Push 2. How are users finding it after honeymoon?

The Lounge Other Gear
#21

I had Push 1 and think Push 2 is a huge step up. The screen and user interface is so much nicer. It can be a bit confusing at first simply because you now how so much more information displayed at once, which changes constantly, but once you use it for a few weeks it becomes second nature. The pads are a step up for sure. I feel the menu buttons are much more intuitively laid out as well.

I sold my A4 and Rytm a while back, soon after I got the Push 2. They are all little black boxes with menu-driven soft knobs. So, I was just trying to save some mula and simplify. I felt I could mostly recreate the benefits of the Rytm in Push 2 and Ableton. Not 100% obviously, but close enough for my purposes.

I really love the max4live drum synths. They are individual ā€œmachinesā€ for kick, snare, hihat, etc. that you can drop onto a drum rack pad. They are very easy to control with Push. I also have Microtonic which is fantastic but not as easy to control with Push. I wish soniccharge would release a little scaled down version like the max4live drum synths that I could drop onto a drum rack pad - no sequencer, just one voice, etc.

I assume you could have the max4live drum synth on a pad and then group that and a simpler. Havenā€™t felt the need to try it yet.

I try and replicate the Rytmā€™s compressor and distortion by making my own fx rack targeted at drums. I use Glue, Presswerk, Satin, Permut8, etc. Works pretty well for me.

If you want to use third party vsts, you might have to do a bit of work upfront, depending on maker. Some are ready to go and I donā€™t have to anything. Some you have to ā€œconfigureā€ the vst settings (and then save that as default for that device)

It would be helpful - to be able to rename banks, create blank spaces, use the icons, change colors, etc.

I find myself using the more basic vst instruments more with Push (ABL3, TAL UNO, Synplant, etc.). Anything more complicated and sometimes itā€™s just easier to look at the screen (Diva, Operator).

Simpler is fantastic to use with Push 2. I find myself using samples a lot more now! Once you get used to it, itā€™s a lot of fun.

I think P-locks are much better on Elektron instruments. I like to be able to control the entire character of a hit until it fades out. Say I want some reverb or distortion on a note quickly followed by more regular notes. With Elektron, lock it and that single note stays that way for the duration. Then the regular notes come back in, even if you have one on the very next step. With Live, your p-lock only lasts as long as that envelope lasts (it uses the envelop drawing view). So if you want your next hit with no reverb or distortion, the previous notes fx will suddenly stop. Kind of cuts off quickly. Make sense? Maybe kind of hard to explain and maybe I missing a trick but thatā€™s how it seems to me. I much prefer Elektronā€™s system.

Pros

I donā€™t care about ā€œspeeding upā€ workflow, only having a nice alternative to doing everything with mouse and screen - after working on a computer all day. It simply gives me a bit of a break here and there in some parts of music creation, not every part.

Scales are very nice when songwriting! I use some other songwriting tools that depend on chord progressions and scales and itā€™s nice to have everything locked in together. Sometimes it feels a bit too easy. :slight_smile:

Cheaper than having lots of hardware. I sold tons of stuff and donā€™t really regret it. (aside from missing having a couch jam away 100% away from the computer) Itā€™s so solidly-made that it gives you that nice feeling of having a quality synth and/or drum machine in front of you.

Cons

Iā€™d love to have a bit more info on the screen during Session mode that tells you where you are on the grid. I find myself constantly looking up at the computer to find where I am. Would be cool if maybe if they just had a simple little recreation of the grid on the Push screen when navigating that cuts on and off when needed? Context-sensitive?

Itā€™s strange, and I admit I am picky when it comes to sequencing drums, but I honestly do not care for the rows of eight. I like sequencing drums on 16 straight across. I also sometimes tend to look up and just mouse-click to seq drums. I almost always get better results. Strange. I miss the Rytmā€™s 16 buttons!

I truly do not understand why Ableton does not make a little utility for renaming, coloring, and arranging banks, inserting blank spaces, etcā€¦ Seems a no-brainer. Very frustrating.

I still might repurchase an Elektron box (and/or OP-1) one day simply because I miss having a box to play with on the couch. Push is great, but you still are tethered to the computer. I think having the Rytm to start basic songs with and finish on the computer with OverBridge and Push 2 for vst synths would be fantastic setup. Hell, if Elektron would even put simple MIDI sequencing on the rytm I might use just it and one desktop synth for the ultimate simplified dub techno setup.

This video series should help with telling you if youā€™ll get along with Push 2 or not.

https://www.ableton.com/en/help/learn-push/

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#22

having a push 1 and never use it.
donā€™t tink push is bad but ableton just works so well using a mouseā€¦

#23

I was proven wrong. By myself.
Just tested this a bit further, and actually you can have controls per drum pad - it depends what you have selected above the display. So, you can have controls for the whole drum rack (8 macros for example) or controls for individual pad, which changes when you press a pad. Itā€™s actually pretty clever.
This way, I could map (with quite a hassleā€¦) for example all rytm pad parameters for each pad and make all the HW changes from Push2. And then have parameter locks and automation for each of these parameters.
Itā€™s of course much more convenient with vst instruments and especially with Liveā€™s own instruments.
Sorry if this was common knowledge, I am mostly training myself here. :smiley:

#24

I sell my Push 1 and bought Push 2. Yes, Screen is superb! But ā€“ the hardware gets worse. The Encoders feel cheaper then the old ones. They all have different resistances. Some move too easy, some not so easy. The Buttons feel strange because you have to push them ā€œinto the caseā€. When you dont hit them correctly nothing happes. And the Pads: the old ones played a lot more dynamically.
Well - i guess when you never owned a push 1 everything is fine. But compared to the old one the Push 2 quality is so lala ā€¦

#25

Never touched OG push but not a fan of the Push2 squishy buttons either. Rest feels/looks pretty nice to me tho.

#26

@polymono sounds like a dud unitā€¦Id complain to Ableton.
on mine the pads are much more dynamic and even in resistance. similarly the encoders feel better and all are about the same resistance, no issue with the buttons for me.

I did a trade in with my Push 1, but for about a week I had both to compare side by side.
also, I recently had an issue with my original Push 2 , Ableton instantly replaced it (great service) and can say both were much better than my push 1

#27

i checked today a unit in the store. no difference to my unit. means: different resistance, less dynamic. there is a threat about the dynamic in the ableton forum. nearly everyone is complaining about it (compared to the old push) - in terms on play a synth on the pad ā€¦ not fingerdrumming.

#28

for me, push is too big
also the knobs are too slow
also it is too ugly

butā€¦ I love the possibility to make sequences, then only play parts of it (like first 16 beatsā€¦ or second 16 beatsā€¦ etcā€¦

#29

I picked one up recently in the sale. Gotta say, I love it.

Heaps of fun

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#30

Iā€™m one of the earliest adopters of push 2. I got it the first week ableton announced it.

The Good.
Usually I will hear something on records Iā€™m listening to, or while listening to FIP radio. I can get a rough estimate on what I need to record because if you chop records with the push 2 long enough you understand the auto slice algorithm. You can easily do auto slice at 50%, zoom in with the push and do fine tuned slicing with your mouse on the right hand. This is the fastest I have ever worked on any machine.

The pads are a great improvement compared to V1 especially if you practice for an hour or more. I can get good drum dynamics finger drumming on the push 2.

Most of the time after I am done building my slices I donā€™t look at any display. I will just keep tapping pads sketching ideas and using the down arrow to write the next draft.

The bad.
For synth and chords playing the pads arenā€™t going to do it. I will practice my chops on the linnstrument or midi keyboard. Groove3 and other websites can teach you basic keyboard theory you might as well practice that then use the pads to play the chord.

Iā€™m indifferent on the knobs. I use them on my plugins and can dial in sweet spots well enough.

This controller wonā€™t fill every single need you have. The best need is there are 64 pads and when you are slicing longer samples you get a better chance to audition ideas without having to press a pad bank. Sampling is my first musical love so being able to run through stacks of records is the biggest selling point for me.

will still run my loops through hardware but it will go back in live for me to manipulate the the push 2.

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#31

The Rytm can do longer sequences than 64 steps in fact the Rytm can do infinity tracks with the use of condition trigs. Look it up! I own the Push2 and Rytm. For drum tracks The Rytm can get you more unexpected funkiness while the Push can get you more options in general but youā€™ll be missing the very important analog aspect of the Rytm. Would I get rid of one over the other, HELL NO! If a gun was put to my head, Iā€™ll let go of the Rytm only because the Push2 is way more versatile.

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#32

Donā€™t like the melodic step sequencer, love everything else.
The display is great, the pads are amazing. And nothing else made it so easy and inspiring for me to find nice melodies than the scale layout on the pads.

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#33

do you have a explict link to keyboard theory. cant find something like that in groove3.

and another thing thats annoying with push 2: sometimes it takes up to 20% of my cpu - push2display task ā€¦ the fan of my 3 year old macbook pro always runs when push 2 is connected ā€¦

#34

I was hoping to love the Push 2 but I never got it to fit into my workflow. Iā€™ve been using Ableton Live since Version 5 so I know quite a bit of key commands. I kept finding myself going back to the mouse and the keyboard. I also started playing around with standalone hardware (the Rytm and the Octatrack) which I intuitively grasped much quicker than Push 2. The one thing that Push 2 does better than a real machine is slicing breakbeats to a drum rack and then being able to play them. This is the one feature I wish I had on the Octatrack (where Iā€™m still trying to wrap my head around slicing). Itā€™s very nice but unfortunately not for me. I also hate how big it is. It really is a desk hog.

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#35

for me itā€™s too big, too.
I sold it once, forgot why I didnā€™t like it, bought it againā€¦ now itā€™s sitting here, taking all my desk space and I will sell it again :grin:

1 Like
#36

Seriously, for how flat it is, why does it have to take up so much room?

#37

no idea. Itā€™s a pity. The pads are so great and I love the scale mode. but stillā€¦ too huge for me this thing

#38

Push 2 is great, just not for me. The whole get away from the computer by using a ā€¦computer thing doesnā€™t work for me. Tried Maschine, Push, Push 2, but never got anything significant done. Even though I have to say that Push 2 is a beautiful piece of kit, it just didnā€™t pique my curiosity like other stuff does. Seems like itā€™s new owner is about to let it go, too.

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#39

It is indeed very big.
But it could be the only thing you need, so in that since, not too big.
Trying to travel/implement it with other gear, yes, the size becomes a hindrance.

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#40

once again :wink: I donā€™t know. Have a love and hate relationship