KVR Audio

Obsolete317542 · Post by **Obsolete317542** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 4:49 pm

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pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 5:21 pm

Eclectus wrote:I currently use the Drum Machine in Bitwig - and what a difference it is to me. Very straightforward to use, wysiwyg. My drum workflow has sped up tenfold compared to Geist.

Until you want to use a choke group... or round robin some samples... or make a straight velocity ramp on a bunch of 16th notes... oops, no facility to do those things in Bitwig drum machine.

Layering multiple samples on a pad is way easier in Geist than Bitwig.

Drawing notes in Geist is far far easier and more fluid. Even when using the Bitwig drum machine, it is a magnitude faster to create patterns in Geist and drag-n-drop the pattern to a clip slot. Note drawing in Bitwig is painfully clumsy.

Geist is the best drum software ever made. Wanna sample your own synth preset? Geist rocks for that.

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 5:29 pm

Eclectus wrote:Much as I liked the factory samples and FX engine from Geist, I never really got to grips with it's UI. So much functionality cramped into such a small surface. Small buttons and knobs, scattered all over the place. A browser window that doesn't allow me to see the sample names in full, because it is so small. So many different mixers feeding into each other. Arcane is a word that comes to mind. All of that combined made me look towards simpler to use stuff. I currently use the Drum Machine in Bitwig - and what a difference it is to me. Very straightforward to use, wysiwyg. My drum workflow has sped up tenfold compared to Geist.

Now, looking at the new GUI for Geist 2, I get the feeling that I won't like using v2 either. Quite the contrary: there's even more functionality hidden behind small buttons and knobs, that are still as scattered as in the first Geist. It even looks like some of the buttons and knobs are cowering together, scared of all the whitespace around them. Hard to tell from one screenshot of course, but I fear the advertised usability improvements won't be enough to inspire me.

If I could dictate a direction for Geist 2 it would include dropping the sequencer, dropping the engines and scenes, and just consolidate everything to a bunch of pads, each with their own (fantastic) FX section and separate VST output. The reduction in functionality would then allow for larger scale UI elements and better placement of those elements in a clear and easy to use instrument. Geist 2 would still distinguish itself from it's competitors by the quality of it's sounds and the pleasure of fooling around with the FX. But that's just me.

Yeah... sounds like it isn't the product for you to be honest. Drop the sequencer? Absolutely not! It's just so core to the fundamental design!

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 5:30 pm

dougb256 wrote:Looks like freeware.

Looks like a work in progress to me. But hey... what the hell do I know!!

Apostate · Post by **Apostate** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 5:57 pm

Amberience wrote:
dougb256 wrote:Looks like freeware.
Looks like a work in progress to me. But hey... what the hell do I know!!

I'm really sorry to ask this, as it's probably asked in this thread more than once. But will this be ready by the holidays (Geist 2)? I have some cash stashed away for it.

RichN · Post by **RichN** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 6:23 pm

Amberience wrote:
Yeah... sounds like it isn't the product for you to be honest. Drop the sequencer? Absolutely not! It's just so core to the fundamental design!

I agree. But I also agree with his points about the interface. Especially the browser. Everything is so cramped. I hate it. I hope that version 2 improves that. Then it will be a no brainer for me.

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 7:03 pm

RichN wrote:
Amberience wrote:
Yeah... sounds like it isn't the product for you to be honest. Drop the sequencer? Absolutely not! It's just so core to the fundamental design!
I agree. But I also agree with his points about the interface. Especially the browser. Everything is so cramped. I hate it. I hope that version 2 improves that. Then it will be a no brainer for me.

I don't hate it... but it can be improved considerably. I have so much screen space and I want to use more of it for Geist.

And I do not mean just scale it bigger, but more room at the same scale.

anxiousmofo · Post by **anxiousmofo** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 8:56 pm

Apostate wrote:
Amberience wrote:
dougb256 wrote:Looks like freeware.
Looks like a work in progress to me. But hey... what the hell do I know!!
I'm really sorry to ask this, as it's probably asked in this thread more than once. But will this be ready by the holidays (Geist 2)? I have some cash stashed away for it.

I think I read on the fxpansion forums that they are aiming for public beta (for current Geist owners) in January or so.

Apostate · Post by **Apostate** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 9:25 pm

anxiousmofo wrote:
Apostate wrote:
Amberience wrote:
dougb256 wrote:Looks like freeware.
Looks like a work in progress to me. But hey... what the hell do I know!!
I'm really sorry to ask this, as it's probably asked in this thread more than once. But will this be ready by the holidays (Geist 2)? I have some cash stashed away for it.
I think I read on the fxpansion forums that they are aiming for public beta (for current Geist owners) in January or so.

Thanks!

samsam · Post by **samsam** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 7:10 am

samsam · Post by **samsam** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:03 am

Eclectus wrote:Much as I liked the factory samples and FX engine from Geist, I never really got to grips with it's UI. So much functionality cramped into such a small surface. Small buttons and knobs, scattered all over the place. A browser window that doesn't allow me to see the sample names in full, because it is so small. So many different mixers feeding into each other. Arcane is a word that comes to mind. All of that combined made me look towards simpler to use stuff. I currently use the Drum Machine in Bitwig - and what a difference it is to me. Very straightforward to use, wysiwyg. My drum workflow has sped up tenfold compared to Geist.

Now, looking at the new GUI for Geist 2, I get the feeling that I won't like using v2 either. Quite the contrary: there's even more functionality hidden behind small buttons and knobs, that are still as scattered as in the first Geist. It even looks like some of the buttons and knobs are cowering together, scared of all the whitespace around them. Hard to tell from one screenshot of course, but I fear the advertised usability improvements won't be enough to inspire me.

If I could dictate a direction for Geist 2 it would include dropping the sequencer, dropping the engines and scenes, and just consolidate everything to a bunch of pads, each with their own (fantastic) FX section and separate VST output. The reduction in functionality would then allow for larger scale UI elements and better placement of those elements in a clear and easy to use instrument. Geist 2 would still distinguish itself from it's competitors by the quality of it's sounds and the pleasure of fooling around with the FX. But that's just me.

Thank heavens you're not the dev. Enjoy your Bitwig.

Obsolete317542 · Post by **Obsolete317542** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:20 am

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Apostate · Post by **Apostate** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:35 am

Eclectus wrote:
samsam wrote:Thank heavens you're not the dev. Enjoy your Bitwig.
Well, the devs asked for our opinion on the new GUI for Geist 2, so I gave mine. To each his own, right? So, what's your opinion of the proposed GUI? And yes, I enjoy my Bitwig every day, and twice on sundays

All respect, but I'm pretty sure the dev mentioned more than once that that isn't the proposed GUI, it's simply the work in progress snapshot. And to be honest, it looks fine to me...as a work in progress.

I get the feeling the dev prematurely put that up on the FXpansion website just to appease all the people who were constantly clamoring for updates on the upgrade.

Obsolete317542 · Post by **Obsolete317542** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:42 am

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samsam · Post by **samsam** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:35 am

Eclectus wrote:
samsam wrote:Thank heavens you're not the dev. Enjoy your Bitwig.
Well, the devs asked for our opinion on the new GUI for Geist 2, so I gave mine. To each his own, right? So, what's your opinion of the proposed GUI? And yes, I enjoy my Bitwig every day, and twice on sundays

I think the screenshots of the new GUI look terrible and said so near the beginning of the thread. It's more about your suggestion of removing the sequencer. Of a sampling drum sequencer. Eek.

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