Erae Touch on sale for Black Friday

[killmaster]

But no release of new firmware that's supposed to take it into the stratosphere. Should I buy it for $560? Seems like the best price I'm going to find, but I worry about the ongoing support.

(secretly trying to get someone to talk me into getting it.)

[Tj Shredder]

Wow, thats less than the early birds. Maybe I should get a second one and start to learn drummin’…

[killmaster]

Wow, thats less than the early birds. Maybe I should get a second one and start to learn drummin’…

Do you like yours? Are you glad you bought it?

[Tj Shredder]

Oh, yes. It doesn't have the same resolution as my LinnStrument, but its programmable and fun. I made a LinnStrument layout with 2*2 pads, which is harder to play, as playing neighbouring pads are tricky, sometimes it recognizes only one touch in between. With 2*3 its better...

[killmaster]

Oh, yes. It doesn't have the same resolution as my LinnStrument, but its programmable and fun. I made a LinnStrument layout with 2*2 pads, which is harder to play, as playing neighbouring pads are tricky, sometimes it recognizes only one touch in between. With 2*3 its better...

If you had a Roli Lightpad Block, is it as sturdy you think? I still have the original block and it's fantastic and durable!

[BONES]

We've been rehearsing for a couple of upcoming gigs and I've been rotating through my Seaboard Block, Lightpad Blocks and Erae Touch and I find the Erae the best of them to play by far. It's just more responsive to my finger movements than the others and the ability to set it up exactly how I want it makes it the most useful by far, too. If I hadn't just quit my job, I'd definitely be buying a second one at that price.

To be clear, it's not perfect - it doesn't work very reliably near the edges and you can't really use your thumbs with it easily, although that might just be the way I play and/or how I have it set up. But, overall, I find it way better than the Roli stuff.

If I compare it to my Lightpad Blocks (I have 6 of them), I'd say it is just as sturdy and feels like it will last forever. Its surface is harder than a Lightpad Block M, much more like the surface of the original Lightpad Block.

[killmaster]

We've been rehearsing for a couple of upcoming gigs and I've been rotating through my Seaboard Block, Lightpad Blocks and Erae Touch and I find the Erae the best of them to play by far. It's just more responsive to my finger movements than the others and the ability to set it up exactly how I want it makes it the most useful by far, too. If I hadn't just quit my job, I'd definitely be buying a second one at that price.

To be clear, it's not perfect - it doesn't work very reliably near the edges and you can't really use your thumbs with it easily, although that might just be the way I play and/or how I have it set up. But, overall, I find it way better than the Roli stuff.

If I compare it to my Lightpad Blocks (I have 6 of them), I'd say it is just as sturdy and feels like it will last forever. Its surface is harder than a Lightpad Block M, much more like the surface of the original Lightpad Block.

So much appreciate this response. Really wanted to know these things. Just hope they will support it going forward. I got an e-mail from Omar saying this:

"Hey guys, how are you doing?

We are currently under the implementation of an entire new system upgrade that will be released very soon. We have not forgotten you, but we usually keep this forum for our users, if you like to ask us anything directly feel free to reach out to support@embodme.com. But we take into account all your feature requests and something new is coming soon, so stay tuned ."

from Nov. 8th 2023

[killmaster]

Oh, yes. It doesn't have the same resolution as my LinnStrument, but its programmable and fun. I made a LinnStrument layout with 2*2 pads, which is harder to play, as playing neighbouring pads are tricky, sometimes it recognizes only one touch in between. With 2*3 its better...

Great to know how it compares with the Linnstrument. May want to ask for that layout if I get it

[runagate]

But no release of new firmware that's supposed to take it into the stratosphere. Should I buy it for $560? Seems like the best price I'm going to find, but I worry about the ongoing support.

(secretly trying to get someone to talk me into getting it.)

I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough. If you want an MPE multi-modal instrument that allows expressive performance but also extremely versatile GUI element programming with visual feedback I cannot recommend it highly enough. This is the furthest point that digital musical instruments has evolved to thus far. Plus, you can beat on it with drum sticks.

It was also built with MIDI 2.0 in mind so when DAW and plugin devs stop dragging their feet it will support that as well.

[Tj Shredder]

Oh, yes. It doesn't have the same resolution as my LinnStrument, but its programmable and fun. I made a LinnStrument layout with 2*2 pads, which is harder to play, as playing neighbouring pads are tricky, sometimes it recognizes only one touch in between. With 2*3 its better...

If you had a Roli Lightpad Block, is it as sturdy you think? I still have the original block and it's fantastic and durable!

I have a Block of the first generation. Its no fun at all compared to it. I might sell it, it gets little to no use. I also have a Seaboard Block which is broken. The Erae Touch is built like a tank. And the Block is way too small.
The only one which could beat it in resolution and programmability is the Sensel Morph. But in years they never fixed the bugs and now stopped any support which is a shame…
The Sensel is my go to controller if I don’t want to carry the bigger LinnStrument or the Touch.

Great to know how it compares with the Linnstrument. May want to ask for that layout if I get it

Of course, you can get it…

[carrieres]

I bought it some hours ago before all your praise, what a nice morning for me

[tq]

They mentioned some "upgrade" in their forums some time ago, so I am wondering whether there will be a MK2 version or something soon? Just wondering whether I should go for this deal or not - I would hate myself for buying a product just to find out that an enhanced version will be released two weeks later... (been there, done that). It's very tempting, though. (I do have Seaboard blocks, but the lightpad blocks are not totally convincing IMHO... love the keyboard version, though... but this looks like the blocks on steroids, and like a real 'instrument').

[foosnark]

(I do have Seaboard blocks, but the lightpad blocks are not totally convincing IMHO... love the keyboard version, though... but this looks like the blocks on steroids, and like a real 'instrument').

Yeah, the little Seaboard keyboard (also confusingly called "Block") has been great. I like setting it up where the level of notes is 100% controlled by pressure rather than a gate/envelope (not all synths are capable of it, but several are).

The Lightpad Blocks strike me as toys that were kind of fun to mess with for a bit but also frustrating. Not very sensitive or responsive, I didn't like the feel overall even if it had been, and the magnetic link thing is a lot better in theory than in practice as they kept losing the connection.

And I kind of miss the grid controller from Polyend/Dreadbox Medusa. The synth engine itself wasn't great (other than some tricks with voice allocation), so I moved on to a Launchpad Pro mk3. I appreciated its backlit pads and customizable scales, but it doesn't do MPE, just poly AT... and the pressure reacts a bit oddly too. But there's something about playing a grid controller that encourages a kind of performance that's very different from a regular keyboard.

(I still have my LPP, I just haven't connected it since getting the Seaboard. Maybe someday.)

So based on that I'm not sure what I'd think of the Erae Touch. I hesitate to just buy one without trying it in person, though.

[WasteLand]

strange; if you look at the downloads; firmware, it says 1.30 (in the filename). the latest firmware...

it hasn't been announced, that is there... and is this the one, 'everybody' was waiting for..,

i have my eye on the Erae Touch for a while, so this sale, is very tempting, but also before i was in doubt.

i have 2 x Seabord Block and 2 x Lightpad M Blocks (and contrary to others, i really like the Lightpad M Blocks, and play very well... ''not even the rain has no such small hands", perhaps that is what helps...
and a Push 3.

i signed up for the forum, to ask about the 1.30 version (of it is the one...).

and still in doubt; €680 for me (€200) less, is great of course, and can cover it with another MPE controller and the Push 2 i still have to sell.. so...

well...

[WasteLand]

Oh, yes. It doesn't have the same resolution as my LinnStrument, but its programmable and fun. I made a LinnStrument layout with 2*2 pads, which is harder to play, as playing neighbouring pads are tricky, sometimes it recognizes only one touch in between. With 2*3 its better...

my previous post was as always too long, and not to the point.

if you click on firmware, it says, under downloads on the Embodme site:

Erae_Touch_firmware_1.3.0.syx

it seems the 1.30 firmware, or is the compatibility with Erae Lab? that is also version 1.3?

(still in doubt to to order it)