Ableton Forum

Has anyone seen this in action?

http://www.novationmusic.com/products/z ... i?option=1

Very nice looking controller.

If it had another two rows of programable knobs it may well have been perfect

Cheers

Also it needs motorized faders -- as it is, there is no guarantee that the fader position matches the setting of the corresponding parameter.

ark wrote:Also it needs motorized faders -- as it is, there is no guarantee that the fader position matches the setting of the corresponding parameter.

pickup mode is amazing for this.

But yet novation still can't release a controller with actual usable faders. How hard is it to make something you can grab onto and make accurate adjustments with, especially at the price point, unexceptional really. They should take some notes from akai- solid build quality, great faders, and looking at their new miniak, the mic on that thing looks like one of those bendable lights you'd find on a mixing board. A sign of more possible good features down the road from akai, possibly.......

CM

me thinks a lot of these companies are gonna have one hell of a hard time when people stop buying their controllers and start buying apc40's

Johnisfaster wrote:me thinks a lot of these companies are gonna have one hell of a hard time when people stop buying their controllers and start buying apc40's

yea, they will be needing to adjust much quicker to keep up with that controller. Once some big names are going to be using the apc40 for live shows, everyone will be a lot of Akai riding. I do think that Novation would be the first company to make something comparable to the apc40 in the next coming months.....maybe if this new zero 2 doesn't do well they might bring something out for summer namm as a prototype.

Johnisfaster wrote:me thinks a lot of these companies are gonna have one hell of a hard time when people stop buying their controllers and start buying apc40's

The APC40 does look quite incredible, however, the pads are not velocity sensitive, making it quite a lot less desirable in my opinion.

wildcon wrote:If it had another two rows of programable knobs it may well have been perfect

Was thinking the same thing - I'll stick with my cheap and cheerful UC-33e.

Off-topic, but it's funny that even Novation call the program Ableton instead of Live...

Jarvisimon wrote:

Johnisfaster wrote:me thinks a lot of these companies are gonna have one hell of a hard time when people stop buying their controllers and start buying apc40's

The APC40 does look quite incredible, however, the pads are not velocity sensitive, making it quite a lot less desirable in my opinion.

Yeah, because nothing beats hitting pads that are about the size of a fingernail.

I'm starting to believe this controller is way too over-hyped. I'd like to see some feedback from somebody who isn't trying to sell it. Like, this thing could be the buggier than a novation controller.

I have a novation remote sl compact and I have to admit that I just use it as a keyboard most of the time. Automap is only good for controlling channel strips and the transport. It seems like automap manages to stick all the parameters you don't need at the top of the pages when controlling synths or plugins. Often times envelopes are split up on multiple pages. Lately I've been creating my own templates that go along with max patches. I actually managed to make a step sequencer patch that works pretty well with the remote sl compact. Kind of a bummer that this new controller eliminated one of the lcd screens.

I don't understand what all the hype is about the apc40, to be honest it doesn't really look like a good controller for a sampler anymore to me. I am even more suprised that akai out of all people would manufacture a controller that is ergonomicaly incorrect for a groove sampler. knobs and faders are always welcome but what exactly is getting people all jizzed up about it, just the lights?, or the max/live super special integration? It's probably the the product out of all of their other controllers and instruments that feels the worse, i don't think it will float. it's too big too, their mpd32 has alot of problems but it looks like it would feel way better I think they should have made that the apc model

^^^ those buttons with the lights, aren't designed as pads. They are not for finger drummers. They are just buttons for launching clips ... and for monitoring the status of clips slots, i.e., empty/full/playing ... Of course MfL will give other functionality, such as step sequencing, but again, not drum pads per se

Think about how you are currently launching clips from the session view during a live show, and how that might change if you had a APC40

What I don't get, is that people who buy any of the new SL controllers get Automap PRO for free.
I got a Nocturn and SL 61 and had to pay for Automap PRO.

Novation weirdness once again.

wildcon wrote:Has anyone seen this in action?

http://www.novationmusic.com/products/z ... i?option=1

Very nice looking controller.

If it had another two rows of programable knobs it may well have been perfect

Cheers

Sometimes I wonder if these people who bitch about the APC have ever used Live in a live situation.

The APC isn't about bashing out drum patterns in your studio as you smoke weed and sip Fanta. Buy a PadKontrol if that's your thing.

The APC is about having full control over your clips in Session View. It's going to kick ass for DJ'ing, live performance, improvised arrangements, and spontanious experimentation.

Nothing compares to it because nothing else has the "secret handshake", and nothing else gives you the same amount of visual feedback.

My only worry is that another type of secret handshake (vested interests- in the real world) might prevent other hardware companys from competing with AKAI.

In other words we will be in a situation where you can only do certain cool things with Live if you spend extra on a specific bit of AKAI equipment. Likewise, I worry that the introduction of MaxForLive could actually stifle innovation within Live itself, again because of vested interests.

For now though, it looks like the possibility of another company competing with the APC40 is more impossible than unlikely.

Johnisfaster wrote:me thinks a lot of these companies are gonna have one hell of a hard time when people stop buying their controllers and start buying apc40's

I think you're forgetting that the apc40 is really only that appealing to us Live users. There are a lot of other DAWs out there. I think other controllers will stay plenty competitive for those. I can't really see someone wanting a clip matrix for Cubase.