#6

The modules in mono are like having poor vision; you’d better remember where you put your stuff, and the world isn’t quite as pretty.

How’s this for a conflict of interest: if anybody decides to go gs128, pm me with an offer😉

#7

i didnt try kria yet because i didnt know it worked with gs128 –
can you describe your experience? :slight_smile:
thx in advance!

#8

So it sounds like I could make do with the grayscale 128, but it’s definitely lacking. I’d hate to get rid of these old grids, but I would never use them if I got an updated one :disappointed:

Can’t get past needing these monome modules in my case though…

Thanks for all the replies so far, everyone.

#9

for orca it’ll be mostly eye candy, there isn’t much functionality that relies on VB (i tweaked it so all the important feedback would work on non VB grids). but yeah, that was mostly because it wasn’t difficult to do so for orca specifically, but in general VB is the way to go, and for some apps having different brightness levels would be essential.

#10

Looks like there is little interest out there for older non-vb monomes and I kinda refuse to let this mint grayscale go for $300. I’d sooner keep it forever as a relic to worship.

Kinda irks me though that I’m stuck in limbo with a product I dearly love, but I get little function like I used to out of MLR and also can’t get the full function out of the eurorack modules.

ha’rumph

Guess I’ll start saving my coin and let these old grids collect even more dust. :disappointed:

#11

I had three grids at once for a hot minute. Plenty of uses for the old ones. Love the 40h with party van.

2 Likes
#12

I’ve completely moved away from making music on my laptop and if I was even able to try, I’d have to invest in a new laptop and blah blah blah. Just over the computer producing altogether, so it kinda leaves the monomes without.

That’s why the eurorack implementation excited/interested me so much…

#13

“can’t get the full function”
disagree; simply requires more memorization

“refuse to let this mint grayscale go for $300”
agree! decided to keep mine as a backup

ANY monome is an AWESOME monome

#14

Just wanted to report back in—I’m humbly very happy so far with my grayscale 128 in usage with a white whale running v1.2. :slight_smile:

I’ve had a week or so to get acquainted with it and it really brought my other modules to life like I hadn’t been able to do so far, all while keeping it it harmony. The CV outs are just outstandingly fun to use while triggering drum beats with the other outputs and I’ve only just grazed the surface. Outstanding!

I do plan on upgrading to a vb grid, but this pleases me a lot that I won’t feel the need to ditch the grayscale.

Very glad I took the leap and can’t wait to get more monome in my case!

(also very happy with my Mangrove as well. Amazing work on all fronts from the creative team here and within the Whimsical R. - Mannequins line.)

:beers:

2 Likes
#15

Has anyone tried a grayscale or similar non-vb with Ansible?

I just ordered and wondered if I’d be able to use my gs128 at all with Ansible
(i.e. kria and meadowphysics)

#16

I echo everyone here by saying there are no functionality issues wth old monomes and new modular gear. It’s really all about optics. Sure, VB makes it “easier” to navigate, but that’s it.

And I agree with @altoaiello - any monome is great and has use.

#17

Just as a word of caution, with my gs128 I find it hard to use some of the functions on kria on ansible like the probability modifier and the config view because of the lack of visual feedback. Although the ansible version has some features I wish the white whale version had, the current version of kria on white whale is much easier to use for me (plus the white whale version has transposition).

Meadowphysics on ansible with the gs128 is no problem from my experience.

Maybe with some updates the situation with kria could change…? I have looked briefly at the code for both versions of kria but I’m not sure how to go about implementing non-VB compatibility, and I don’t have experience compiling new firmware for the modules.

1 Like
#18

So how do you toggle between the three Loop Sync modes on the gs?
I tried single and double-clicking, long press and pressing two or three buttons
at a time on the right quadrant with no change in mode.

#19

To toggle loop sync modes, it seems like on the right half of the grid you need to press a key in the 4th row to toggle track mode or the 6th row to toggle all mode.

On the gs128, changing note sync and loop sync modes with no visual feedback in the config view is possible but tricky to keep track of and verify. Without a VB grid as a reference, in order to figure things out I had to look at the source code on github.

I don’t have a VB grid so I’m not completely sure, but the config view seems to work that way for me. Because of the difference in visual feedback and the lack of transposition with ansible kria I prefer using white whale kria for now, even though it only has 2 tracks.

#20

I’m selling my 256, which is non-varibright. But if I were still making music with the laptop, I’d never sell it; and if I don’t sell, I’ll happily hang on to it in case I ever return to laptop music. The 128 varibright looks absolutely awesome, but very cramped for applications like the Mark Eats sequencer. Some applications need more space to be really playable imo. The 256 is still a very valid option, varibright or not.

#21

Would you mind taking a quick video of these issues? Im tempted to pick up an old 128 grid to use with ansible/kria so im really curious as to what parts are particularly difficult to navigate. No worries if its not possible though

#22

With the current version of kria on ansible, with the gs128 there is no visual feedback (no lit leds) for the probability modifier and config view, so you’ll have to memorize where the settings are, look at other views, and listen to confirm things. I’m not sure whether making a video would clarify this, and unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to make and put up a video until well after January.

Also, the led feedback for editing notes on the gs128 is different than the white whale kria version in that you only see a lit led for the current step on ansible, while on the white whale version you can see the entire sequence lit up at once, which to me makes it easier to edit. I could imagine getting used to the way it’s done on ansible if you don’t mind switching back and forth from the note view to the loop modifier view where you can see the entire pattern lit up at once.

#23

No worries about the video thanks for taking the time to respond. It makes more sense now I can imagine all the switching back and forth different view can get a little cumbersome. As tempting as it is to pick up the gs I think im just going to patient and hold out for a VB grid.

#24

I haven’t tried a non vary bright gird yet but I am pretty sure it would be an incredible unintuitive hassle to use with those newer applications. My impression is also that modern grids are pooping up used quite often. So it should not be that much of a problem to get on with just a little patience.

#25

Just to update my experience with further use and other monome modules, besides WW…

I got myself an Ansible + Arc and shortly after got a second-hand Earthsea to mess around with on the non-vb grayscale grid I have. Let’s just say, it’s not very easy or fun to use Ansible’s Kria. And while Earthsea isn’t as bad, it loses a lot of functionality for visual feedback and I find myself lost constantly.

Kinda bummed about it, but I had a feeling it was a risk with the older grid. Now to decide what to do…I do want a variable brightness grid, but again, I refuse to give up my old baby and the further investment in another grid is impeding my excitement about it all.