I got mine as part of package deal, L11 Suite + Push 2 for 630 €, where L11 Suite alone would have cost me 599 €, so it was a no-brainer. I thought if I didn't like it I could slap it on eBay and effectively get get L11 Suite for half the retail price.. My experience is similar to what you describe. I messed around with it at the they I got it, but I can't say I've used it much since. YMMV but I found it to be more a hindrance than a help in the context of music production. For starters, the constant cleaning of finger prints (if that sort of thing bothers you) is a waste of time. Then, it takes way too much space on my desk considering how little I was using it, and I like to keep my working set-up minimalistic, meaning every piece of gear on my desk needs to be essential. My main use for it when it was on my desk was tapping out drum beats which I can already do with my much smaller Launchpad X. Last, tweaking device parameters with Push 2 is like painting a house through the keyhole.Angstrom wrote: ↑Tue Jun 14, 2022 9:12 pmThe price and the low quality are the main reason why I never bought one. It seems so expensive for what it is. It basically costs £550 to see if you like this particular controller, then theres this issue with perishing surface. I know so many people (with lots of income) who have them on shelves collecting dust. Thats pretty off putting for such a big outlay.
Meanwhile despite me having Live for over 10 years Ive never played one. I went to an Ableton event where a dude told me how great it was, etc. but the event ended before anyone could try it. So to test it would cost me £550 and if I don't sell it immediately apparently they rot away. It still seems mad to me. I know that some people love them, but the closest competitor is less than half the price.
It looks cool in the studio, until the fingerprint marks begin to show. IMO it's of very limited usefulness in the studio. Maybe useful as a performance tool, but with the rubber coating I'd think twice about taking out on gigs.
Of course the Ableton guy is going to tell you how great it is. Ableton spends a ton of money on marketing, probably much more than any other DAW maker. I mean, just look around, the internet is full of evangelists/optimists, most of them sponsored, who will cast just about anything in a positive light. In the end of the day the only review that counts is your own when you test the product. Based on my experience with Push 2, I cannot recommend it without warning about the rubber coating. Overall it's a good product but it may not suit everybody's workflow.
