thought I should show this in case others are interested too:
The Seaboard "Continuum"
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All the time I had the Seaboard Block I hated the keywaves and the rubber surface.
I just didn't like to touch it and found it weird to play.
The slimy stuff inside bulges and prevents easy sliding, the waves were in the way more than helpful to me...
This year at the Superbooth in Berlin I finally tried out the Haken Continuum.
So far I had always avoided it, since I knew I would probably like it but don't have that kind of money.
And indeed, I fell in love with it right away - WOW!
There was a surface that WANTED to be touched!
But the price is out of my range and the Coninuumini felt too tiny and limited for the still rather steep price.
Back from Superbooth I played with the Seaboard a bit more.
No way I'll ever like this....
Then today I stumbled over this video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAN98p7a4AY
Hm - interesting. So the sensor is just those two layers of plastic foil with some contact stripes on them and totally independent of the slimy upside!...
Hm...
Those guys are just messing around trying to open it, but if you remove the rubber stuff on the bottom, you get 10 screws and the unit opens easily:
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This is the bottom of the case (you can see the ribs - they tried to prevent the bottom from deforming, but failed, mine definitely was lower in the centre, the corners lifted from the desk, making it totally unstable to play):
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And this is the upper part:
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Now what strikes me the most about this last image is, that Roli always claimed that the battery can't be changed. When I look at this it is quite clear, that it would be absolutely simple to do in 2 minutes. The only thing in the way is that rubber stripe covering the screws at the bottom, but inside, there even is a dedicated connector and all there would have been needed to make this easily serviceable is a non-glued fixture for the battery.
And a battery slot accessible from the outside would be just as trivial to implement!
This is planned obsolescence for you.
Idiots.Now I didn't want to go about removing the upper rubber part the way those guys in the video did.
I lifted the corner of the rubber carefully and - with the knowledge of how it's laid out internally - tried to pry the slimy stuff (it really is more like jello) off the foil holding the sensors without damaging it and succeeded to lift it, leaving some jello behind.
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There is a doublesided tape around the outer edge that holds the jello down on the foil.
This holds really well but I was able to pry it away and with it all the remaining jello.
I didn't take a photo at that point, but here you can see what the sensor looks like:
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The sensor alone can be played, but is discontinuous, since the gaps between the contacts are quite large - the rubber and goo functions as a kind of pressure-bridge - so you get stuttering while sliding around without some kind of cover.
So I tried different materials on top, thought of some thicker rubbersheet with some cloth glued onto it, but then I stumbled over an old netbook cover in my closet, made of a kind of neoprene. Black outside, but inside actually dark red! Almost like the Continuum - and my favourite colour...
The size was just large enough to cover the Seaboard Block.
It has some marks on it since other stuff was lying on top for a long time, but I hope it will relax and become plain after a while.
It's also not easy to cut, so the outer border is uneven, but I'll maybe put some black trimming around it, once I'm sure this is the way to go.
And this is a surface that is actually quite nice to the touch.
Playability is really good, not as sensitive or smooth as the Haken Continuum of course, that plays in a completely different league, but I am very happy with it so far.
Haven't decided how I'll do the markings for the keys, will probably go for something rather minimal, maybe just guitar-like dots?
So yeah, there you have it, a DIY-option for people who do not like the goo and the waves.
Disclaimer: My warranty is already up, the battery already mostly dead, Roli too, so I'm in no way concerned about future repair options. YMMV. Do this at your own risk!
Cheers,
Tom
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