Aaah, the plot thickens. I had almost made up my mind to just save up for the Hapax, but this is interesting…
If this gets implemented well then the only feature I think I’d miss from the Hapax might be the Ableton style clip launching. At least as I understand OXI doesn’t have that? You can launch different patterns on all the 4 sequencers, but can’t launch different patterns inside a multitrack sequencer. Hard to keep track of the features on OXI, seems to be ever-evolving at a fast tempo.
EDIT:
But that lack of that feature probably isn’t even a deal breaker. Maybe it would if hapax wouldn’t be so much more expensive.
With the 4 sequencers I would see myself using them like this:
1st sequencer - multitrack Syntakt percussion
2nd sequencer - multitrack Syntakt melodic stuff
3rd sequencer - multitrack Digitakt stuff (use the piano roll view for melodic stuff and slices, normal view for one shots)
4th sequenccer - free for whatever else I want to rotate in.
I’ve just sold my Oxi One. It was nice but the song mode wasn’t fun to use and didn’t have nearly enough slots to make a full arrangement in my opinion. If you just want to jam then it’s a nice sequencer but if you like making full tracks then I’d avoid it. I’m now looking at the Hapax, does anyone know how it’s song mode compares?
“Song” mode is a misnomer (imo) at least compared to a true Arranger like Deluge. Squarp doesn’t do linear so the best you can do is chain together “Sections” which are really just snapshots of the mute states on all Tracks/Patterns at a given moment. So although it will play the chained Sections start to finish you’re not really arranging a song in the traditional sense. and also means things like patterns of varying lengths (1 bar v. 4 bars) have to be sorted out as to lining up over anything more than a single bar and it can get complicated very quickly. eventually i just switched to Deluge which is a piece of piss for linear arrangement
Very curious about the Hapax. Is there any soft-touch paint on it? Really want to avoid that finish if possible (just replaced a set of sticky DN caps).
8 pattern limits seems quite odd, especially if you want to use it with Elektron gear as a metasequencer, as wouldn’t you want to mirror device patterns? One big reason I’m looking at it would be to have longer CC automation lanes than could run longer than patterns on individual devices. Hope that’s possible.
no paint. solid metal build, plastic encoder dials and rubberized buttons for the grid and other functions (any print on the rubber buttons is not painted on afaict)
the hard 8 patterns (in practice, 7 if you want to use Song mode b/c you have to keep a blank pattern available to mute any given track in a Section, which is even more nuts) was my biggest limitation and (along with needing linear arrangement) the main reason i transitioned to Deluge. Squarp has definitely heard from all the early users that this is a top concern so I would expect that they figure out how to do “pages” in Pattern mode that allow you to just scroll down for more Patterns but . . . it hasn’t been implemented yet as of today
A thing to keep in mind is the dual project loading. Meaning you can switch projects without sequence playback ever stopping.
Also a diference with the squarp and elektron patterns - elektron patterns are ALL the tracks. Hapax can change patterns for only one track at a time. More of a ableton session view kind of workflow.
With elektron machines you often end up with a pile of patterns that may have miniscule differences between them.
Maybe the music I make is too simple, but I don’t see myself needing more than 7 bass lines for a single track. And if you’re not using all 16 tracks of Hapax you could sequence one instrument from 2 tracks, effectively doubling the available patterns for that instrument.
Seems odd to me that such features like paging/scrolling patterns and note preview don’t exist after 18 months on the market. I just assumed they were present until I noted otherwise in reviews. Though I’ve no idea how much of a issue that is in practice (I’m just imagining it in comparison to programming songs on a Rytm and Digitone).
So if you treat it like Ableton Live scenes as a row-by-row song mode you might run out of patterns. But if you use the song mode with sections, you’ll likely be fine? Does that sound about right?
The double project feature looks handy for performances. Could you make use of it to extend single projects too? Doubling up tracks?
it’s typically not the instrumental tracks that are the issue for me (though it happens I do have 16 MIDI channels across all my external gear that are fully assigned from Hapax). it’s drum variations and vocal sample triggers going to MPC that 7 patterns just doesn’t cut it for my workflow. and because probabilities reset every time you change a Section in Song mode, it’s hard to even use that workaround to get more variations within a single Pattern. plus, to take full advantage of dual project mode in a live setting, which was really the whole reason i bought Hapax in the first place, doesn’t make much sense to try and double up on Tracks in a single Project
I have tried pretty much every hardware sequencer (aside from cirklon as I am still on the waiting list for that one), and my favorite by far is the hapax. I really can’t imagine anything else being better. It is both quick and intuitive and also lets you go very deep if you want to.
It’s also on sale right now if you order direct from squarp.
Hapax was great with my Digitakt. Plugged it in and used one track for all 8 DT tracks. 1 track for the Peak. 1 for the Deepmind 12d. Seemed perfect. I sold it to get modular but will get one again.
I’ve wondered if the lanes interface is non-modal enough to write and jam live without losing track of where your drum parts are coming from. Digitakt + Nord Drum is just a little to menu divey / flashy flashy to enjoy in a live situation for me.
Had an oxi. Didn’t jive with the interface (key combos, editing, etc). That was quite a few firmware updates in the past and I don’t know how much better it might be now.
Sold it I now use a hapax. I’m pretty happy with the swap, but as someone with only superficial music theory knowledge, the chord harmonization in the oxi one was amazing. It’s the only thing I miss but I really miss it. I hope that squarp will get around to adding some midi FX that will allow for a similar or equivalent method to get all your tracks to play nicely together.
If I cared about portability, I would probably still have an OO. The form factor and build quality were amazing. Hapax is fine, but it’s def bigger than I expected I don’t think the build is quite as nice as the aluminum body of the oxi one.
Hopefully squarp will have the people power to focus on the hapax in 2024
Thanks for dropping this knowledge on me! I totally missed this feature and thought that transpose was limited to shifting other sequences up or down (and then quantizing to the program scale after the shift).
This is way more useful to quickly get different sequences all jiving together.
I’m actually not sure if the oxi one is doing the same thing or if it has some smarter music theory programmed into its harmonizer, but I would guess it’s doing the same thing.
I’m excited to carve out some time this weekend to play with this.
