Screens.. yes or no?

Little ironic with that screen shoved right up in his face there, RIGHT ABOVE THE CONSOLE. Lol.

But I suspect this was shot in some kind of workshop environment, not his own studio.

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I don’t mind a bit of menu diving for less used options, although nested menus can be a bit of a pain, like an old infocom text adventure trying to remember the route :laughing:

I think I find some screens badly implemented, like the MPC One, it has a lot of wasted space on the main screen, and then tons of menus, also the colour scheme is pretty crap - grey, black, white, red.

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Itotallyagree.Whitespacedefinitelyhasit’susesandcancertainlymakethingseasiertoreadandunderstand.Codeisalsototallyfuckedwithoutit.

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I think it is a trade-off between immediacy and functional usability. It also depends on the complexity of the device under discussion and one’s use case, like whether you operate the device in the dark or without sight. Touch screen vs pure-display screen is another topic altogether.

You can think of MIDI controllers that get away with tiny to no screens, they worked because you had access to a bigger screen that is the computer. However, once you build in more functionalities, the visual cues become much more essential. RGB leds and other haptic feedback can also assist the user.

For performance, you may not want screens but real knobs, faders and mechanical controls. For studio and efficiency where there is more time to think and latency being a non-critical element, screens should be the order of the day. That said, I had wished for screens on hardware devices to be as snappy, high-resolution and sharp as our modern mobile phones.

This reminded me of the Synthstrom Audible Deluge whereby some asked for a better screen while other diehards said no. Lastly, since people go hardware to either hybrid or get away from the “box” so to speak - perhaps a middle ground approach would be most acceptable.

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Why would anyone object to a more informative screen on the Deluge :man_shrugging: ?

EDIT: not that I honestly expect it to get one, given what I’ve heard about the motivations of its creator. Just live in hope of something that flexible and (allegedly) immediate from someone else.

i don’t mind screens, but since i bought Launchpad Pro Mk2 — this kind of user interface (Circuit/Deluge-style) is my favorite.

PS. and Oxi One is the best of both worlds.

I think because once you get used to it, it does not really need one. I guess the other thing to consider is those LED displays almost never go bad, unlike LCD and particularly Oled screens.

The grid does a very good job of representing things like note length and position, pitch, sequence length and direction, audio clip length, sample waveform etc, so a screen isn’t needed in most cases.

I do think that the LED colour options could use some refinement though, personally I’d like to be able to have each track a single colour rather than multi coloured.

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What about names of samples, names of kits, names of projects (is project name a thing on the deluge ? If not there’s one more reason for me to avoid it, because I want to name my projects)

EDIT: I know from the NTS-1 I hate to deal with long names ‘scrolling’ past on a 4-character display.

Samples, kits, projects etc can be named, the text can be a little cryptic for things like “x” and “k” which are not easily represented with 7 segment displays, but it is not too bad really, the display can scroll manually to show longer names. And really most of the time you don’t spend reading names, only when loading, saving etc. It has a reasonable well organised folder structure, and samples can be previewed easily etc.

Deluge isn’t perfect (what box is?) but the display isn’t IMHO a reason not to try one, I’d say its weakest points are the fx and to a lesser extent the synth engines. The strong points are the sequencer and audio/sampling/drum machine side for me.

From all of your reply that’s the only reason why I can think anyone might object to a newer deluge with a more informative screen. The other things you say are just reasons why some think it’s not necessary. Which is different to actively objecting to a change.

Well, I guess they might think it could be distracting too? Personally I would not object to it, but I’d prefer it stay as LED type rather than a tiny LCD/Oled.

But

Long and short of it is: For me the dellie wouldn’t work right now, with my present preferences (re scrolling displays) AND I haven’t yet fully embraced sampling, so I can’t flip though a sample library without doing a lot of reading.

BUT: my original question was why would anyone actively object to a change ? The only answer I see is the life of the display which you pointed out.

Besides respecting design intent of the creator, it could be asked why should there be any justification needed on preferences of some Deluge users? For example, even when a pristine clear sound from digital audio has higher fidelity, people still like listening to Vinyl for whatever reason - maybe they just like it that way? Do people have to stand to this scrutiny as to why they prefer things the way they are.

For the Deluge, the canvas doubled up as a screen (showing more than notes information) which is why it could get away with the 7-segment mini display.

The question I was asking was not about preferences, but about why anyone ACTIVELY OBSTRUCT a change which would benefit new users and perhaps increase sales.

Actively obstructing a beneficial (to some) change is a bit stronger than expressing a preference.

EDIT: Sorry, that may come over as combative. I’m not trying to suggest that Deluge users have no right to object to change. I’m just expressing surprise that what looks, to me, and others, as a beneficial change, should meet with objections, and I’m trying to understand why. I am am now getting a sense of that answer.

Would you point out the basis and call from you of “ACTIVELY OBSTRUCT” as mentioned. Who are these folks and how have they indicated that they are active in the obstruction of a “better” screen.

Okay, I get the clarification that you were not asking about preferences (which would be subjective) but the Deluge itself is not a faulty product nor does it fail to do what it advertises; so a “better” screen here is neither a necessary fix or an intended improvement that should be made.

yes to screens, then you can close your eyes when it gets good to you

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It turns out it was an inference from a post of yours above. Maybe I misinterpreted the strength of opinion that you reported ? Apologies if so.

My bad for using “strong” language then… To self-satisfy, you could join (if not already) the forums and the Discord group and get a feel for yourself if what was stated can be substantiated. Last point about the device (before turning this into a Deluge thread) is that the Deluge has a screen so answer to OP is a yes as well.

That’s fair enough. But there have been plenty of instances on this forum where people have cited the lack of a screen (versus a 4-digit display) as a reason not to buy a Deluge.

EDIT: E.g. this one in this thread:

Depends on what the gear is doing. Some gear needs a screen for visual feedback, some doesn’t. I wouldn’t discard or favour any gear over the presence of a screen, would seem weird to.

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