OSMOSE CE AND MIOXL ET SYNTHÉTISEURS

[Trancer]

Hello,

I'm very interested in buying the Osmose CE.

I have some questions to make sure everything will work perfectly together in my future home studio.

With the Osmose CE, can I use the Astrolab 37 via MIDI, and more importantly, will it be possible to play with the Osmose CE and use the Astrolab 37's arpeggiator?

I'd like to buy the MIOXL and use the Osmose as a master keyboard to control the Astrolab 37, Korg Multipoly Module, Korg Wavestate MK2 Module, Korg ModWave MK2 Module, MC-707 (tone section), and an RC-505 MK2.

Will it be possible to control all my synthesizers and the MC-707 with the Osmose CE and the MIOXL?

If so, I assume I'll need to connect everything via MIDI (input and output)?

Could I connect my Korg and Astrolab 37 to the MIOXL via USB and play them with the Osmose CE?

Or is it only possible via MIDI, since the USB port is used for connecting to a computer and for using an editor and Analog Lab Pro?

Thank you so much for your answers and advice.

[starflakeprj]

Oh, me too. Will be monitoring this thread

[bmanic]

I'm so annoyed they haven't yet fixed the horrible onboard UI lag and wonky knob response. I _very_ highly recommend everybody to test this thing in a shop before purchase. It's at the level of frustration that it has affected my purchase decision twice already.

The keyboard and functionality itself is absolutely amazing (I love the mushy weird keybed! It's totally unique and plays well IMHO) but the stupidly slow onboard processor and horrible knob response would drive me insane.

[starflakeprj]

I'm so annoyed they haven't yet fixed the horrible onboard UI lag and wonky knob response. I _very_ highly recommend everybody to test this thing in a shop before purchase. It's at the level of frustration that it has affected my purchase decision twice already.

The keyboard and functionality itself is absolutely amazing (I love the mushy weird keybed! It's totally unique and plays well IMHO) but the stupidly slow onboard processor and horrible knob response would drive me insane.

Is there a difference between the OG Osmose and the Osmose CE (except the synth part)?

[bmanic]

I don't think so. Of course I haven't played the Osmose CE yet but I've watched a few videos on it. Looks to be exactly the same as the OG Osmose in terms of functionality.. just missing the built in synth.

[starflakeprj]

It looks promising. I don’t need the synth engine at all, and since I never ended up buying the ROLI Piano M, maybe this is why destiny intervened. Not that I actually believe in destiny.

[TheMaestro]

The original Osmose can control the Astrolab 37, so I assume the CE can too.

[Trancer]

Thank you for your feedback and opinions.

Indeed, I saw a video afterward that showed a slow performance during testing.

This is really very annoying.

Since this was already the case with the keyboard and internal synth version, the problem is still not resolved on the master keyboard version, which is a real shame...

It really ruins the potential of this otherwise exceptional master keyboard.

Nothing is more frustrating and annoying than experiencing this kind of slowness.

Thank you for the information regarding the Astrolab 37.

[bmanic]

It's not just slowness, it's the way they are mapping/scaling/reading the output of the knobs. It's one of the worst systems I've ever used AND it is lagging on top of it.

I'm sure everybody here has some experience with some potentiometer or knob that is controlling a parameter on a screen and how some companies just universally do a better job than others.. for instance using an encoder to name a parameter or just scroll through a menu or a set of values. In some cases it "just works" and you feel like you are connected to the operation. You twist the knob and auto-magically end up on just the value you assumed you would end up on.

.. well, Expressive E, for whatever reason are the absolute worst in this regard. Don't know who the developer or engineer behind this is but whatever he/she thinks is intuitive knob scrolling logic is completely warped. I've yet to see a single video or meet a single person who easily operates that thing. In the music store I tried the original Osmose absolutely everybody struggled a lot with the interface, setting basic values for things. Even in their own official videos you can see the dude presenting the synth struggling with it too, stressing about the twisting of the knobs, overshooting parameters etc.

For instance, just look at Andrew Huang's latest video on it. He has tons of cuts throughout the review while showing the UI of the hardware and where he doesn't cut you immediately see just how laggy the screen is and how inconsistent the knob behavior is. Look at the speed he twists the knobs @5:37 in the video


..and compare to what actually happens to the targeted parameter in Ableton. I can not stress enough how stupidly badly their knob smoothing/motion logic is. Think the exact opposite of something like Softube Console 1 or pick any other system with knobs that you feel is intuitive.. this is the opposite. Think of the worst implementation of VSTi knobs/sliders ever made, something where your mouse movements don't translate at all to what you imagined would happen.. this is that, but probably worse.

As for the lag. Again, just look at Andrew Huang's video @5:06. That's the amount of lag you can expect on everything.

So yeah. I can not stress this enough. BEWARE! Get your hands on a real physical unit and try it out first. Expressive E needs to be called out on this. It's not just a slightly inconvenient user experience. In my experience it's among the very bottom of the list and I've got quite a lot of experience using various hardware with encoders (not just audio related).


EDIT: Is there a way to force the damn videos to NOT be rendered in this post? And just provide the link to the timestamp? Sigh..

[Trancer]

Thank you so much for your detailed response.

Is it possible to resolve this issue of the slow user interface and potentiometers during a new firmware update?