KVR Audio

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Wed Dec 29, 2021 1:22 pm

Pondering getting a Beatstep though primarily as a controller rather than a sequencer, mad idea? Just looks lots of controls for the money, neat size etc

I'm thinking regular stuff like mapping knobs to vst controls, pads to notes etc in Reaper but Live too sometimes. Anyone use it like this, comments?

Cheers.

Astralp · Post by **Astralp** » Tue Jan 04, 2022 3:35 am

I have one, but the knobs are really annoying. They’re endless encoders and so have no markers when using with absolute ranges, but the worse thing is they have a dysfunctional & unpredictable quick scroll which doesn’t work well and just skips. You can turn that off but then it takes dozens of turns to get from 0 to 127. I do still use it because I have it and it has 16 knobs but I’d much rather have something with pots instead. The pads are nice to drum with though although I did put some card under the sensors years ago when I bought it. I originally bought it for controlling mutes on the Octatrack and it worked well for that, a real shame it doesn’t just have potentiometers.

AcrossTheSky · Post by **AcrossTheSky** » Sat Jan 15, 2022 12:04 pm

I'm just returning one.after 48h of trying to make things work .. the pads velocity was not consistent ,9 10 11 12 were less
sensitive even when set to logarithmic (pad velocity curve) , what's more annoying is when mapping beatstep in control center -
you cannot use it in a daw at the same time - needs to be not in use elsewhere..(while keystep pro you can), also the endless encoders need a lot of turning - it would be nice if the resolution could be set in ControlCenter ..

Already looking at Launch Control XL - but controlling a hardware synth requires a PC or a USB MIDI Host ,
Well, a good controller should have presets like the 2 have - beatstep has 16.. so 16x16 is over 200 parameters to map,
I tried it with Pigments & it was working fine - but the encoders made experience of using it too annoying// bad buy beatstep...

GaryG · Post by **GaryG** » Sat Jan 15, 2022 2:20 pm

Thanks both of you.

As you both mentioned the encoder behaviour I'll pass, pots would be my first choice but open to encoders if they're handled well which doesn't sound like these are.

Cheers.

Astralp · Post by **Astralp** » Sat Jan 15, 2022 2:29 pm

Yeah, it’s a real shame, apart from that I like the pads and the build of it. The knobs also have that rubber coating that goes sticky over time, I spent a day with alcohol and a scrubber removing it from them.

AcrossTheSky · Post by **AcrossTheSky** » Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:30 pm

I did see this one earlier - still no 'arrival' date ...

https://ask.audio/articles/behringer-re ... -sequencer

The spec is great - perfect VSTi controller.. hopefully this year...

Astralp · Post by **Astralp** » Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:57 pm

Interesting, I owned a BCR 2000 for a few years, it was a solid and very versatile controller but it’s pretty big!

Tj Shredder · Post by **Tj Shredder** » Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:05 pm

I would always prefer encoders over pots. You need smart programs to deal with them appropriate. Within my Max patches I can always do that easily. Pots can only deal with 0-127 and are absolute...

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:25 pm

Astralp wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 3:35 am I have one, but the knobs are really annoying. They’re endless encoders and so have no markers when using with absolute ranges, but the worse thing is they have a dysfunctional & unpredictable quick scroll which doesn’t work well and just skips.

They're the same as on the MiniLab, right? Yep, those were absolute trash... which is kind of strange, as the keys were great really.

Arturia Beatstep as midi controller