful.

watch after they lower the price if they don't go out of business there will be allot of kids making allot of dope shit on this thing while we glare at them from up here on mount olympus the combination of what it offers is definitely innovative.... you know that saying the sum of it's parts and all that shit whatever it is.....