cpm31 wrote:
thanks for the offer. i will take advantage of it.
ok here are some quick questions for ren.
1)can you work on ren with confidence that now that you know the bugs you can avoid them 100% and complete a beat?
2)how many times have you lost a beat from a crushing??
3)do you use the undo button and redo, is it really as bad as they say??
4)how many times through making a beat you have to switch from ren to pc, from hardware to mouse??
5)from the updates and the way they are improving ren till now how many updates you think will take to make the mpc ren undoubtedly better than any other mpc (and rock solid)?
6)is the screen lagging too much?? in which proccess would you see this problem more (mean when mixing?? hitting the pads??).
7)would a bigger screen with more options on it (like mpc 4000) be better for your workflow?
my pc is 3.4 ghz intel core i5 with 3 giga ram, is it good enough for ren???
9)what has ren, in comparison to previous mpcs, gave you a crucial advantage using it and stepped up your beat making.
10)do step edit and grind options work like previous mpcs?
11)finally they all say that hardware is build like a tank, can you compare it a little with mpc 4000 and mpc 2500?
thanks in advance 
p.s. a stupid question for ending is ren pure white like mpc 2500se or mpc 4000 or closer to grey, some pics had me confused.
1. With 1.3, I can complete a beat and not worry about it crashing. However, you will have different experiences depending on which plugin instruments you use.
2. This goes back to question #1. I don't get any crashes through normal use of the Ren. However, if I am doing things to intentionally try to crash it (stress testing) that is a different story.
3. The Undo/Redo is flaky. I won't sugar coat it. I don't use it at all. I personally feel that it should be simplified and only tied into the sequencer. Every single knob turn can be undone/redone which I really dislike. It should also have a way to let you know what exactly will be undone/redone. Until this is address, I will not use this function when making a beat.
4. I do it all the time. Somethings are faster from the hardware and somethings are faster using the software. I use what is best to fit my workflow. I am not one of those obsessed with every single function needing to be assessed from the hardware. But, I acknowledge that some users want this so I fully support this request.
5. I whole-heartedly believe the software for the Ren is better than any MPC ever created as of 1.3. The hardware of the Ren is pretty good but not the best. I don't necessarily care for the height of the buttons. While they are acceptable, they are certainly unlike the hardware MPCs I have spent $2500-$3500 in the past. Considering the complete package...if I only could choose 1 MPC...the Ren would be at the top of the list. I rarely use my hardware MPCs outside of testing and verifying functions while working on the Ren. Will I ever sell my hardware MPCs? Probably yes...with the exception of my MPC 3000LE, the best built MPC ever made.
6. In general, I have no issues with any lag in the LCD especially when using the data dial and cursor buttons. Depending on certain parameters such as routing of pads to outputs, you will experience some issues when turning the Qlinks too fast; this isn't an issue with the data dial.
7. If I were Akai, I would have went with a larger LCD screen. It would have given them more freedom to design the menus on the LCD. Akai some-what used the concept of the MPC 5000s synth editing via qlinks and brought it to the MPC Ren with a much smaller screen. It has mixed results in my opinion. But I have no suggestions to make it better as the LCD is tied to the Qlinks which seems users like. If they designed it to mimic hardware MPCs, there would be a lot of clicking using the cursor buttons which isn't better.
8. Those specs are good enough for the Ren. But if you use too many plugins, you will run out of memory as it is a 32 bit app.
9. It's faster and more powerful. Sample Editing in the Ren crushes what you can do on a hardware MPC.
10. No. One of my biggest feature requests is to have Step Edit (MIDI event list editor) and Grid Edit (as seen in the MPC 1000, 2500, 4000, and 5000) return to the Ren. Many MPC users have grown to love these functions. Personally, I use Step Edit a lot in hardware MPCs.
11. I kind of answered this above. No, the Ren is not built like an MPC 4000. It does have better pads and a data dial. It is similar in build to the MPC 2500. As I mentioned above, I would go for an MPC Ren XL. I would add a larger, color LCD. I would expand the audio I/O, and give it internal drives (CF card and SSD).
bt430 wrote:JAH says "It appears the only members that responded are non-Ren owners."
Jah I'm actually a fan of yours I usually find your responses on point and informative but sometimes you do assume things that aren't exactly true.
In the context of this thread, what I said was true. I can name all the forum members that have posted in this thread that don't own the Ren. But I am sure you can easily find this information yourself if you choose. There are at least 4 forum members that have responded that have never claimed to have purchased the Ren.
