Little late to the party. I’m still on Push 1 and pretty much only use it for basic functions as I felt it never completely freed me from the computer. I never felt the desire to become a power user and I blew off Push 2 because of this. Now I’m sitting down to work out a live set with an Analog Rytm, Analog Keys, Digitakt and ableton. For live use I’ll probably be using an APC40 but in the process I discovered the features of Push 2. I’m a little upset it took so long for me look at it! Add in new features from Ableton 10 and I’m sold. I don’t know if I’d use it for live applications but definitely in the studio.
Regarding a Push 3 I’d be surprised if we see it this soon. I’m waiting for NAMM to be sure. But otherwise I’ll be snagging a second hand Push 2. I personally don’t find the Push to be that large. For the functionality I think they’d be hard pressed to make it smaller without making it feel very cramped. And they shouldn’t compromise screen size. I personally don’t care about MPE in the controller but it would be great if Ableton itself could handle MPE. I had a ROLI for a while but flipped it because it was such a massive pain with Ableton. Also if they forgo the pads for something else I’ll definitely lose interest. Small pads are bad enough. Haha.
And regarding MIDI jitter. I think Abletons clock is particularly shitty and I think many other folks have noticed it as well. I’m going to experiment with slaying Ableton to an external clock because it’s wonky AF. Just my two cents. Also they don’t seem to mention it in the list of improvements, so I’m not holding my breath that 10 will be better.
You also need to consider that Push 2 takes quite a bit of CPU power to draw those fancy graphics, so if you have an older computer it may be a problem…
And yeah, slaving Ableton to external MIDI clock is a no-go.
I think Push 2 will get a lot more use in my studio now. I think the enhanced visual representations of instruments and fx on the Push 2 screen really click for me. Not a mind-blowing update, but the small workflow improvements feel really nice. Capture just came out of left field. I never would have thought of adding that, but can’t tell you how many times I’ve been messing around, done something great (imo), and thought - damn I wish I had been recording. And then the subsequent real recorded takes just suck, haha.
The wavetable synth and Echo and Drum Buss are fantastic for my style of music. For what I do, this plus maybe a couple other pieces of hardware are plenty, ymmv.
The days of lusting after these studio photos full of wall-to-wall gear are over for me. I was definitely on my way there. Multiple synths, multiple drum machines, racks of fx, patchbays, etc. (No modular though thank the lord.) But I think I’ll be letting even more hardware go in 2018. Feels pretty good as I could use the money, and space, for other things.
I believe Push 3 will be announced by November 2018. It will have some form of standalone capacity. Probably stereo audio I/0 also. Personally I like a smaller design with reduced amount of pads plus CV I/O.
Wow, no wonder I had to return my Push 2. It took me awhile to realize that my Push 2 was a bit laggy on my 2010 MacBook Pro. Returned it, got a new MacBook and Live 10, and now I want a Push 2 again!
Currently trying to find info on how people use Push 2 outdoors! I’m doing a solar powered music project with Ableton and it feels ridiculous when I tell people that I can’t play outdoors – I charge a battery on solar power and then have to play inside because I can’t see the pads in full spectrum light – and we’re not even talking sunny days! What the f*** do people who play big outdoor festivals who use push do? Just… not play? It seems ridiculous, & I’d happily have the push use more watts on power adaptor if it meant having a higher brightness ceiling.
If you can I’d say get a Launchpad Pro and a Launch Control XL for when you play out. The LPP is bright AF, even off just USB. I know it’s not as adavanced as the Push but no screen = no problems. Just takes a little more prep and memorization. Each also have Arsenal Scripts from Native Kontrol for mad cheap which can add functions to each that you lose from the Push.
Cheaper alternative: get a big ass umbrella you can mount or DIY some kind of stand-up tent that you can stand in/under.
Deluge ain’t far off that in some respects, though it has its shortcomings.
A standalone push with a beautiful big oled screen for trimming samples etc, and better quality fx n internal synths than deluge would be dope.
No doubt! heck that would even give Elektron a run for their money as well as MPC. Especially if they added an internal SD card slot to record projects to Ableton Live format for later consumption. Darn it, either Elektron or Ableton needs to hire me for product development and marketing design!
From what I saw on my jam buddy Deluge it looks pretty cool. If I had not bought my 2 Elektron boxes it would have been a purchase consideration. I also like the MPC Live but too many bugs with it from what I read online.
