Comparitive review: LaunchPad / Hook / ReMixLive. What else?
Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 2:49 am
I bought LaunchPad, Hook, and ReMixLive and here are the Pros and Cons of each. All work with Ableton Link. Unfortunately none of them suit me perfectly but I'm hoping someone reading this might be able to suggest something else.
LAUNCHPAD
Pros:
Intuitive layout
Allows Manual BPM entry
Great FX
Cons:
Only 48 triggers per project
No Transpose
Pad colors are fixed
Pad name text is too small
Can import 1 audio file / loop at a time (for extra fee)
REMIXLIVE
Pros:
Can choose colors for pads (for extra fee)
Can transpose (for extra fee)
Can program "single-shot" (---->) pads to turn off by touching them again
Batch Import (for extra fee)
Cons:
Only 48 triggers per project
CANNOT enter manual BPM, and the app often makes mistakes
HOOK
Pros:
Hundreds of Pads per project
Easy to edit and transpose pads DURING playback
Great FX
Great Transitions
Great Workflow
Batch Import
Cons:
No manual BPM entry
Pads all one (or two) colors
Pad names are faint when they are in passive mode
No stop button for overall project
No stop option for "single-shot" (--->) pads
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
I'm looking for an app that lets me trigger long samples (many are over a minute long), that sync (using Ableton Link) with my Arranger keyboard during Live gigs. I need time stretching (which all the apps do well), but most importantly, since the samples are guitar, brass, sax lines and the like, the software does not accurately determine the BPM, and I need to be able to manually enter the BPM. For this reason ALONE, I have no choice but to stick with LaunchPad even though it is the most feature-weak of the three (not to mention you need to import each sample separately - a big deal since I have hundreds). ReMixLive, although not as intuitive and pretty, would be the best app feature-wise for what I'm looking for, but alas, it's BPM calculations are wrong every time. Hook is a completely different approach to working with pads, but boy, if I could only manually enter the BPM I would probably just use it - it's really a great, intuitive and fun piece of software.
My dream app would have, in order of importance:
- Manual BPM entry
- Tranpose
- Custom Color Pads with large text
- Batch import
- Option to un-trigger single-shot pads
LaunchPad scores 1/5 on this list. ReMixLive scores 4/5. Hook scores 2/5 (with extra points for fun!). But I'm stuck with LaunchPad because Manual BPM entry is an essential necessity.
Does anyone know of an app that can accomplish all this?
LAUNCHPAD
Pros:
Intuitive layout
Allows Manual BPM entry
Great FX
Cons:
Only 48 triggers per project
No Transpose
Pad colors are fixed
Pad name text is too small
Can import 1 audio file / loop at a time (for extra fee)
REMIXLIVE
Pros:
Can choose colors for pads (for extra fee)
Can transpose (for extra fee)
Can program "single-shot" (---->) pads to turn off by touching them again
Batch Import (for extra fee)
Cons:
Only 48 triggers per project
CANNOT enter manual BPM, and the app often makes mistakes
HOOK
Pros:
Hundreds of Pads per project
Easy to edit and transpose pads DURING playback
Great FX
Great Transitions
Great Workflow
Batch Import
Cons:
No manual BPM entry
Pads all one (or two) colors
Pad names are faint when they are in passive mode
No stop button for overall project
No stop option for "single-shot" (--->) pads
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
I'm looking for an app that lets me trigger long samples (many are over a minute long), that sync (using Ableton Link) with my Arranger keyboard during Live gigs. I need time stretching (which all the apps do well), but most importantly, since the samples are guitar, brass, sax lines and the like, the software does not accurately determine the BPM, and I need to be able to manually enter the BPM. For this reason ALONE, I have no choice but to stick with LaunchPad even though it is the most feature-weak of the three (not to mention you need to import each sample separately - a big deal since I have hundreds). ReMixLive, although not as intuitive and pretty, would be the best app feature-wise for what I'm looking for, but alas, it's BPM calculations are wrong every time. Hook is a completely different approach to working with pads, but boy, if I could only manually enter the BPM I would probably just use it - it's really a great, intuitive and fun piece of software.
My dream app would have, in order of importance:
- Manual BPM entry
- Tranpose
- Custom Color Pads with large text
- Batch import
- Option to un-trigger single-shot pads
LaunchPad scores 1/5 on this list. ReMixLive scores 4/5. Hook scores 2/5 (with extra points for fun!). But I'm stuck with LaunchPad because Manual BPM entry is an essential necessity.
Does anyone know of an app that can accomplish all this?