my new favourite MIDI controllers - Intech Studio Grid
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ธ.ค. 2022
- The quest to find a fully customisable, portable MIDI controller is over. Check out Grid from Intech.Studio - intech.studio/ Perfect for use with the M8.
***To be clear on my comment re: the MIDIFighter. You can change the CC value on the MIDIFighter Twister, but the MIDIFighter 3D/64 have fixed MIDI Note outputs.
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Oh man, these are AWESOME! Glad they are working with your lights and everything too! Defintiely considering a purchase of the PO16! 🤘🐀
They are pretty sweeeet. Just bear in mind you'll need a USB host box thing for certain bits and bobs.
This is a good example of an idea where it would be easy to stop at the point of just being a gimmick. The fact that they snap together is probably enough to make some money. It's cool that they seem to have thought it through to the end and made something that is legitimately useful.
Yeah! The whole implementation of lua is pretty great, as it means you can in theory do all sorts of crazy things with the controllers - something that is often overlooked with others ones (as in, restricting knobs to just changing CC value etc). Pretty smart.
@@StephenMcLeod So this is a co-sign over Midi Fighter?
Perfect timing. Have been wondering about these. and just bagged an M8 a couple minutes ago. look forward to all the things
Aw nice!! Congrats on grabbing the M8. Best bit of gear I bought all year.
Great work again Stephen, thank you!🤟
They are particularly awesome with the Norns! It's breathed a whole new life into them.
i spotted one almost by accident at NAMM at a booth selling something else. truly a marvel at how tiny they are but still usable and very well crafted.
They are pretty nice!
Hey dude this is great! I'm looking at the one with faders for having a bit more of a permanent mixing station in my setup, but do you think the sliders are a bit short for accurate mixing? I know they have a longer travel version but it doesn't have the specific button at the bottom which I was hoping to use for solo function! Cheers pal!
"The truth of the matter is.... making music on computers is pish"
Never a truer word spoken man! 😂👍🏻
The truth has to be told!!
What's nice too Is the price of these isn't too terrible, I've seen a couple different magnet attachable controllers using a similar concept but with price tags too high to look at without getting nauseous, definitely looks like these might be worth investing in !
Yeah. They aren't 'cheap' (no electronics really ever are), but given the portability and the amount of customisation available they are pretty good value.
Wow your channel has really took off well done.
I remember not long ago you had less then one k.
Take care jim😉👍🏻
I won't rest until I hit one million
What you were saying at the start about computers rings very true to me. I don't bother with a daw because I want to make sounds, not learn more software and menus. I do enjoy vcv rack because it makes a lot of modular accessible to me. But, again, hate the mouse click interface. A midi controller with knobs and faders makes it so much more fun. This is entirely for fucking around and having fun as a beginner though. If I had to feed myself doing this, I would be very hurting.
Preach. The last part in particular is unfortunately the sad reality of all creative pursuits...
Did you use the RK-006 with the M8 to connect the intech midi devices? If yes was it essentially the same setup as the Midi Fighter?
If memory serves correctly that is what I did, yeah - and it is the same!
Do you think the indentation on the encoders is a problem while controlling things like filters / volume etc?
I'm a bit late to reply here, but it will depend on your own tolerance. I don't think it'd be a huge issue, but I'm less sensitive to those things than some!
Got and loved these but both of my EF44 modules had issues within the first couple weeks. The LEDs on one stopped working and the other abruptly stopped working altogether. Intech has been responsive about replacing them but reliability issues make me worried due to how much time I’ve put into programming them to work with my gear… bummer because they are pretty perfect when they work
I'm sorry to hear that! Hopefully you just got unlucky, and the others will be grand. Intech seem pretty good with their service, so fingers crossed.
Whooa, these are boss as hell!
They are pretty sweet!
you would wonder how with dedicated designs these grid units could replicate old synth interfaces (like an ADSR module from a JP4/6/8?), Osc mixer from a Moog, that way you could line them up in the order the original synth would look like with template midi mapping configs etc
There are some dedicated MIDI controllers for specific old synths which are awesome, but because they are so bespoke/particular, they often end up being cost prohibitive.
: )
pish
amazing.
Each to his own and all that, but I feel I must agree with you on the first point raised.
Hahaha. Thanks!
now this is epic
which controller can be used to "scratch" on samples live by hand (like DJ effect)?
Unfortunately that isn't something I've come across before!
I too use Logic….if I map various stock plugins , effects etc are they saved in Logic for when I open/create a new project or do I have to remap them every time?
You would need to make sure that Logic is set up with those assignments saved as a template/preset I believe.
How do those endless encoders pair w/ m8? If you have it mapped to parameters on several songs will the encoders match the position of fx and whatnot or will it jump it to whatever the last position was on the encoder? Great vid! let those goods flow in!
Great question. I am unsure of the default behaviour with these controllers (as in whether or not they will 'pick up'/be absolute/relative to current values), but I believe you can change this in the software. The one caveat would be that it might involve a bit of lua code if it isn't a menu option. The M8 doesn't have MIDI feedback which is a bit annoying, but the way I got around it is by setting up a MIDI output track on each song so that it sends out the MIDI data to the controllers so they start at the same position as the values in the M8. I've not done the same with the Grids just yet, but in theory that should work.
And honestly not even that horrid a workaround. Noted I’ll be trying that out in the near future. It’s gonna either this or the twister fighter for me…although magnetic connections for these feels like the last lil push I needed
@@kaibuster I have a Twister and like it. It's solid and chunky and takes some abuse. They are way more expensive than the Grids where I am though.
@@StephenMcLeod I have an M8 and I would love to watch a video on this, especially how the clicky encoders work with the M8. I'm working with a typical keyboard midi controller now but there are never enough knobs
@@valkloki I go into that a weeee bit here - th-cam.com/video/wfaF1mAGNDE/w-d-xo.html
I've been to control at least 4 sends on Ableton, I have the Novation Launch Control XL but you have to hit a switch for sends 3 & 4. Immediacy is key for performances. This company is on the right track, especially for users of VCV RACK, these seem to be the idea solution!
Wanted to use the midi fighter 3D, for triggering slices on thé Octatrack. Unfortunately you can’t play notes below C1 with the buttons.
It honestly blows my mind. I don't understand why they limited the Midi Fighters so much. Why can we not reassign the buttons to different notes?! It's bonkers.
@@StephenMcLeod I might have a go at trying to convert the notes with the Swiss Army knife, the Zoia
@@FuZZbaLLbee ahh that's a smart idea!
Do you need a usb host to hook these up to the m8? That en16 looks like the perfect companion! Great video
You do indeed. I use an rk006.
You can probably use a phone a USB dongle and something like AUM or ApeMatrix to route the midi to the M8 too!
Time Mark 1:35 that clicking reference, coffee almost shot out of my mouth I was laughing so hard.... LOL..I have a bad habit of doing that watching TH-cam video. I relate big time to what you are talking about.... That midi controller is kind of cool. I notice that with analog mono synth and analog synth modules that I like tweaking things as I'm recording live. One last thing, because this is a very "fast" moving week, I like to wish you and yours again all the best... Happy holidays and a great new year across the pond. - MrTom
Hahahah thanks Mr. Tom! One of my favourite synths to play with live like that is the MS-20 (the mini as I never got one of the classics) - tweaking the LFO is delicious. Have a great holiday time yourself!
@@StephenMcLeod Thank You, For me, for the holiday, "on the 'morrow" I'm getting two new acoustic guitars from my Wife. I'm very lucky... I'll be making a video review on each of them. Also this new year I'm going forward making a small three or four track EP album kind of indie folk but with a strong analog synth padding. Cheers! Make sure you get a lot of rest. -MrTom
Using DAWs are cheap and portable but hardware synths are similar to acoustic instruments. Fun to use and you get lost in them or jam play them for hours.
Hell yeah
Hi, loving the videos 👍sorry I'm late to the party, but I'm getting a M8 soon are these midi controllers plug and play with the M8, or is there a lot of settings to change, sorry new to all this stuff so any help would be great, thanks,
These would need a usb host to work with the M8. They won't work directly I'm afraid!
@@StephenMcLeod thanks I had seen that, I was referring more to the actual settings on the M8, is there a lot of menu diving and configuration to get it working?
@@conrad1969ch MIDI controllers are always a bit of a faff to set up with anything, so I'd be prepared for a bit of configuration if you want to do that, yeah. You need to assign and map particular controls to the parameters you want to manipulate, so it's unavoidable. The M8 makes it as straightforward as it can be, but it's still not just plug and play!
@@StephenMcLeod so is it all set up in the M8 or do you need a laptop to set anything up?
They look neat! I might need a Lua tutorial which is why I'm asking if you could make a video demoing the process of writing a Lua script for them. :3
Unfortunately my LUA skills aren't very good, so I can't be much help there!
These controllers are so cute. Looks great. Would be nice if they would do some with motorised faders.
Motorised faders would be a dream. I still crack out the old Behringers for that.
@@StephenMcLeod Motorized faders scare me. Can you damage them by moving them as they're already moving? Is it a common point of hardware failure in a device? Such a cool idea, but I would be afraid of breaking it somehow.
@@d3tuned378 I've had a few controllers with motorised faders and abused them pretty heavily and they still work nicely. I guess in theory you could burn out the motor if you force it the other way, but that would need to be intentional.
Wow! This looks great. This vid is very timely to me as I was thinking of ordering a MIDI Fighter Twister. Do you think this device covers most of the functionality of the MIDI Fighter Twister?
It does yeah, though it's not built as ruggedly. It's much smaller though.
Ya know, I really like the concept of these, and the flexibility/programmability.
I do however think they're still a wee bit on the pricy side in terms of controls per dollar, given that you can get something like the Akai Midimix, with 24 knobs, 16 buttons, & 9 faders for $109 usd.
By a rough estimate, you'd have to spend ~$500 with the Intech Studio Grid to get the same amount of knob per function control.
That's true, though comparing prices from a big company like Akai and a tiny independent operation is always tricky. Something the Grids have in their corner is the extent of the programmability, which dwarfs the midimix
@@StephenMcLeod Yeah, the programmability is a great feature, though it's value to the user may be quite application dependent. I can see it being a huge boon in some situations, and irrelevant in others.
These look very cool. I use a laptop and vst’s but do like physical controls. I’m on the lookout for a controller to dedicate to using with the AU Moog vst, and one of these would be great. I’ve got a Midi Fighter Twister but use that to control more global filters and effects.
They're pretty good alongside VSTs due to the size. MIDI Fighter Twister is another option, but it's a bit less flexible.
@@StephenMcLeod Hey, merry Xmas mate. I picked up a midi fighter twister and a 3D, really like them. Still got an eye on these though 👍🏻
Dude, I can relate to you. I want to get venture away from the DAW.
Down with DAW!!
Thanks, good to see yer mug! Good info. Knot vs rk006... 1in1out vs 2in12out. rk wins on outputs per $? Knot is a beauty tho. Arright back to la mouture!
RK definitely wins on the output stakes yeah! But the Knot could be a good option for folks who want something simpler and more affordable.
I use a raspberry pi3 as midi host... small and works well. I love Glasgow by the way... slept in a cheap hotel room without a window ... needed the money I saved for the RUB A DUB edition of the Disting ... large up!
No window as in... no space for a window, or just a hole with nae glass?!
@@StephenMcLeod just walls mate...
@@moldythoughts4765 I once had a Ryanair flight with no window
@@StephenMcLeod ... hahaha nice... sounds like a blacklight rollacoaster...
What's the white synth device starting at 10:12 called? tnx
That is a Norns Shield - from Monome. :)
@@StephenMcLeod Thanks for the speedy reply.. I'm enamored with this device. Subscribed :)
Are the knobs and faders high resolution?
I believe they have a high resolution mode, though I haven't used it myself. More details on how to activate it are in the documentation.
Thank you
I'll take knobs, sliders, buttons and lights any day, but then again I'm an old fart from the 70's who had a Jupiter-6, Juno 106, DX-7 , QX-3 and more and that's what I really enjoy about Kebu's music. Could you do a dedicated video on using these and the Dirtywave M8?
Hrmmm thinking this might be a more affordable alternative to the twister for my transition effects.
Could be!! Definitely more flexible software.
The reason we use actual synths instead of soft synths is because software synths are pish. It's so obvious when expressed like this 😀👍
hahahaha oh dear oh dear what have I started.
The "rant" at the beginning was spot on just stating facts. I see it 100% that way, I've had my fair share with adjusting volume automation on vocals with a mouse and it was horrible!
Btw, at this point, I'm seriously thinking about making my own midi controller with an arduino or something like that. I own a novation zero sl mk1 but programming that thing is a hassle. I do own some dedicated programmer for my oberheim matrix 1000 and the korg ex8000 but they cost lots of money.
It's a nightmare! I am pretty anti mouse even at work to be fair. If I can avoid using it I will.
@@StephenMcLeod A mouse is sooooooo boring.
Oh snap, works within the Monome ecosystem?! SOLD!
With Norns it should anyway!
Hahaha pish!
These look like something i could definitely use, the small form factor makes them even more appealing
The portability is actually excellent.
@@StephenMcLeod can they be set to midi cc to control hardware?
It depends on your particular setup if you'll need a host box or not, but yeah.
Thanks, going on the list 👍
cant figure out how to set up midi mutes on this thing. Grid editor is so freaking hard to use
Midi mutes for what action?
@@StephenMcLeod specifically, configuring the button clicks as channel mutes for my m8.
nevermind haha it turns out i was putting my midi notes in P2 with P1 set to the 'note' variable When Actually It should look like:
control channel - note on - [midi note] - val
Noob mistake!
infinite encoders and motorized faders only - two rules to live by. :)
The EN16 has endless encoders! No motorised faders yet though...
Is it ready for iOS? Is there an app for iOS?
I'm not sure. I don't use iOS!
I've never liked the teenage engineering PO units, but never knew why until today. They're Pish Oll.
I laugh but I like em!!
"Schleping along" :-)
:D
WTF, do you even have space to breathe? Cool setup.
Send help.
Snarfs!
Superb sandwiches!!
Ya wrong maschine is mad fun
This is old so I can't remember if I said anything about Maschine or not... I don't own one but I wouldn't mind if somebody gave me one for cheepz.
Runs off Lua. That can be paired nicely with Reaper and Renoise that both using that scripting language.
Oh nice! I had no idea they used that
Nice, but it gets very expensive very quickly when you buy more than one.
Indeed, that is often the case!
Where’s Duncan!?
Does that mean I am PJ
You are right about one thing... the people who are buying analog synthesizers still think that it's the instrument and not the musician. I got news for you... it's not. It's always the musician. If you can't entertain people with two spoons and vocals, then you shouldn't be in music. ;-)
Explains why I am so bad tbf!!
@@StephenMcLeod Depends on what you mean by "bad". Compared to Emerson, Lake and Palmer? Dude. Let's not go there. But let's take a good look at ELP anyway. What's one of their best pieces? "From the beginning". It can be played on an acoustic guitar by a single person and it's still great music. Why? Because what made ELP great weren't the bombastic synths and the arrangements. It was the melodies and lyrics. Even pieces like Karn Evil 9 can be played on an organ alone and they sound just fine.
Don't get me wrong. I love synths like the next guy who can't play music... I just don't imagine myself as a musician while I am playing with them.
To make this clear: I am not judging what else you can do as a musician. I didn't hear enough from you. All I am saying is that the obsession with the synth mountain and electronics gets in the way of the writing and performing.
For the same reason your brain can do trackers and mine can't, I see these devices finding multiple uses, however, in practice I'll have to just get better at mouse knobbing🙄
gotta knob those mice
It is nice dude but too much expensive!
They aren't inexpensive, but if you compare them to something like the standard DJTechTools MIDIFighter 3D, they are actually cheaper and provide far more in the way of customisation (the MF 3D/64 can't even change MIDI note output!!).
@@StephenMcLeod you're right, they aren't inexpensive 😉 We don't compare, there are more buttons and there is an optical return per button, it's not quite the same product... but yours is cool but you need at least 2 to be interesting and you quickly get to the product of Dj tech tools. If you really want to do something else than midi, buy a streamdeck 😉
@@StephenMcLeod They have buttload of functionality as well. I'm not sure what we're comparing this too, but if you'd buy those magnetic connectors alone, you're looking at some $25. That's *just* the magnetic connectors.
16 controls, aluminium enclosure and seamless modularity for $100? How is that not a perfectly acceptable price
@@KaikoZOLEEV Not to correct you, but there aren't more buttons on the MIDI fighter :) I know because I have two of them - the Twister and the 3D. The build quality is much more robust on the DJTechTools stuff, but in terms of the core operation, the Grids are far more capable. 1 grid provides the same and more functionality than the DJTT. Unless we are talking about the 64 Midi Fighter, which is about 4-5x the price of a single Grid!
@@RJ_Eckie Yeah. The Grids range from 99-179USD. The equivalent Midi Fighter from DJTT is about 370USD, and you can't edit the note values on the 3D/64. Mental.
0:43 pish? piss? huh?
Pish is Scots for 'piss', but... not quite. It's slightly different.
MIDI fighter here is too expensive, it's only available in 64 knobs, they want 1K, it's not worth the coin.
I only need the PO16, this is what was on offer here but no longer so it maybe a solution.
I only need 16 knobs, with a small footprint.
Shame no dedicated 5 pin din, will do some more research.
Thx for the upload.
The 64 version has the arcade buttons. It's cool af but you can't change the midi output notes which is crazy. The Twister version has 16 encoders, but it's about double the price here in the UK which is a lot. Agreed on MIDI - minijack would be awesome. That is rare...
@@StephenMcLeod Yeah I mixed em up, there is a 64 knobs version, just cost the same as a good synth here.
I can still use the one you mentioned up above through the Akai Force, which may or may not be the brains of my set up, I haven't really decided, but with the Akai, USB is only need for MIDI which 1 cable vs 2 and labels of every machine connected. Already have an 18 USB hub so need to get it all working.
I know Derphinger has their BCR2000 replacement teased in 2020, but we have yet to see it released and this would be perfect for knobbing MIDI wise.
It's also a sequencer which they implemented after the Zaquencer FW.
I would NEVER have bought EF44 if I knew i'd have to program it.
There SHOULD be an "Easy" mode INDEED!
I have ADHD and have trouble with text instruction, so i STILL haven't figured it out.
Money wasted!
An easy mode would be nice, but with all MIDI controllers like this there is some element of programmability.
@@StephenMcLeod The problem is not the MIDI controller. The problem is that no machine can know what you want to control with what. MIDI is an interconnect (and to some extent automation) technology with very limited functionality. It (finally) allowed polyphonic electronic keyboards that were not manufacturer specific. It didn't even do that well if you know your way around keyboards. To think that MIDI adds anything to the musician's creativity is asking too much from a technological crutch.
Looks and feels like cheap toys that will brake when I ślamazarny the fader on drop. Also again why knob encoders doesn't have light indicators to show values of parameters. Even faderfox pc12 doesn't have light indicators. They need to fix this. It's not a gimmick.
I think you can change the behaviour of the LEDs in the app to reflect the shifting values.
@@StephenMcLeod i would prefer to have it under the physical knob. Midi twister had leds indicating knob value.
Making music on computers is just p1sh. I disagree, the music I make on hardware is also pretty p1sh. 😔♻️
Those aren't mutually exclusive!!
Is that a wokeface hat!?
It's from Meow Wolf in Denver!
but yes!