Can I use a Ren without looking at the computer screen?

kaydigi wrote: maschines no monitor workflow is really impressive.

No, it's more that Maschine is just as awkward from the hardware as it is from the computer.

You would be surprised at how many Ren owners have a Maschine sitting close by but still prefer the Ren and it's workflow.

The Ren needs a hardware screen upgrade badly. Larger, color... if they release a v2 Ren hardware I'd definitely buy one, even though I still dont want to be tethered to a computer. But like some folks said here, I can see the advantages. I just want to see a bigger hardware LCD. But I'm coming from the 5000, so Im not used to the size screen on the Ren now... seems SO tiny. I have a studio, but rarely use it.

THE ADVERSARY wrote:

kaydigi wrote: maschines no monitor workflow is really impressive.

No, it's more that Maschine is just as awkward from the hardware as it is from the computer.

You would be surprised at how many Ren owners have a Maschine sitting close by but still prefer the Ren and it's workflow.

I have a Maschine right next to my MPC Studio and MPC 1000 JJOS. I prefer Akai's style over machine, but I still use Maschine for a lot of stuff. Time stretching, sound effects, fast ndc chopping, effects....

I'm not talking Maschine's own sequencer follies, and non song mode issues and other crazy quirks. I'm talking about how maschine controls its software without the need for a monitor for most of it's basic and advance functions. The guy made a self contained maschine with a pc built inside, shit is crazy. He still needed a keyboard to save and open projects if I remember correctly.








That windows MK2 Ren looks like it's headed that way though. I am getting a a Surface 8 to Run Maschine and MPC software on the go.

kaydigi wrote: I'm talking about how maschine controls its software without the need for a monitor for most of it's basic and advance functions.

I think this is my answer.
B

LivePsy wrote:As the original poster, I have to admit I have had a Maschine mk1 for years. I understand that naming with a keyboard is very convenient. Piano roll editing to move something is far easier than hardware LCD. No question about these.

The reason I still use a hardware MPC is the design of pads and tracks. A track can be a whole tom kit of 4 or 5 samples each mapped to separate pads. All toms in the track can be muted or unmuted anytime in a single step because they are in 1 track. But Maschine limits you to the sample and pad. You have to put the toms into a new group and mute or unmute that group to do the same thing. Now we're muting pads or groups. You know this, but its a reason I prefer the MPC design.

My original question is basically what did the software developers leave out of the hardware, because we all know you can't trust the name Akai to do everything you assume it would do.

I like the 1.7 architecture change to midi events on pads and the programs are audio streams. This makes total sense. It seems that most common tasks can be done with the hardware. But if you have to go to the software to trim a sample, stretch it, or tweak the filter, then the hardware is a toy addon to the software. That's what I am trying to work out.

B

Hell yeah man! All of that stuff you just mentioned is still in the MPC. The actual workflow of the MPC has not much changed at all. For what you described above, you will definitely feel right at home.

LivePsy wrote:

kaydigi wrote: I'm talking about how maschine controls its software without the need for a monitor for most of it's basic and advance functions.

I think this is my answer.
B

The point I am trying to make is not what you can do from the hardware but would you do it from the hardware?

Not sure why people try to act like Maschine does some magical aspect in this.
When on Maschine I definitely use my mouse more because much of the Maschine workflow feels like it was designed from the software not the hardware.

The when using the mk1/mk2 it just seems easier for me to click around then flip through pages while trying to use the encoders.

The Ren feels more like hardware than Maschine but a the same time the MPC Studio feels more like using a controller.

THE ADVERSARY wrote:

LivePsy wrote:

kaydigi wrote: I'm talking about how maschine controls its software without the need for a monitor for most of it's basic and advance functions.

I think this is my answer.
B

The when using the mk1/mk2 it just seems easier for me to click around then flip through pages while trying to use the encoders.

I definitely know what you mean here. And sometimes your hands get in the way of what you're trying to look at on the hardware screens. The mouse just ends up being more efficient for many tasks.

DJ Hellfire wrote:I definitely know what you mean here. And sometimes your hands get in the way of what you're trying to look at on the hardware screens. The mouse just ends up being more efficient for many tasks.

But on the hardware you're doing it from muscle memory. If you really are looking at the mode button before you press it every time, you don't know the box very well. The little screen has so few fields on each page that you know where to look and what you are looking for without thinking. That's the MPC work flow.

B

MaZe wrote: Simple things like naming from the hardware are not possible yet.

I always thought this was one of the funniest requests...like why would you wanna type with pads like with an old flip phone instead of using keyboard and be done in 3 seconds

konc3pt wrote:

MaZe wrote: Simple things like naming from the hardware are not possible yet.

I always thought this was one of the funniest requests...like why would you wanna type with pads like with an old flip phone instead of using keyboard and be done in 3 seconds

Yes, its very annoying to enter a name on the number pad LOL

DJ Hellfire wrote:Agreed for the most part. I'd say as of 1.7, about 98% of actual work related tasks can be done from the hardware. Basically, anything a hardware MPC can do from the hardware, the Ren can. The list of software only functions is really very small.

I see what you're saying but I was talking more about the quality of the screen that the Ren shipped with. It wouldn't be an engaging experience to work entirely from the Ren screen, especially if you've got a high resolution display to help with editing tasks or whatever. There's also talk of glitches and the general layout being fairly poor compared to the latest JJOS for example.

I think through using smartphones and tablets we've become accustomed to what a small screen can display, and those 30 year old monochrome screens just don't cut it anymore. The 4K is decent enough because it shows graphical automation, grid/piano rolls and you can connect a wireless keyboard for easier naming and full remote control.

Standalone fans are probably better off waiting for the mythical Windows embedded MPC.

konc3pt wrote:

MaZe wrote: Simple things like naming from the hardware are not possible yet.

I always thought this was one of the funniest requests...like why would you wanna type with pads like with an old flip phone instead of using keyboard and be done in 3 seconds

You've never used an MPC 3000 then.

Coz wrote:

I think through using smartphones and tablets we've become accustomed to what a small screen can display, and those 30 year old monochrome screens just don't cut it anymore.

Then let those people go use a tablet or their phone to make music, the APP Store has got them covered.

THE ADVERSARY wrote:Then let those people go use a tablet or their phone to make music, the APP Store has got them covered.

There's no quality hardware controllers to accommodate an MPC-like workflow with the iPad. If there was a lot of people would be using it as some of the music apps are way more forward-thinking than the Ren software.

Anyway, you obviously missed Akai showing off a standalone MPC with a big touchscreen earlier this year? The word on the street is "It's happening", so there's no real point in blowing 700 notes on a Ren when something with a potentially much better workflow is in the post.

Coz wrote:

DJ Hellfire wrote:Agreed for the most part. I'd say as of 1.7, about 98% of actual work related tasks can be done from the hardware. Basically, anything a hardware MPC can do from the hardware, the Ren can. The list of software only functions is really very small.

I see what you're saying but I was talking more about the quality of the screen that the Ren shipped with. It wouldn't be an engaging experience to work entirely from the Ren screen, especially if you've got a high resolution display to help with editing tasks or whatever. There's also talk of glitches and the general layout being fairly poor compared to the latest JJOS for example.

I think through using smartphones and tablets we've become accustomed to what a small screen can display, and those 30 year old monochrome screens just don't cut it anymore. The 4K is decent enough because it shows graphical automation, grid/piano rolls and you can connect a wireless keyboard for easier naming and full remote control.

Standalone fans are probably better off waiting for the mythical Windows embedded MPC.

What I was implying is that from a hardware screen perspective, there ain't much difference with the Ren as compared to older MPC's. So those users coming from old MPC's shouldn't see much difference, unless coming from a 5000 or 4000. So what I'm saying is in most cases, while you aren't gaining anything in the screen area with the Ren, you aren't losing much of anything either.