so I tried to get a little bit deeper inside my KeyStep-Pro (KSP). I have spoken to the Arturia support and also received a feedback. Yes: there are errors in the manual. But I did not only find errors there. The Arturia forum is full of messages and I have already found a few by myself.
So I asked Arturia when they will release a revised manual and new firmware (with as many bug fixes as possible) and in what intervals they will release it. I’m not in the mood for another device that like some Android phones only get an update once and then never again.
It depends on the answer whether I return the KSP or not.
One more point: In the Arturia demo video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXTBUaazrV4) you can see at 1:04 that several tracks are transposed synchronously. I did not find this function in the manual or by experimenting… I asked the support how to do it, too.
I am quite disappointed with the software quality of the KSP. It s great - even if it works as announced.
My tip: Who wants to buy it… Just wait and see - I will tell you what my exchange of e-mails with Arturia brings.
Well… when things are perfect, why would they be updated ?
My experience with Arturia’s team is highly positive, through mail contacts… I’m not sure you will be disapointed…
I think you know that I am a big afficionado of their early material : the Analog Factory, Player, Laboratory, their Keylab ( 1st generation)…
I have the feeling that their new items are more like cheap toys with attractive features but hidden defects… Much “poudre aux yeux” as we say in french…
In fact, according to your experience there is no other option than waiting until it’s delivered…
I was thinking those last days… now that Zynthian has a good step sequencer, what will be the use of a keystep ? Shall I keep mine ?
Didier you download Arturia MIDI Control center ? Here you have access to settings which are not available directly on the machine…
For KS ans KSP, I think each track can have a MIDI channel for transposing… if you can set a same MIDI channel on several tracks, then they will be transposed altogether…
I’m.not sure, though…
Can you confirm that the keyboards you have displayed are compatible with the zynthian, I am planning to by the X6 … or the midiplus X6 Pro USB MIDI Keyboard Controller
Can you elaborate on this …Really need your help on this … kind regards …Randolph Arendsz
I confirm that too: happy owner of a lovely Midiplus X6-III. Convenient, well-built, sturdy, relatively lightweight and with a convincing touch response of the full-size keys, for the affordable price range. Warmly recommendad on Zynthian and elsewhere.
Don’t suppose they do “Organ Mode” do they? By which I mean, have a mode where they trigger very early in the key travel, with static velocity? This is key to doing certain parts, such as Jon Lord’s leads in Deep Purple. If you need to smash it all the way down, nobody can play like him.
There are basically no such controllers on the market that I’m aware of so far, except for ones marketed as addons to very expensive organs (Hammond etc) of course.
For those keeping score, a Roland VR-09 or VR-730 is the cheapest way to get such action, and you get a very capable stage device as well, though, terrible built in piano. But literally, a midi-only controller that works right is more than the Roland 49 key version.
Anyways I’m always curious if new (to me) devices have solved this problem. In every case so far, they do have two sensors, but they are both at the bottom of the key travel, with one reaching the sensor before the other, but way way after an organ player needs it.
Hi @jtode, I could not honestly advocate for the electric organ behaviour of any of the various Midi keyboards which I’ve owned across the years, since I never do any kind of music involving electric organ.
I play classical pipe organ every now and then, of which I have, besides the excellent Aeolus model in Zynthian, a remarkable sampled rendition with O: Forbes by Cinesamples. Not something as viable for true instrumental registration as the dedicated and overly complex Hauptwerk, to which Aeolus comes rather close in my opinion anyway.
Depending on the side of the studio, where I drive the pipe organ instruments with two synth keyboards, thus mimicking somehow the arrangement of two manuals, I listen to the audio output through a pair of either Focal Alpha 80 or Presonus Eris Studio 8 active speakers.
The first ones have been loyally with me for quite a few years now, while the second ones are a recent acquisition. Both have 8" cones, and are essentially budget solutions for an acceptably linear monitoring in their price range, of slightly different scope. The Focals are a bit more imposing in the low department and more defined in the mid-highs, but the Presonus don’t disappoint either, being very pleasant to listen and extremely accurate in the spectral delivery.
To sum up my perceptual experience, which is obviously very subjective and depends on one’s overall musical leanings, the Focals sound slightly more natural and “symphonic”, while the Eris tend a tad more towards the analytical side. Both render quite satisfyingly the dynamics and timbral nuances of the pipe organ emulators.
