No, definitely not standalone. I don’t see a point. P3 is so big & heavy as it is, so casually lounging with it on a couch or travelling with it isn’t really a realistic scenario. It needs a proper desk.
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I’m in the same boat. I’m looking at upgrading my Push 2.
Funnily enough, not for anything MPE related, but just to get away from the dreaded sticky TPE dread.
I was set getting a P3 standalone, as I’ve been in that DAWless mindset for over 18 months. But since Move arrived, my mindset has completely changed and I’m looking at streamlining (downsizing) quite a bit and being pretty much a fully Ableton guy.
I was also thinking that if I ever do put a live set together, I could just have a laptop to the side and the £600 price difference could go a big way towards a new MacBook Air.
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Same. I told myself that if I funded it through sales of other gear then I could justify it on sale. Goodbye Native Instruments… 
Alas we’re in a time when you can’t nip to the shops and try Push, so for me the only way to try it is to… well… try it. I’ve heard from others that while it may not be as snappy as a Maschine for example, you can forget the computer to a large extent if you learn it well enough, and to me that’s the promise of this one. If I’m spending less time looking at the monitor, then it will be a win.
When I first got into producing, the first thing I ever saw actually was a Push and I considered it even back then (mid-2010s ish maybe?). As a guitarist I could see right away how it made a lot of sense. Thinking about it, I could have saved a lot of messing about by just getting that and calling it a day, before I got deep into the plugin and hardware rabbit hole. But actually it feels like a logical conclusion to come back to it now. I’ve also been in the process of whittling away the plugins that make no sense, and maybe 2025 will feature more downsizing?
I think Move and Push is a good combo. Move is truly portable (and limited) but it’s not bulky and crazy heavy like P3SA, which seems objectively bad for portability. P3 is great on the desk for fleshing out a track. So surely that’s a classic example of devices that are best for their designated purposes.
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The deals on Thomann are better too if you’re looking to do an upgrade. £205 for a Standard 12 - Suite 12.
I started out over 25 years ago ITB. I guess as most do, using fruityloops and Reason.
I then went all in using Cubase and vsts, trying like mad with controllers to get a more hardware feel, with the ultimate aim of not using the mouse to make music. Which I never achieved.
I then went down the full studio route, with digital mixers from Yamaha and Behringer, with outboard Akai and Yamaha samplers, plus Novation and Access synths and controllers from Novation. I definitely had the hardware feel and made my best music at this time, leading to my vinyl releases. But ultimately found that the mass of cables and studio complexity was a hassle.
I then went down the Ableton route and tried again to be mouseless and ended up with a Push 2. But I never found this setup inspiring, although I did make some finished tracks.
I then went down the DAWless route with Novation Circuits. But was ultimately frustrated by limitations even though I had a blast writing stuff on them, but very rarely finished anything.
I’m now at the Move point of my musical life. Which has some limitations but is very inspiring and I personally don’t feel limited by. So the sketch pad into Live is a place I’m enjoying very much and I now get the bones of a track together in Move and jam that out using into an arrangement using Push.
It’s at this point where the slight divergence between the Push 2 and Push 3 comes into mind, as the improvement in the midi editing on the Push 3 looks great and the ability to create Macro variations on the device is another advantage of Push 3 vs Push 2.
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Wasn’t all of that “back ported” to P2? I thought it was! There’s no technical reason why those features should not work on P2.
Just pulled the trigger on a push 3 controller. I don’t love the pads on push 2 so it’s a bit of a flyer of an upgrade for $800 after tax but worth a shot as few retailers stock it and it’s hardly ever on sale.
I also just bought a move which seems a little excessive to buy both in a short time, but I’ve sold basically all my Eurorack this year so I can rationalize it that way. Jury is still out on the move and will report back.
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The Push 3 pads are a million times better than the Push 2’s.
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The main sticking point of the Push 2 port is the lack of a clickable jog wheel.
Macro variations cannot be created on the Push 2. Advanced midi editing, selecting notes for example in the clip, can’t be done on the Push 2.
I have to say though, I’m not moaning about these. Ableton is amazing at supporting the Push hardware for a really long time.
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Thanks! I took it as a given those would be ported over, too. Weird, but also understandable - they have to encourage P3 purchases somehow 
Funnily enough. I had exactly the same thought last weekend, when I was playing around with Macro variations on my Push 2.
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Can anyone comment on the quality of the AD convertors in Push 3? I wouldn’t be buying the Standalone version, but the desktop version with my M1 Macbook Air in the living room with some guitars and pedals seems like it could offer nice workflow. I’m just curious if the convertors are comparable to relatively recently pro-sumer offerings from UA, Apogee or RME.
I’ll note, I’ve Googled a bit, but haven’t seen any deep discussion of this since it’s initial release. I’m hoping someone who records external audio sources regularly might have some real-world feedback to offer.
The 25% off Push 3 sale has gotten my mind wandering and if the AD/DA is sufficiently good, this might be a good way for me to get a good controller and a somewhat portable (up and down some stairs) audio interface for my house.
Any feedback is very appreciated.
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Unfortunately, I can’t answer that because I don’t use the interfaces mentioned, but perhaps the specifications can help you.
Push AD/DA sound normal. Or rather, they don’t sound at all, if that makes sense.
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I must admit I’m wondering the same as this. I am thinking that if I upgrade to a Push 3, I can ditch my saffire pro 40. Which is unfortunately not supported on Apple Silicon.
You can use a RME Digiface to connect the saffire using ADAT.
I don’t think Push 3 audio department, is comparable with RME or Apogee.
Sound quality depends on many factors: power supply, amplifiers, components, design, etc.
I suggest if you want top class AD/DA take an RME/Apogee/other top class interfaces.
Push 3 AD/DA is probably comparable with low class interfaces in the range of 100/200$$
This doesn’t mean it sound bad of course.
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For anyone looking to upgrade: the Black Friday sales are finally up on the Ableton website.
Not sure if mentioned yet, but Ableton are doing a 25% of sale until 3rd December.
so currently the 12 suite upgrade is €149.
with push or move it’s €109 for 12 suite upgrade.
does anyone know is that push/move upgrade price of €109 just for black Friday?
is it usually higher?
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Oh I didn’t know that, must check my account