McMillen QuNeo looks to be everything I want in a controller

[regretfullySaid]

For me it's what I expected, fortunately, which is a blank slate for me to add scripting features in both a performance and control surface context (not that different from Push, sans the dedicated controls). While I'm still learning how to implement framework for making a custom remote user script, I can still use Clyphx x-controls, and it's all in how I want to design it, and it's pretty frickin' cool. I've been making custom racks and assigning specific controls to them to get specific settings including randomization. Between drum rack controls, composition tools, sequencing, the possibilities are all there, it comes down to you, which is the main thing and probably not for most people.

It really shines in the X/Y and pressure areas, and again, it's all in how you implement them. A general example would be assigning pressure to both a buffer repeat or arp speed as well as filter cutoff, which gives awesome results.

Yes, it may look like it comes with a magazine but it's tough and does what it's supposed to.
The software editor does the job and is supposedly getting some improvements.

I'm bound to make some video examples but my previous experience with recording screencast along with webcam with quality output hasn't been pleasant.

Here are a couple examples:

[sporkles]

Looks ace, shadx! The screenshots you've added: are they from the Quneo editor, so that you can set up all that without any 3rd party programmes?

One thing that concerns me a bit with the Quneo, though, is this video. It's probably the worst demo I've ever seen, and it seems like he really has to cram those parameters in order to make them respond. Like when he's pressing buttons, and when he's using the x-fader, which seems to lag - possibly because he's not applying enough pressure? I'd hate having to work with a controller you'd have use so much force on just to get it to respond. I'm know that you can change its sensitivity in the settings, though, so maybe they just configured the unit poorly before this demo?

Cheers.

[8O]

One thing I just noticed thanks to your screenshots...

[regretfullySaid]

I'm getting "video is currently unavailable"; wish I could remember which video that was:p
One thing I'll add first because of those comments though is that the VU metter thing is deceptive. You need a 3rd party plugin by piz called audio2cc to make it work, which means you need to set up an individual plugin for each channel. I'ts not that pita, and once you set it you can forget it and squeeze those midi tracks in to save real estate. For me it's not worth all that, though I like having the Master VU going to the large slider aka x-fader.

Anyway, those screenshots are from photoshop. I took a pic of the quneo off the net, erased whatever text there was to make it blank, then make the overlays in PS, then put them in the help file to see in Live. For the most part, I keep the top rows reserved in most presets the same for "global controls" . I'm concerned with keeping design as intuitive as possible so most of the controls can be memorized pretty easily because who wants to constantly refer to a diagram all the time?
Also, having the presets mirror custom racks helps, like on the quneo, controls from top to bottom coincide with a rack from left to right, or chain order.

Any lag comes down to card settings or inefficient scripting. The only issue where pressure is concerned is inconsistency between the 4 corners vs center, and that's supposedly being handled for a s/w update. You can set the sensitivity to where you have to beat it with a bat to get it up to 100% or you can set it so sensitive you could blow on it to get %100 (exaggeration:p)

So whatever issues there were I'm sure it's down to poor config. I have big hands, but not fat fingers (nor skinny) and don't have a problem with the corner sizes.
There's enough space to make sure you don't hit the wrong button; it just makes it to practical. Do those answer your questions?
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Very nice 80, I think you're onto something....
this is the actual program icon:


I like Punisher better though:)

[sporkles]

Thanks.

One more thing I'm curious about - and I'm sorry if this has been adressed previously - is how the touch strips and circles and pads feel, tactility-wise; are they like a smartphone, or are they a bit more "matte", so that it won't matter if your hands are a bit sweaty? I've had a problem with both my iPhone and with the trackpad on my oldest laptop, where a little bit of moist can create a lot of friction, making it almost impossible to swipe.

[regretfullySaid]

Honestly, couldn't tell ya. Either my hands haven't gotten sweaty enough or it's all good /shrug

[sounddevisor]

Thanks.

One more thing I'm curious about - and I'm sorry if this has been adressed previously - is how the touch strips and circles and pads feel, tactility-wise; are they like a smartphone, or are they a bit more "matte", so that it won't matter if your hands are a bit sweaty? I've had a problem with both my iPhone and with the trackpad on my oldest laptop, where a little bit of moist can create a lot of friction, making it almost impossible to swipe.

The touch strips and circles are a little soft and squishy - like slightly hardened gel, if that's helpful. They have a good amount of give to them - unlike the pads, which are stiffer, more like traditional pads. The strips and circles also have a little bit of matte texture to them - they are smooth, but not quite slick. I haven't run into any sweaty-hands issues yet, but I haven't really been in a swaety-hands situation with the QuNeo, either.

[sporkles]

^ Ah, OK; that's what I was hoping for - just a slightly coarser texture, like the X/Y control on the PadKontrol or NanoPad from Korg, if you're familiar with those?

[regretfullySaid]

It is very much like the texture of a PK x/y.

[sporkles]

It is very much like the texture of a PK x/y.

Excellent. In that case, I'm officially endorsing the subject of this thread

[regretfullySaid]

Just wanted to add that even though it can be very versatile, I'm not sure I'd personally be satisfied if it was the only controller I had.
I still get just as much use out of the pKc-Live script from nativeKontrol, and I still prefer using knobs for macros.
(I was surprised at the lack of jitter quneo has, though, it's not hard to get values back to 0, otherwise it'll go to -.3 or +.3.)

Some negatives:
Direct support is probably better than forum support, which is slacking, in attitude and communication.
High resolution ie OSC support and SDK still isn't available.
People wonder why there's no Mode 3 for their Live script; because there isn't one. If they took 5 minutes to update the documentation they wouldn't have new users asking about it.
So while they're releasing a new product and saying they'll provide better communication and updates, it isn't reflected back home.

Sort of off tangent:
I do enjoy the combination of using Quneo, TouchOsc on ipod, padKontrol/pKc-Live, FCB1010 and Axiom 25 with all of them sharing x-controls for my setup. There's a nice balance and amount of diversity. I also dusted off my Boss DR5 to use for key input but it's main strength is it's chord feature (w/ 6 alternate inversions!), which I ported over to a midi rack and made controls for it on the Quneo for portability.

[8O]

Just got to borrow one for a bit:

- looks like OSC (via the bridge utility) is just standard MIDI resolution, i.e. sends out integers from 0-127, rather than higher resolution floating points e.g. the defacto OSC standard of 0.0 to 1.0. So unless I'm doing fancy stuff with address patterns in Max/pure data, then no benefit over MIDI, right?

- impressed with the build quality of the case, and the case design

[trevox]

One thing I'll add first because of those comments though is that the VU metter thing is deceptive. You need a 3rd party plugin by piz called audio2cc to make it work, which means you need to set up an individual plugin for each channel.

If you have M4L, you don't need any third party plugin - just add a small patch at the end, convert the audio to a float, multiply by 127, give it the appropriate cc number and send it back to the quneo! Guess it amounts to pretty much the same thing.

I've taken a slightly different approach to controlling all my stuff now - I created a Max patch that integrates my controllers (Quneo, Launchpad, BCR2000 and midi keyboard), where every knob, pad and button is represented and has a label beside it. There's visual feedback on every control (apart from the rotaries on the Quneo at the moment) on screen. Using a series of pattr objects, I can name, save and recall things very easily within Max. Main reason for this is that I can never settle on a standard set of assignments for anything and this allows me to load up a track and see exactly what each control does without the need for a ton of overlays!

Your setup looks great and really well thought out though. It's really cool to see everyone taking a single controller and doing something totally different with it!

One other thing on Keith McMillan as a company in general - one of my rotaries went on the blink and they sent out a new one (hopefully arriving today) before asking me to send the broken one back. I've dealt with a lot of companies and I must say this level of customer service is a breath of fresh air!

[regretfullySaid]

I definitely want to check your m4l patch out when I get it if you'd be obliged; that sounds awesome.

[trevox]

I definitely want to check your m4l patch out when I get it if you'd be obliged; that sounds awesome.

The interface thing is in full Max, not M4L - just the patch that sends the vu meter data is in M4L! Actually I send the vu meter info using OSC over to Max as it made more sense at the time.

The Max interface is fairly personalized, so not sure if it is of much use unless you have the same setup and have the same needs! But if you want any of the elements that make it up (there's a lot of bpatchers and copy/pasting involved!), PM me and I'd be happy to send on whatever you think you might find useful and you could customize your own one. That's presuming you own Max though. Or come to think of it, it may be possible to harvest the Quneo elements out and incorporate in M4L, though the fact you have very little viewing space in M4L patches may defeat the purpose.

If I get around to it, I'll take some screenshots - it's not the prettiest thing I have ever seen and needs a bit more work, but it serves my purposes for now!