Is Keystep the best?

[tnussb]

For its price its simply a no brainer.

[plusn]

The black edition was Limited. Thats why PPL want it. The White one for 119€ works the Same.

[tsutek]

The keystep is a winner because of its connectivity and form factor. I can actually fit mine into my backpack!

Now then, not overly fond of the keys and the modwheel/pitchbend strips are subpar. Even when I output CV, I can clearly hear stepping with the modwheel…

Much much prefer my Roland A49 keyboard. But when I need to be mobile etc, the keystep fits the bill, not too big but not unusably small either (unlike my QuNexus, which is to small to comfortably play fast stuff on)

[brodykauff]

I have the QuNexus for VSTs but it’s a real pain in the ass to use that MIDI expander (which needs its own power) when using straight into hardware. If not for the MIDI expander annoyance, the QuNexus would have been perfectly fine for me.

[zfigz]

I stopped taking gear with me on all vacations, less worries. I listen to silence instead and nature - receptive senses, etc.

Family happy, me happy.

&

Recharged for fresh soundwork or ready to finish things that are overdue.

word.

also, i switched from the qunexus to the keystep because the qunexus was such a pain to play and that expander, bleh…

crazy prices they’re going for…i got a black one for $119 shipped within the last year. maybe i should sell?

[mar.beso]

Hey,
was thinking about to buy a keystep but figured out now that Arturia Microfreak has Midi Out. Is any of you guys playing A4/ DN with Microfreaks touch capacitive polyphonic keyboard with aftertouch? How does it feel/play?

Btw.: Sorry, but I did not scroll through 1000+ posts in Microfreak topic…
Thanks a lot!

[reeloy]

…keystep can handle pretty much every task… has solid inbetween size keys with aftertouch…is easy to handle…rocksolid…and… it’s cheap in price…

a classic no brainer…while the “keyboard” on the freak is something totally different…

[Gino]

I love my Keystep, and it was recommended up here.

Now that I have the “Arm to start” working from the latest firmware update, I really can’t live without it.

Midi keyboard for DT

I got it, and it’s working great! Thanks again for the recommendation. [image] It’s bit larger than I expected, but the 32 key keybed is also very playable at this size. One thing I can’t figure out yet is that I have both the DT and KS synced to USB, and when I start the host it starts the sequencer or arp on the Keystep. I’d prefer if it defaulted to the regular keyboard mode, and let me press play on the KS when needed. Best regards, Gino

Best regards,

Gino

[TobySD]

Ohh yes! Page 69 => 8.10.3.12. Arm to Start

ON: When set to On, the sequencer no longer executes automatically but does pass on
synchronization signals to devices that are daisy chained to the KeyStep. In other words, if
sync is set to external and no synchronization signal is coming in, pressing the play button
will make the play button blink but the sequence will not play until a synchronization signal
comes in. This is a useful feature in cases where you want to have manual control over
KeyStep’s sequencer but always want the synchronization signal to be passed through to
other devices connected downstream through the KeyStep.

That’s a great part of the update, must be setup asap.

[LyingDalai]

Indeed
Putting the Keystep between OT and DN has been such a nightmare!
I was so happy discovering this

[TobySD]

I was so happy discovering this

My turn

[Grumo]

Hi, a friend just lent me a Keystep and I want it to control both the OT and the DN, how did you set them up?

Maybe my setup is a bit more complicated ´cause I have a iConnectMIDI4+ in between.

[LyingDalai]

I also have ICM+ and it only makes things easier: you basically plug everything, set the MODI channels and it works.
In live settings, OT gives the tempo to Keystep that is daisy chained to DN.
So I want KS to transmit tempo, and add arp, which last OS made easier.

[Grumo]

And what about the USB MIDI matrix? Man, yesterday tried and couldn´t do it LOL.

For me I´d like to have OT as the master clock and choose within the Keystep if I want to control the OT or the DN. Could I play DN and record the notes in the OT?

[LyingDalai]

The matrix can be used to filter MIDI signals or redirect them.
It’s a bit next level, especially with USB ports (I had trouble to identify anything with the so-so UI).

But you don’t need it, forget it.

In your case, I would set different MIDI auto channels to OT and DN (e.g. 16 and 11) and shift from one to the other directly on the Keystep with Shift + note combo.
I always disable every direct access to tracks, so that I don’t play two tracks at the same time. Auto channel means I control with the Keystep only the track that is selected on the destination machine.

[Grumo]

Thanks, I hope tomorrow will have time to dedicate.

[GavRL]

I may be looking at this overly simply, but cant you just set OT and DN to different midi channels and do it that way? its so fast to change the midi channel on the Keystep that you might be over thinking this?

[Grumo]

Maybe I should try only with direct MIDI DIN before trying with the USB option. Anyway is not only switching between DN and OT, I want to play the DN through the OT, to record DN´s notes in it.

[LyingDalai]

I see some convergence with what I said above

[LyingDalai]

That’s also possible: let’s say OT auto-channel is 16, and DN auto-channel is 11.

You set Keystep channel to 16, it talks to the selected OT track (e.g. OT MIDI track 1 that is set to talk on MIDI channel 11) and voilà!