JAH wrote:DJ Hellfire wrote:JAH wrote:The video is not showing a new concept. Analog mixers I have used in the past use the same technique of panning hard left/hard right to send channels out busses.
Yes, I'm aware it's not a new concept as I've used this method with Maschine for the last year and with my XL for several years before that, and even made a thread over a month ago explaining exactly what the video shows for the Ren! But the thing is with software that can be programmed nearly anyway you want, we can't keep using the "this is how it was in the past" for everything. Some things can/should be done the same, but many things should be updated and more streamline. And by no means should any basic/commonly-used features, like routing to mono outs, be removed.
This is actually funny. There are functions where forum members want the Ren to be exactly like the past. And then other functions where the past isn't good enough and folks want it changed NOW! New MPCs have never done everything their predecessors done. What is basic/common for one person is not that for another.
Note that these new MPCs were built from the ground up. It’s not like the MPC 60 to MPC 3000...MPC 2000 to 2000XL...or MPC 1000 to 2500; these products use the same/similar OS that Akai built upon instead of completely re-writing as seen in the Ren/Studio. Being a new product, I don't think anything was removed.....more like certain functions were not implemented (yet). It takes a lot of time to develop and test which many users here seem to be completely unaware of.
When the Ren was put on display at Namm last year, it was just a prototype. The software wasn't fully functional. You had Dan writing down feature requests at Namm and also frequenting this forum for feedback. A few months pass and forum members start crying that the Ren isn't available....and now it’s available, people are upset that there favorite feature isn't implemented.
Yeah, it is funny! I noticed that as well!
I think it's depends on a feature by feature basis. For example, things that are specific to the MPC workflow like sample routing, swing, quantize, enveloping, don't need to change. But things that directly compete with or function like DAW's or modern production software, like the mixer, chopping features, midi editing needs to be changed. For example, with a mixer laid out like every common DAW or analog desk, you can't keep the same gain structure of 0-100 like old MPC's. And other things may not need to completely change nor stay the exact same, but maybe just a slight updating, which is how much of the Ren was approached, which I really like.
But certain things, are equally common/basic to everyone, like mono routing. This is something that every analog drum machine (not just MPC's) with 8 or more outs is capable of. Something like ADSR or pad cycle is a different story! I'd agree that features like that aren't as equally common to everyone. But things like routing, purge, use of the data wheel, etc, are things that are (or should be) equally common to any experienced MPC user.
As far as guys crying about favorite features being missing, for me, what annoys me is not that an important feature is missing, it's more of having to explain WHY a missing feature is so important. I feel like it's shit we shouldn't have to explain to you or Akai what the importance is. It's things that MPC users and DAW users and Akai should already know the reasons why certain features are important. It's not like anyone is suggesting that the Ren should warm up coffee. Then yeah, I can see you asking why exactly the Ren should heat coffee!
But to have to explain to gear creators why the current style of NDC is no good or why routing to submixes sucks ass is frustrating when you feel like you have to fight to make them see the importance in something you feel they should already understand the importance of!