Roli: Equator 2 is here !

[Tj Shredder]

And if you want to get close to the size of a LinnStrument you could have gotten already 2 LinnStruments for the same price and don‘t have to worry about a device from a bankrupt company…
I have a broken Seaboard Block and a 1st generation Block. The Seaboard can work partially in Max, and the Block gets rare uses as a sort of 5D trackpad… If I need a small MPE note controller, a Sensel fits better…

What f**king drugs are you on? The cheapest Linnstrument is twice the price of a Seaboard Block and I could buy 10 Lightpad Blocks for the price of one Linnstrument. In fact, the 5 Blocks I have - Seaboard, 2 x Lightpads, Touch and Loop Block - all up cost me less than the cheapest Linnstrument.

Roli is a company of 70 employees, Roger Linn Instruments is just one man who outsources everything. Even a bankrupt Roli is more reliable than Roger Linn.

Me seems I have much better drugs…
I have one LinnStrument from a one man company which has better support than any big player in the world. Just setting up your collection of blocks seems like a nightmare not even talking about playing on them.
You get what you pay for and if you buy cheap you pay twice…(proof is in the quote…; - )

[zerocrossing]

And if you want to get close to the size of a LinnStrument you could have gotten already 2 LinnStruments for the same price and don‘t have to worry about a device from a bankrupt company…
I have a broken Seaboard Block and a 1st generation Block. The Seaboard can work partially in Max, and the Block gets rare uses as a sort of 5D trackpad… If I need a small MPE note controller, a Sensel fits better…

What f**king drugs are you on? The cheapest Linnstrument is twice the price of a Seaboard Block and I could buy 10 Lightpad Blocks for the price of one Linnstrument. In fact, the 5 Blocks I have - Seaboard, 2 x Lightpads, Touch and Loop Block - all up cost me less than the cheapest Linnstrument.

Roli is a company of 70 employees, Roger Linn Instruments is just one man who outsources everything. Even a bankrupt Roli is more reliable than Roger Linn.

Me seems I have much better drugs…
I have one LinnStrument from a one man company which has better support than any big player in the world. Just setting up your collection of blocks seems like a nightmare not even talking about playing on them.
You get what you pay for and if you buy cheap you pay twice…(proof is in the quote…; - )

Too bad the design of the Linnstrument doesn’t lend itself to good performances, or it would be a great controller for me. I’m still waiting for another demo where the performance doesn’t sound clumsy due to the small size of the note pads. I think I’ve heard one guy do a decent performance in all the time it’s been out. I was getting decent results from my Rise 49 in a few minutes, where the Linnstrument seems to demand a much longer time to really master it.

[pdxindy]

Bigger than what? If you've got a Seaboard Block, you can just keep adding them and make it as big as you like.

You cannot do pitch slides across them... that would be the main difference between multiple blocks and a Rise 76 (or whatever number)

[pdxindy]

I have one LinnStrument from a one man company which has better support than any big player in the world. Just setting up your collection of blocks seems like a nightmare not even talking about playing on them.
You get what you pay for and if you buy cheap you pay twice…(proof is in the quote…; - )

Roger Linn's support is exceptional. As is his vision.
The Linnstrument firmware is open source.
It is user repairable.
Linnstrument needs no computer driver or app so future OS updates will not be an issue
No planned obsolescence and as much as possible, it is future proof.
Best screen free user interface ever.

The Linnstrument is one of the few purchases where I have been 100% satisfied in every regard.

[pdxindy]

Too bad the design of the Linnstrument doesn’t lend itself to good performances, or it would be a great controller for me. I’m still waiting for another demo where the performance doesn’t sound clumsy due to the small size of the note pads. I think I’ve heard one guy do a decent performance in all the time it’s been out. I was getting decent results from my Rise 49 in a few minutes, where the Linnstrument seems to demand a much longer time to really master it.

At this point I have come across half a dozen impressive performances... The Linnstrument takes more time to learn because lots of people have already invested learning in the classic piano layout and that is immediately transferrable to the Rise.

Anyway, the most important point for me, is I am happy with my own performance on it. I don't feel hindered. There are things I can do on a regular keybed (looking forward to the Osmose) that I cannot on the Linnstrument and there are things I can do on the Linnstrument I cannot on a regular keybed.

I see them as complimentary. Even though I love the Linnstrument, I still want a classic keyboard layout as well. But even if the Osmose is everything one might hope for, I absolutely would still keep the Linnstrument cause it has its own musical strengths.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Ha, except that there is only one note per row that actually let you pitch glide to 2 notes in either direction. The middle note. And putting more together doesn't let you pitch glide between blocks.

Really? That's your bullshit excuse? Tune your Seaboards so that you can go the two full octaves in whichever direction you need to. Then tune the other one to go 2 octaves the other way. That's why the spec is +/- 48 semitones. Otherwise, there are always the Rise Grand and Rise Grand 88 that no-one was interested in.

Whoa easy tiger, I thought you were talking about the lightpad blocks. I misread your post. Not sure how that wasn't obvious based on my post.

But actually I do have sort of a similar objection to attaching multiple seaboard blocks in that any notes you playing at that connection point can not cross over note glides from one seaboard to the other. Much less of an issue than with seaboard blocks which only have five notes horizontally per row, but still. This is why I much prefer the seaboard rise 49. That plus you don't need tiny kid hands to play it properly.

[BONES]

My Lightpads were less than $100 each. For that money I'm more than happy with that sort of limitation. And, to be honest, I had not seen that as any kind of actual limitation until you mentioned it and I could always get around it by configuring one Lightpad as a pitch-bend controller if I wanted to. Because that's the thing - even at full price I could buy 4 or 5 Lightpads for the price of a Rise 49.

I have one LinnStrument from a one man company which has better support than any big player in the world. Just setting up your collection of blocks seems like a nightmare not even talking about playing on them.

"Seems like"? So you admit you have no actual clue? Because nothing in the world is easier than setting up my 5 Blocks was - you plug one of them into USB, any one you like, and they all work as a seamless whole. Not happy with the way you set them up? Just pull it all apart, put them back together a different way and they'll work in that configuration. Drag one off and connect it somewhere else and it keeps working, no problem. Connect two Lightpads together and you get a single controller that let's you play either up or across, which is kind of magical in itself. Separate them and you get two independent 2 octave controllers. You don't have to tell them what you want, they understand how they are connected and reconfigure themselves accordingly. Even a roadie couldn't f**k it up.

Roger Linn's support is exceptional.

That can't be good. I've never needed Roli support. Their stuff just works.

The Linnstrument firmware is open source.

Whereas Roli's firmware can't be f**ked over by idiots.

It is user repairable.

Roli stuff is indestructible.

Linnstrument needs no computer driver or app so future OS updates will not be an issue

Windows 7 drivers work in Windows 11, "future" driver updates are not, and will not, be an issue. Microsoft learned their lesson with Vista.

No planned obsolescence and as much as possible, it is future proof.

So it will just work with MIDI 2.0?

Best screen free user interface ever.

That's like saying "best gastro-intestinal disease ever", or it would be if it was even close to true. I'd suggest the Prophet V or ARP Odyssey's "screen-free interface" is probably better. I'd suggest, though, that most people would prefer an interface with a screen than without.

The Linnstrument is one of the few purchases where I have been 100% satisfied in every regard.

But you haven't bought a Seaboard so you don't know whether it is better or worse. Just the look of a Linnstrument puts me off. All that white rubber stuff looks awful compared to the dark depths of my Rolis. And if you look at the versatility of a Lightpad Block, which is built on a similar concept, the Linnstrument seems rather crude in comparison, don't you think?

The Linnstrument takes more time to learn because lots of people have already invested learning in the classic piano layout and that is immediately transferrable to the Rise.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Linnstrument laid out like a guitar? Shouldn't it be as accessible to a guitar player as a Seaboard is to a keyboard player?

Even though I love the Linnstrument, I still want a classic keyboard layout as well.

OTOH, even the Roli Lightpad Block I spent less than $100 on meets all my needs. I don't need any other controllers, not even the Seaboard. In a week or so, when I have 3 Lightpads, I'll be able to do incredible things you could never dream of doing with your horrendously expensive, over-sized and unattractive Linnstrument.

[Examigan]

I emailed Angus at Roli about something today and an auto reply/return email says he doesn't work for Roli anymore.
He seems like a good guy and we had quite a few emails going back and forth regarding Equator2. He was originally with FXpansion, so I wonder if he is still with them, or were they bought out by Roli?

[pdxindy]

I emailed Angus at Roli about something today and an auto reply/return email says he doesn't work for Roli anymore.
He seems like a good guy and we had quite a few emails going back and forth regarding Equator2. He was originally with FXpansion, so I wonder if he is still with them, or were they bought out by Roli?

He works for Image-Line now

[Ploki]

Both? Both what? 2 x Roli Seaboard Blocks = 1 x 4 octave Seaboard. 3 x Seaboard Blocks = 6 octave Seaboard. 4 x Seaboard Blocks = 8 octave Seaboard. It's all seamless.

Block and rise. Feel is different- significantly different.
It’s like comparing keybed of an AKAI MPK to a full size semiweighted controller.

Also lightpads new are 200€

[gentleclockdivider]

Roli is dead and will RISE from it's ashes
as...

[elxsound]

I emailed Angus at Roli about something today and an auto reply/return email says he doesn't work for Roli anymore.
He seems like a good guy and we had quite a few emails going back and forth regarding Equator2. He was originally with FXpansion, so I wonder if he is still with them, or were they bought out by Roli?

He works for Image-Line now

That’s good news for him. He was always helpful so I’m happy he’s not sifting through this Roli/Luminary BS.

[Dirk Diggler]

I own both brands of controllers, and use Linnstrument and several Rise's and a Block.
They are in completely different universes, beyond apples and oranges.

I find it comical when discussing an instrument that color actually matters.

Oh and to get back to the original post, Equator 2 is the MPE champ.
All others are trying to play catch up.

[Echoes in the Attic]

Roli is dead and will RISE from it's ashes
as...

And the new squishy keyboard will then be known is the Rolo Rose. And it'll be pink.

[SLiC]

I emailed Angus at Roli about something today and an auto reply/return email says he doesn't work for Roli anymore.
He seems like a good guy and we had quite a few emails going back and forth regarding Equator2. He was originally with FXpansion, so I wonder if he is still with them, or were they bought out by Roli?

He works for Image-Line now

Go FL Studio!