Pioneer Toraiz SP-16

It doesn’t sound like an old school machine, no, but it sounds really nice - think more along the lines of a decent Apogee or Audient audio interface - so clean and modern - but not in an MPC1000 way - in a good way.

Akai S1000 vibes?

I agree. I since got it and very happy with the sound. I’ll keep my emax1 for the gritty stuff.

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Tip: Turn off time stretching per track unless you actually need it - it’s on for every track by default and makes everything sound ‘warped’ like in Live - turn it off and clarity returns :slight_smile:

I just made an empty master project with it off across the board.

that’s a big claim though. If it really sounds as good as audient then damn that’s about $500 of worth right there.

Hello @avantronica , @PeterHanes This threads should fusion i guess, right i just ask ? :


I’d say so, probably now it’s too late as both threads were concurrent so it would make reading the frankenstein thread a bit tricky.

Perhaps we can close @DarenAger’s one and continue the general discussion as i believe Daren has established what he wanted having set off from a specific standpoint of discussion, it then evolved to a general topic

Will close the other one if Daren’s on board that it’s a spent topic (it has been moved from the OT page as it had become less OT centric in any case)

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Yes cool by me :slight_smile:

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fwiw… demo’d the toraiz for a few hours in the shop today and I have to say that it’s sound quality REALLY blows the OT out of the water. It’s time stretching is much, much better and I found it easier to get a good mix in the unit itself, which is something i struggle with in the OT alone.

Although the truth is no matter what you need a good mixer anyway, so a bit of a mute point.

Of course there is no way to compare samples in an A/B etc etc…but don’t get me wrong, I love my OT. In fact I was in the shop buying a second one. But the toraiz really had my attention. The samples sounded crisp and the mixing was very clean and in the pocket.

Anyway - will definitely grab a toraiz when it’s more feature complete. It was a pretty intuitive device and I really hope it pushes elektron to update the OT to include pitch based time stretching. PLEASE. I beg! Re-pitch time stretching. For Christmas.

It does sound much better imo too. Be careful though, when I stated this months ago, some people got rather upset.

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People don’t much like truths. Yet, the less you like it, the more you need it.

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Yeah I came to this thread because I thought the rabid fanboi stuff that was happening was quite lame. You really gave a lot of good info on the unit I would totally have the toraiz right now if it fit better into my setup.

Granted the OT can and does sound just as good, it’s just much much easier to muddy the mix on the OT than it is on the Toraiz.

People knocking the Toraiz in comparison to OT weren’t being ‘fanboi’.
Check out their (mostly non-elektron users) forum -
https://forums.pioneerdj.com/hc/en-us/community/topics/200467403-TORAIZ

Apologies if my tone came across harsh. Not my intention to stir the pot. However, some comments directed towards Prints review of the device came across as extremely immature and that is unfortunate considering Prints took the time to review this expensive piece of equipment in depth.

No one is saying the Toraiz is perfect. A 32 second sampler that costs $2000 CDN is insanity. Typical pioneer fashion…

HOWEVER. I felt compelled to post because the Toraiz has some really interesting features and I think people should definitely get their hands on it to see if it clicks with them.

Again, I cannot emphasize enough how fantastic the samples sounded coming from that box. That is what spoke to me the most.

But it is way too big and although its great that they have this “roadmap” - to me it is not a purchase until many of the features are implemented. As well I am waiting to see if they will ever change the max sample length.

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I doubt they will. The 32 second limit doesn’t seem like a feature they intend to update away from. I’m hoping that, when I’m ready to purchase it, they will have an mk2 with an extended time.

Hi gang.

I just want to add my voice here briefly. I own an Octatrack, AKeys and Tempest (as well as Push 2 / Ableton). I bought a Toraiz a few days ago after having tried it for around 30 minutes on 2 separate occasions in my local music store.

I was immediately impressed with the sound quality. You can see that it’s been mentioned here a few times, well it really does merit repeating. It sounds fantastic. The DSI Prophet 6 filter is so nice to have too and the fact that you will be able to send tracks individually to it (recently announced in an OS roadmap release, amongst other things, such as live sampling) is a great bonus.

It is so intuitive to use and I have found myself coming up with some loops I am very happy with - very quickly. It is limited somewhat compared to the OT (in fact, very limited in comparison), but I would probably only use around 10-20% of my OT’s features anyway. Limitation is great for creativity - I knew it, now I am benefiting from it :slight_smile:

I absolutely love my OT, and I doubt the Toraiz will ever get more than 32 seconds sampling time, so they are a great partnership. God, I want to run my OT through the Analog Heat :heart_eyes:

If you go to test drive the Toraiz in a store, you’ll probably be quickly impressed with the sound, but if you give it a bit more time I think the UI and productivity of the unit will grab you.

In any case, enjoy making music on whatever instruments you have :slight_smile:

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I’m really enjoying the Toraiz. The workflow and UI click nicely with me.

However, one thing that is bugging me is how the rotary encoders affect the parameters.

The encoders are notched and the values of any given parameter change with each ‘click’ of the encoder. This is fine for parameters with small ranges of say 100 or so, for example pan or volume. But when you start using it to control something like the LP filter cut-off frequency where you’re working with ranges of thousands of Hz, suddenly you’re jumping 1000+ Hz with each click of the dial! Totally Mad because it it impossible to do smooth sweeps or even subtly changed to the filter - it’s huge jumps of nothing.

Am I missing something here?

I’d also like to see samples automatically assigned to pads as soon as you sample, rather than having to edit it and save it first - that way you could hit the pad to demo it as you’re editing it.

I’d also love to see some better sample editing options, longer pattern length options and also some more interesting trigger options to make patterns more interesting.

It’s a great machine though and I’m sure will only get better.

Also, is anyone who has one getting an electrical buzz through your fingers from touching the metal chassis? A physical sensation like the case is holding some sort of charge, not an audible buzz.

Hi, I’m not getting that buzzing at all (I responded to you about that on Gearlsutz!).

I also responded to some of your other comments / suggestions on the Pioneer Forum. I thought it would be good to get some movement over there, where they are more likely to read about issues / suggestions, and of course, the more activity, the more likely they’ll respond (we hope!)

This weekend I played with the new firmware on the ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event) and I have to say. Its becoming a killer machine! The guy from pioneer says the update will come in a couple of days from now. The LFO is great, setting slices is awsome. I couldnt try the filemanagement there, but that should be sorted with the new firmware.

Great news!!!

Any additional features or fixes you noticed that weren’t on the road map?

Thx

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