I would imagine it’s the same finish as the launchkeys hard satin plastic…
It looks like it’s no surprises on the overall upgrade. But in general, this many encoders could be a great combo with either a Launchpad, a Push, a Launchkey or anything else. And that’s before considering the new hardware options with MIDI. Looks like a good workhorse addition for more hands on control with less paging through parameters.
First thing in a long time I am excited about. MIDI in, out an thru will make any Octatrack (not to mention DT2 and DT2) freak if set up in the right way. May be my first pre-order. Wonder if pre-order from the company would be faster than waiting for the stores to get them? Being based in the U.S…wait…I think the UK is working on a “deal” with the US? Whatever, this thing is something I’ve been waiting for for years. Cool!
Shoot, that’s nice looking. It being standalone got my interest piqued.
So, my way to dip out of here is to conclude it is too big for me and the Faderfox EC4 does enough of it well enough.
Looks just what I’ve been wanting for a long time with out breaking the bank.
Would you prefer to buy the XL over Roto-Control? I like the smaller form factor of the Roto and the motorized knobs. Would the XL with the endless encoders sort of “snap” to last knob position when I switch to a plugin or track? The only non possible “snapped” position would be the faders. Any info regarding this?
I think the Roto-Control is really cool but it has some issues, which may or may not be fixed with future firmware updates. The most obvious for me are: the LCDs only support ASCII character and the LCD update time is kinda laggy (you can see it in videos). Still, right now it’s the most exciting and innovative MIDI controller I’ve seen in decades. 8 knobs is excellent for those dealing with tight space constraints. For controlling synths, I’d prefer 32 or even 64 knobs and a thin crisp scribble strip under each row of knobs (and yes it will be more expensive but I think there’s a market). 8 knobs is not adequate for controlling most synths anyway.
Are you referring to the Rotocontrol? Believe its not really 8 knobs as you have multiple pages
What I like with the roto, are the per knob displays. If they work as expected, that is so good for keeping track of what you’re doing. But it’s still about twice the price point, and not nearly as many control options, even with pages
So just to clarify- is this basically a bigger cheaper faderfox?
Faderfox stuff has been on my radar for a while but I just couldn’t justify the price, but this seems like it’s gonna be priced very very competitive
If you’re talking about the uc4 then yes, but the upside of that is it’s smaller and more compact, depends what you need really
I like that it has Midi In/Outs, I’m interested in how the endless encoders will work with the Elektron Boxes as I believe it doesn’t support relative CCs? Otherwise I prefer potentiometers rather than encoders.
Anyone can explain how their endless encoders will work? For example, if I select a track and the value settings for EQ is as such, and when I select the next 9-16 track, will the endless encoders “snap” to the EQ value settings for those tracks?
I understand for the faders that won’t “snap” to a value since it isn’t motorized.
Since the endless encoders are basically free from a pre-determined value on dial, theoretically it should be able to set itself to a value setting from track to track, right? Does it work this way?
Most likely, tracking will work only in DAW integration mode. It works with bi-directional protocols instead of MIDI, like Mackie Control and others.
I doubt it will track anything in user mode, but let’s see.
Great to see midi (and midi merge), but also not a fan of endless encoders for jamming.
This is a miss for me.
The product page says:
“Launch Control XL’s smooth-feeling endless rotary encoders each feature a dedicated RGB LED that indicates its relative value”
That’s basically the same system as they use on the Circuits. You get a rough idea of the level from how bright the LED is. It’s not precise enough though (for me).
I think, with encoders you need either:
- A little screen for each encoder
Or
- A ring of LED’s round each encoder
Or
- A big screen showing all the encoders values
Personally, I’ve ditched all encoders from my setup (for live jamming). I have a lot of controllers (9 LCXL’s, 3 LC’s, 6 Launchpads, plus more).
I replaced encoders with TouchOSC on old Ipads… just makes so much more sense, and is far more powerful and flexible.
That said, if this integrates very tightly with Ableton, and you have it right next to your screen, it could be very useful for some people!
It has 15 user pages. I would think each page remembers it’s values and these get reloaded when you switch pages.
I mean track plugins like it works in daw mode.
Years ago I had SL Zero with endless encoders and automap. I could map it to specific plugins and it was bi-directional stuff.
Ah, makes sense.
I hope it does work like that!
Sometimes it seems like we’ve gone backwards with technology… smaller storage on samplers, stupid arbitrary limitations on devices.