Nah I still think having the screen and deep integration of the Push is awesome. It was just for my specific use (deep sound design, kind of imagining it would be like a mega flexible Elektron box ha) it’s not quite lived up to what I dreamed, because it’s actually easier to just use the laptop.
To be honest it’s also partially because I just work on my laptop on the sofa most of the time right now, for whatever reason it’s where I’m actually productive… but Push is pretty huge so you can’t use it on your lap along with the laptop (and Push 2 requires plugging in too), so it’s not really fitting in to my workflow right now. If I set up a proper studio space at some point, I imagine I’ll make heavier use of it.
I know what you mean with e.g. Analog. The Live UI paradigm works well for FX but synths get a bit crowded. Also stuff like modulation is very clunky compared to best in class synths or Bitwig, this needs an overhaul. I like the way you can expand Wavetable’s UI at least.
Stuff like Analog is pretty dated now too. I mainly just focus on Drift, Wavetable and Operator. There is something refreshing about deciding to just focus on stock stuff though, that choice paralysis of “which plugin to use? do I need a new one?!” is gone!
OK cool. That’s reasurring. And obviously all of this is YMMV City, so I’ll be making my own mind up at some point. I’ll have to hook it up each session, but that’s no different to how I use the Launchkey at the mo and I do have a desk to put it on. I’ve been enjoying learning keys, but I want to explore this guitar like 4ths setup that you get with a pad controller as that’s my background. I still think AKAI are onto something with the touch strips, mainly because I do a tonne of parameter automation, and being able to control say 3-4 parameters at once is quite tempting, but the screen would likely win for me.
Agreed. I’ve been through 3 phases of rediscovering production really. There was exploration, then acquisitions and now I’ve got to that point where I’m seeing new releases fly by and most things are a bit “meh” when I have probably more than enough to be going on with. I’m looking at probably phasing out the things that didn’t work to simplify workflow as you say, as that makes a big difference. (Chalk those up to a lesson learned I guess!) As good as some VSTs are, there’s so much to be said for the boring stuff like backwards compatibility and low CPU use. Even on a decent machine some of the VSTs I have are pushing Live hard, and I want to just rebalance slightly. I’ll likely still want stuff like Kontakt, Effectrix and Soundtoys around for the medium term, as they’re either unique or bring something to Live that others don’t.
But I do want to get into the habit of translating stuff into Live, so that I slim down to the pure essentials over time. 11 came with Hybrid Reverb which put a stop to any future reverb buys for me, so if they add a few refreshed or new instruments (like you say Drift probably replaces Analog) then Push and Ableton becomes the focus and you might even begin to forget what you spent on VSTs!
One thing I did on the Push 2 a long time ago was to exchange the pot knob caps with non touch-sensitive ones because I never got used to these. Always ended up changing something unwanted.
It sounds like this will be the case in Live 12! From the beta release notes, “Push 2 will now use the same technology as Push 3, instead of using a remote script. This introduces some UI changes to Push 2”. I’ve not got beta access yet to check
For those who own a Push 2, and also a Push 3: what did you do with the Push 2?
The resale price has fallen so far it doesn’t seem worth selling, vs keeping it around. But I can’t figure out a good use for it, other than being able to have a push in two different rooms 🤷
Wow yeah, the price has fallen, Push 2 is a great deal if you aren’t interested in MPE or standalone, especially now that the UI is basically the same in Live 12!
As to your question - I debated the same with Push 1 and 2 and couldn’t think of a good excuse so sold the 1 for cheap
Unfortunately not, still at a lower brightness when only plugged into USB C.
In relation to that I also noticed that the Push 3 controller (no standalone built in) gets warm when plugged into the wall with the power adapter. I really wonder how they haven’t figured out proper power management over USB… mine is going back since it’s really not that much of an improvement for me and I will continue to use my dirt cheap used P2 with the sticky coating removed.
Ableton really isn’t a hardware company…
at first I had p2 packed away, but once i installed the upgrade kit and untethered I have not used p3 in controller mode.
using p2 as controller again is the ultimate luxury workflow.
designing racks on the laptop with p2 and sending them over to p3sa
to play them untethered is blowing my mind!!!
its all the same: in the box, out the box.
still love my p2 very much and its kind of fun switching between 2 and 3…
The ableton reverb shop is selling the Push2 with Live 12 Standard for $599. Seeing as how Standard is $439, that’s a new Push 2 for $160. So tempting.
a major value proposition for the Push 2 is the Strokes implementation. I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE to take that for a spin. But I can’t, because I have the Push 3.
