Ableton Forum

hi

is anybody here using one of those kenton killamix mini units?
i'm interested in getting one soon and have some questions, mostly on how it feels to use it, because i know all about the features. i also know about the quality, kenton does great stuff, my questions is mostly about the hands on feeling ..

1) how does the buttons feel? hard or soft to press?
2) the encoders, do you physically feel the steps much? soft/hard?
3) when turning fast and parameter acceleration kicks in, do you hear steps in ableton or does it have some kind of smoothing?


And also another thing, is it possible to configure the Killamix Mini to send CC# when pushing the encoders? I saw a demonstration of the unit a while ago where thy mentioned that it was added as a feature (it was also mentioned in the computer magasine review), but i can't find it in the manual. Is the function available?


thanks for your answer ..

nobody? i know some of you have it wasn't there a guy who also did a review for ableton dj?

Yup. Check out Tarekiths review on Abletonlivedj...

yeah i'ts a nice review, I've already read it .. these are kind of follow up questions to that ..

bump, please!?

Tarekith (he's here frequently) uses one. He'll find this thread before long.

that's what i hope for, but also other users as well ...

Well, I saw him using his. It was much smaller than I'd imagined, seemed pretty sturdily built, though. I didn't play with it, so I can't answer the feel questions.

nihad wrote:1) how does the buttons feel? hard or soft to press?

buttons are nice n soft - very easy to press. the push encoders are a bit stiff but you don't accidentally change channel when you go to turn a knob so thats a plus and minus... you get used to it.

nihad wrote:2) the encoders, do you physically feel the steps much? soft/hard?

you do feel the steps but it's good as you kind of know where you're at. the bit that occasionally irritates me about this is the steps make loud clicks so for some of the quieter gigs you could hear me turning the knobs - not ideal!! if you're playing in loud clubs/bars etc not a problem, but for small quiet art stuff it can be.

nihad wrote:3) when turning fast and parameter acceleration kicks in, do you hear steps in ableton or does it have some kind of smoothing?

there is smoothing - i've never noticed a problem with this but i don't do a lot of fast filter sweeps so maybe someone else might have a different opinion on this.

nihad wrote:And also another thing, is it possible to configure the Killamix Mini to send CC# when pushing the encoders? I saw a demonstration of the unit a while ago where thy mentioned that it was added as a feature (it was also mentioned in the computer magasine review), but i can't find it in the manual. Is the function available?

i haven't seen this - the encoders do send midi when you push them but i think it's not a type live can use. if you have bidule (or anything else that can convert midi messages) you can change it into something that live can use pretty easily. it's possible this is in a new firmware update that i haven't put on. also, kenton have taken peoples suggestions for firmware and incorporated them so if you really need it ask them and they could help you out...

Is it possible to to update the LED rings by sending MIDI CC's. For instance say I start a new song in a performance, and I want to set all of the knobs back to the default. Instead of going through all of the banks and setting the knobs back to zero, Could i send clip envelopes to reset all of the knobs to zero?
Thanks,
Dave

clearscreen >> cool, thanks a lot for taking your time to answer. gave me a lot of insight ..
ordered my unit now as well, looking forward to get my hands on it

David Brent wrote:Is it possible to to update the LED rings by sending MIDI CC's. For instance say I start a new song in a performance, and I want to set all of the knobs back to the default. Instead of going through all of the banks and setting the knobs back to zero, Could i send clip envelopes to reset all of the knobs to zero?
Thanks,
Dave

i'd imagine you could do this... i can't off the top of my head think of a reason why not. wouldn't you set your dummy clip to just zero everything in live and let the remote output zero the killamix? or is that exactly what you're suggesting... sorry if i got that wrong.

no worries nihad, hope it works out for you

thanks ... actually i also wonder if the killamix updates the leds on dials and buttons by sending out the same CC on the same channel to the unit, or some other way ..

any words from Tarekiths yet? =)

So how do you like it so far. I'm looking at this unit too. I was also thinking it would probably be nice for serato as well.