ROLI's writing on the wall happened

[pdxindy]

yay!

[Hink]

[Pashkuli]

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Sony also invested a few years ago. One thing is still boggling though... how a company with 0 profit in 10 years of existence manages to secure investments of 10s of millions £?

[Ou_Tis]

Email today: "Stay tuned for a Seaboard announcement in the coming weeks."

I hope they start making more Seaboard Blocks soon....

[Ou_Tis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTyGdvIsv78

"Now reimagined, refined and re-engineered for ultimate musical expression. Be the first to experience the next generation of Seaboard."

[Ou_Tis]

The design in the video looks like it probably isn't compatible with Blocks? I really hope they do a Block version... I prefer the smaller key-size (easier to play chords or to play fast) and it's what I've been spending thousands of hours practicing on. Plus I've only budgeted $350 to $400 for it, and the Rise was $800, which would be steep for me, though not impossible. I'd want to wait for a sale if it doesn't get sold out immediately. But IDK, maybe I should consider this....

Wonder if we'll actually be able to order/preorder in March?

[Cinebient]

As a Seaboard Rise 25 owner I was mainly more worried about the software and a main reason it just collects dust. Of course also the Roli roadmap also was not what i want to support really anymore while I was really exited at the beginning.
Not sure if I would go again with a Roli but you never know......
In general I think a tactile MPE controller is great but there are many choices these days and more coming for sure. So far it's all a mixed bag and I like the combination of a tactile device and something like an iPad or iPhone gives me on top.
I wonder when we see more of these multi-touch bring to the next level. Like an iPad with an adaptive surface. We are in 2022, in my youth I thought we already would live on mars

[Ploki]

I have similar sentiments about this @Cinebient.

depending on what the price is, i just might go with Erae instead.

I was hoping the Seaboard would get translucent goo and leds, but it never happened

[Synthack]

......

[aMUSEd]

I was really hoping for them to re-release the Seaboard block as I have one and was planning to get another to extend the keyboard range so I want an identical one, not a new model that may not even fit

[Ploki]

My Rise 49 still works fine with Bitwig

I have barely used it since I bought it though, it's been sitting in the box for about 7 years. I do take it out once and a while but I barely use it.

I like it, but it's nowhere as immediate and gratifying as my normal Midi keyboard. It's also a pain in the butt learning to play it.

Making chords for instance can be hard because if you're fingers slip just a little bit on one key, it will generate a (subtle) pitch slide and it can be annoying.

I've not found a way to reduce the sensitivity.

There are three slider on the board that adjust “quantization” of 5D touch
Cant be easier. “ < > “ is pitch.

I used it live more than anything, but not many concerts now so eh.

[pdxindy]

I have similar sentiments about this @Cinebient.

depending on what the price is, i just might go with Erae instead.

I was hoping the Seaboard would get translucent goo and leds, but it never happened

The Erae Touch is very different than the Rise... I still have not used mine other than turning it on once to make sure it worked but the touch is not what I would call a replacement for a Rise. It is more a general controller with stuff like sliders/faders and x/y pads and so on.

With a Linnstrument, the Erae Touch and an Osmose on the way, not sure at this point whether I would want a new Rise.

[machinesworking]

I think the problem is a there's a distinct split between prepackaged beats and a DJ loop style approach to music they touted with Roli Studio player and now Lumis guitar hero for keyboards, but on the other hand there's MPE, the ultimately configurable nature of Lightpad Blocks, Seaboards, the advanced MPE capable synthesizers etc. It's like they didn't really have a clue as to whom to sell to.

I don't see the logic in that conclusion. Seaboards appeal to musicians, Blocks appeal to DJs and Lumi appeals to aspiring musicians and/or DJs, all with plenty of overlap. I already have products from two of those categories and would have one from the third, too, if they'd bloody well well me one. Just because you're narrow-minded doesn't mean they have to be.

Has nothing to do with narrow mindedness. It's branding, their brand is all over the place now. It's patently obvious Roli started off with this Apple branding routine, and now they're more of a "product range" but the branding is the same. So them not being "narrow minded" IMO isn't helping their bottom line. They aren't doing well, this is laid out plainly for all to see. So arguing in defense of how they're operating is sort of pointless, what they've been doing isn't working. One obvious way to make it work is to focus on a target audience, they aren't doing that, and IMO it's a bad move. It has nothing to do with the products themselves and what you personally find useful.

It all cones down to how you use it. You don't have to use all the coloured lights on Lumi, you can use it like any other MIDI controller. Best of all, you can integrate it seamlessly into a Blocks set-up, which is why I want one.

So for you their branding is still working. I just don't know if that's going to play out for everyone, that's all.

[machinesworking]

My main issue with Roli right now is the fact that the Equator phones home once a month. I don't and never will like software that needs to be network connected in order to function. If Roli dies a hard death tomorrow all our copies of Equator are dead with it. Plus Cypher 2 is buggy on M1, sad panda moment there, because Angus has left Roli for FL Studio so who knows if that ever gets fixed.

Instead of whinging about it, I think I'm just gonna sell the Block, Equator and Cypher. They're all great products really, but I need to sell some software to get a NAS, and targeting online copy protected software is the first step.

[BONES]

As a Seaboard Rise 25 owner I was mainly more worried about the software and a main reason it just collects dust.

I'm sorry but I have no idea what you mean. Are you saying that because you think it might stop working in 20 years time, you won't use it now? Because if that's what you mean, that is the most stupid thing I have read this week. If I was worried something might stop working at some point in the future, I'd be using the shit out of it now, just to get my money's worth. Of course, what's really stupid is to think that it wouldn't keep working, so I really hope that's not what you meant.

I was hoping the Seaboard would get translucent goo and leds, but it never happened

Really? Yuk! I love the way the Seaboards look, especially compared to a Linnstrument, which looks like something from Fisher-Price, not a serious tool. If you like flashy colours, though, you can always go for Lumi instead, if they will sell you one.

I've not found a way to reduce the sensitivity.

Really? I can only assume you haven't looked because it's pretty obvious when you fire up Roli Dashboard.

I never used my Seaboard Rise much but I use my Seaboard Block (and Lightpad Blocks) all the time.

I was really hoping for them to re-release the Seaboard block as I have one and was planning to get another to extend the keyboard range so I want an identical one, not a new model that may not even fit

They are easy enough to get on ebay, like this one - https://www.ebay.com/itm/194804194035

In fact, thanks for posting because in going looking I found another Lightpad M, really cheap, which I've just bought. Now I have four!

Has nothing to do with narrow mindedness. It's branding, their brand is all over the place now.

How do you figure that? There is no Roli branding on the Lumi line. None. It's a separate brand with separate marketing.

It's patently obvious Roli started off with this Apple branding routine

Obvious to who? Not to me. They are a company like any other, no more like Apple than like Microsoft or Ford. They have a company and, within that, three brands - Seaboard, Blocks and Lumi - each aimed at a different segment of the market but all with plenty of cross-over. The Roli brand has no power in the Lumi market, so why use it? This is especially true given the way people around here view Lumi. Using the Roli brand would have diluted it even further.

They aren't doing well, this is laid out plainly for all to see. So arguing in defense of how they're operating is sort of pointless

Unless you're a shareholder it's pointless anyway and certainly not something I care even a little bit about, beyond their ability to keep innovating and delivering desirable products. And I don't care much about that, really, either.

One obvious way to make it work is to focus on a target audience, they aren't doing that, and IMO it's a bad move.

But that's what they did in the beginning and that turned out so well that the one and only product they have discontinued is the flagship product of that strategy. Of course, their target audience is clearly keyboard players and those who aspire to be keyboard players, which seems like a fairly targeted portfolio to me. More targeted than, say, Apple or Microsoft or Ford.

So for you their branding is still working. I just don't know if that's going to play out for everyone, that's all.

No, what's working is the appeal of individual products. They make products I find very useful for what I do. That they just happen to be from the same company means nothing to me, beyond their integration with one another. If the Blocks system was open to 3rd party developers, I'd be just as likely to buy a 3rd party product. In fact, I have installed and use third party apps in my Lightpad Blocks. Brands only matter to Mac (l)users, not to rational people.