#62

Hows the wired latency directly in Max?

#63

Didnā€™t notice any. But iā€™m no drummer.

#64

Thatā€™s promising to hear, as by all accounts its super noticeable, even not from a drummers perspective (when wireless/bluetooth).

#65

its so funny because just now i got an email from roli saying we received your package and its contents but could not find your order numberā€¦ therefore we donā€™t know if you want us to issue you a return or do you want a repair? should i ask them to repair the latency???

4 Likes
#66

Just a quick message in case you missed the recent updates :

  • M4L now WORKS
  • A few improvements make it easier to program
  • The latency in Bluetooth seems quite acceptable to me, but the display can be laggy, at the moment.
#67

I was going to bump this thread with my experiences of the last few weeks.

I am very impressed with blocks, I also have no problem with the latency and if you take into account that the FAQ says not to use non wired headphones, its fine.

Noise is not great but the new soundpacks at least make it more flexible but itā€™s crying out for a mixing page where you can alter volume and i think it needs a way to go to sounds directly not scroll through them.

Also the quantised rhythm parts (groove kits) seem to be slaves to a clock so if you press on an offbeat, you have to wait for the next beat for the drum part to play, I suspect this is where most people get the unacceptable latency issues.

Having a small bluetooth MPE controller is lovely for using with apps on an IOS device, and I was really interested in using it with my MIDI sequencer (Kilpatrick Carbon) as an alternative to a keyboard, where you just need to input notes and the sequencer will take care of the rest.

Unfortunately my Carbon seems to freak out when you put a USB3 device into the USB host port, but I hope that the upcoming Blocks dashboard might allow you to limit the data that the device spits out. ( similar to configuring Rise to single channel mode)

I managed to get mine at a very reduced price, So I am not sure I would be so forgiving if I had paid RRP for it, YMMV

#68

Oh, a precision then :
i did not try any of the ROLI apps or software or whatever. Only Max and M4L with the Max Package.

1 Like
#69

hey gang - very late to the party, but curious if anyone else been pushing forwards with Blocks? Iā€™ve been having some nice early success using it as a simple XYZ controller, but could see myself building some visual feedback for ā€˜modular-esqueā€™ max patches. Has anyone played around with blocks.jit.matrix?

Also, v curious to see what else other folks have cooked up so far - I posted this one in the MPE/touch controller thread, so hopefully not spamming, but hereā€™s a lil sketch with a block + aalto/kaivo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BTcNlxMF3qH/?taken-by=gan.tttt

would love to see what other left-of-center blocks projects are out there!

1 Like
#70

Today, weā€™re releasing a new free plug-in for the ROLI Lightpad:

Weā€™re also updating all of our existing modulation-based plugins (Dent, Indent, Sandman Pro, and Fault) to have full native support for the Lightpad.

Iā€™ve been pretty quiet on this thread, but I think the latest updates have turned the Lightpad into essential gear for me. I was skeptical with the initial focus on iOS, but the Max Package and Blocks Dashboard have shown me that these devices are on the same wavelength as the Monome gear. These are devices that adapt to whatever project you are working on. The Max Package in particular has a drag-and-drop interface builder that is a joy to use.

I really hope that everyone enjoys this as much as I do! Let me know what you think of Instant Delay.

5 Likes
MPE/touch controller options?
#71

I think I mentioned this on the MPE thread but Iā€™ve had much better experiences with Blocks since the last firmware update.

Itā€™s been on standby for a week or so and was fine when i booted it up last nightā€¦ previously a day or two would have drained it completely.

also tried out the delay pluginā€¦ @trickyflemming really nice and within the first minute of opening it up, I was able to use a patch cord to modulate a parameter becauseā€¦modular.

just wondering if Sandman Pro can take it to Particle pedal levels of grainy delaysmear.

1 Like
#72

Thanks! I havenā€™t used a Particle before, but Sandman Pro is based around a multitap granular delay engine. You can use two separate pitch shifters with feedback or cross-feedback and then run it through a diffusion network to get some crazy pitch smears. Thereā€™s also a 16-tap mode. The Sleep mode in particular is great for extracting grains. Thereā€™s a free 14-day demo to hear if it does what you want!

One of the better Sandman Pro granulation demos Iā€™ve seen is this one by Richard Devine:

#73

I like the plugin BUT :
am i missing something or you have to manually reselect the lightpad so it controls the plugin, each time you load a song (in my case, an ableton live set) ?

#74

Yes, that is the current behavior. Weā€™ve had a lot of requests to change it, so we are looking into it for the next update. It should be possible, as the plugin can scan the unique ID of the connected Block. The only drawback to this implementation will be that if you own more than one Lightpad Block, you need to connect the same Lightpad that you use when saving the project.

#75

That could be nice, because for now, itā€™s absolutely unusable on stage.
Add the fact that, if youā€™re using it with Bluetooth, you have to manually activate it in the MIDI Configuration (on Mac) each time you start the computerā€¦
To me, the unfriendly connectivity is my major disappointment, and the reason why it stays in a drawer instead of being on stage. Music is more than nice videos and youtubeā€¦

#76

New Seaboard Block is available:

Iā€™m considering replacing my RISE 25. Having a smaller, more portable (and modular) option is appealing since I travel a lot.

2 Likes
#77

The fact that you can combine them for more octaves is something. Clever. Still gonna wait and see what @randy has up his sleeve though.

1 Like
#78

Iā€™m still waiting for a full-sized pad from them. Iā€™ve been using a BLOCK since a little after it came out, and the firmware updates have improved a lot of the issues, but theyā€™re still pretty much a novelty. Iā€™ve got my own ideas of what they should do, so hereā€™s hoping they can be beat to market or take them time to build a larger, more serious tool for use.

#79

Damn, less than one year later, a more sensitive block ??
The first generation are quite unsatisfying (the borders are unsensitive). I feel totally fooled.

#80

I bought, and returned for a refund shortly thereafter due to manufacturing defects, a Seaboard GRAND. So I know the feeling. But I do really miss MPE, and the new Seaboard Block is so cute. Not digging on the computer-dependence of Roli though. Leaning towards Linnstrument or Soundplane to scratch that itch now. Really really curious to see what @randy has up his sleeve.

#81

i ordered the original light block, returned it after 1 minuteā€¦ latency issues and also the surface was rock hard. love my seaboard 25. not surprised to see a new light block thatā€™s been redesigned as everyone i know hated the surface of the old one. but yeah, if iā€™d kept my original one and then this new one comes out now with no trade in or upgrade offer, iā€™d be pretty sad.

1 Like