KVR Audio

goldenanalog · Post by **goldenanalog** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 6:27 am

Pros and cons -

I personally like both, but will probably be inclined to like Gadget more in the future - best guess is their Wavestation is next - so far: I love how it all fits together, and that their keyboard add-ons are first class -

Audio recording when implemented will push it to new heights, especially if your whole Gadget project can be transferred to Ableton - wow. Just wow.

For those who don't take Gadget or Tabletop seriously, maybe it would help to look at the situation like this:

Using Star Trek:

Computer vs IPad = Enterprise vs Shuttlecraft -

They serve the same purpose, but are suited for different venues - I could see taking the iPad on a trip somewhere where I use a small controller to sketch out some ideas that I might then play around with in a coffee shop - find something that I like, then take it home & import it all into Ableton -

goldenanalog · Post by **goldenanalog** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:48 pm

One of the pros for tabletop is that retronyms seems to be supporting essentially an open ecosystem, while Korg's Gadget is all things Korg - which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering that Korg has got an iconic monophonic (ms20) and polyphonic (poly) that they can integrate into Gadget when they're ready -

Tabletop has Arturia's mini and Prophet Vs - arguably very fine iOS softs, especially the Vs: the Vs was an all digital synth except for the filtration that was handled by Curtis chips, so it's digital recreation in ios or otherwise is nearly native -

Love the fact that presets can be shared with their desktop counterparts, which tells me that while you may be losing some things taking a desktop soft and porting it to the iOS platform (some polyphony for example), you're not losing that much -

BiancaNeve · Post by **BiancaNeve** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 4:23 pm

Retronym developed imini and iprophet for Arturia though and the MPC apps for Akai.

So it's not really open ....

goldenanalog · Post by **goldenanalog** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:03 pm

BiancaNeve wrote:Retronym developed imini and iprophet for Arturia though and the MPC apps for Akai.

So it's not really open ....

Arturia and Akai had retronym do the iOS convert - true - but they're still their products - retronym may have been chosen by Arturia and Akai to make their ip part of retronym's Tabletop ecosystem -

goldenanalog · Post by **goldenanalog** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 1:22 am

From retronyms webpage:

Third Parties
Want to build on the Tabletop engine?
Contact thirdparty@retronyms.com

My suspicions are still that Apple bought Camel Audio partly because of it's superb Alchemy ios adaptation - I see the ipad and Apple's computer line headed towards some serious integration - I also think that both Tabletop and Gadget look pretty darn good even compared to how Reason looked out of the chute - especially Gadget.

How old is Gadget? Anyone? This is hard for me to believe:

http://www.korg.com/us/news/2014/0124/

...Less then a year and a half old...

Wow.

Littlewoodg · Post by **Littlewoodg** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:41 am

Both are ultra cool. Both have incredible automation powers.

The synths in Tabletop (iProphet, iMini, Phase84) are each deeper than any single synth in Gadget, but that may be an artificial distinction: multi tracking the littler synths in Gadget can make for a pretty big synth...

The samplers in Tabletop (especially iMPC Pro) far out-feature those in Gadget.

Mixing tools and options in Tabletop also outshine those in Gadget.

Tabletop records audio tracks, and Gadget does not.

Gadget can export audio stems, simply, while Tabletop only can do so using workaround.

Tabletop is open ended in that it includes support for IAA synths and IAA fx within its "sandbox". Tabletop is a modular system that allows a signal path flexibility - in fx and mixing - that Gadget lacks.

BMoore · Post by **BMoore** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 4:39 pm

Tabletop is cumbersome. And the iMPC pro is overrated, and even more cumbersome.
But it does audio, better flexibility, and is "open", vs. Gadget.

I've done more work and had more fun in Gadget than Tabletop.

BiancaNeve · Post by **BiancaNeve** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 4:46 pm

Hooray for fun

Littlewoodg · Post by **Littlewoodg** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:01 pm

It's true, Tabletop has more touches necessary to make things happen, I see that as a trade off given the modular routing and flexibility it offers. I think it's trying to do more than what Gadget does, but maybe that's a mistake, Gadgets relative ease pleases a lot of people...

iMPC Pro definitely isn't as good as it could be (!), (and if you look at the Audiobus forum, hardly overrated! More like hated) but it's far better than what Gadget offers.

I think it does come down to fun, and maybe branding a bit. Tabletop has so much of what Gadget users are asking for feature wise, but there is something other than feature set that people connect with. Fun for one isn't always fun for the other.

If it weren't for that shade of blue, I'd use Gadget even more...

BMoore · Post by **BMoore** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 7:19 pm

Well, the audiobus forum is not a benchmark for anything but tiresome giddyness. Although it's worn off quite a bit the last year, as expected.

Fun is a part of it. And workflow has a lot to do with that. And for me, the workflow in Gadget trumps Tabletop.
Its like comparing Nexus (VST) with a modular synth. Presest vs. flexibility, where workflow is a trade-off.

9headshydra · Post by **9headshydra** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 10:34 pm

Korg Gadget's workflow is excellent, the app is just the best compromise between serious work and fun,

More fx slots and more featured sampler devices are for the moment the 2 things I mostly miss, but I admit most devices are easy to mix inside Gadget and with an ipad air you can easely load up to 20 devices to create complex tracks.

Retronym made a great job with Tabletop, impc/ impc pro, imini and iprophet hosting, IAA, flexible Routing.

But the workflow is not as good, most native fx are useless and it's still very CPU intensive,
And with the limitation of the "9 big boxes" it's hard to load more than 10 sound generators.

In a way I tend to think Korg just find the good compromise until ios9 brings AU plugins on the game.

Maybe it will force korg to devellop a full featured ios daw based on it.

goldenanalog · Post by **goldenanalog** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:55 am

9headshydra wrote:Maybe it will force korg to devellop a full featured ios daw based on it.

I think that's Korg's vector, 9headshydra -

If the rumors are valid, then Korg's ecosystem will definitely include audio recording - I have an Airpad 2, it's seems more then capable of handling Korg's Gadget plus some audio.

You guys collectively have hit the nail on the head: it's fun/workflow - that's what makes either/both so compelling; and because that's part of both Tabletop's and Gadget's DNA, I would expect the fun/workflow factor to increase *especially* in Gadget - the year and a half old baby, who's still actively ramping up -

It's a beautiful thing to be able to portablize what you do in the studio to such an extent - I think that either ecosystem of your choosing can provide you with dramatically different venue opportunities to be inspired; to chisel out your music -

Tabletop vs Gadget