Take 5 Firmware Update - Feature Requests

[LoboLives]

Of course all the above....
Far from the synth aspects I wish more functionality for the footswitch:
Transposing a sequence in combination with the rec button is ergonomically a bit difficult and sometimes leads to overwrite the existing sequence (if I hit the c key twice) and putting a chord in the unison mode while holding the unison button leads to very funny body gestures. It would really be great to have those functions on a foot pedal.

Unfortunately the sequencer transpose issue has been a problem since the P6. Only recently did they implement the ability to transpose the sequence on the P6 and OB6 although only if the patch is in Unison/Mono mode.

The REV2 and Prophet X are still, annoyingly stuck with having the hold the record button while transposing the sequence. There is likely no interest in changing this sadly. It would help immensely, especially on the Prophet X and REV 2 in split mode to be able to transpose the sequence with the left hand while you also play a different layer with your right hand.

Subtraction of one man's annoyance usually results in addition of another man's.  For example I sometimes record a sequence on the P6/OB6, and dump it into Cubase after I like the result.  Well without transpose being limited to holding Record, this means that for Unison/Mono patches I have to turn Unison off to prevent the DAW from transposing the sequence with each sequenced note that's played (since local on has to be enabled).  So yeah all of a sudden pitch goes ballistic. 

Its a small inconvenience but it does disrupt my workflow, and every little nuance like that means I have to put musical ideas in my mind on hold to deal with non-musical technical hurdles.  But I'd rather deal with impact to my own preferences than request yet another feature (i.e. while holding Preset and tapping out morse code on the program buttons and using the elbow to hold down the velocity button, peck at the saw wave switch with nose to disable transpose sequence... etc)

Except your work style and work flow means absolutely nothing to my work style and work flow.

Exactly, that's what I meant...  A feature that's desirable to one person might be taking away from someone else, and vice versa... different people have different needs.  So from the synth designer perspective, how to figure out which are the "right" features to add?  (Assuming "right" means that which positively impacts more people than it negatively impacts)

If simply clicking a single Unison button disrupts your musical flow that drastically then there's something terribly wrong here with your memory.

[xoxo]

Bug Fix Request:
If i accidentally transpose to the same root note, that is already set,
the sequencer stops and is in record mode.

[Quatschmacher]

Bug Fix Request:
If i accidentally transpose to the same root note, that is already set,
the sequencer stops and is in record mode.

Have you submitted this to sequential support? They don’t always see stuff here.

[xoxo]

Bug Fix Request:
If i accidentally transpose to the same root note, that is already set,
the sequencer stops and is in record mode.

Have you submitted this to sequential support? They don’t always see stuff here.

I did now...

[S. Righteous]

"+1   Yeah, it would be great to see the OLED screen used for more value/parameter feedback. 

After being acclimated to all the other Sequential instruments with these screens, I had just assumed the T5 would have the same sort of UI functionality"

I am in full agreement here. When trying to learn how a preset does what it does, I like to see the parameter values in the screen, like almost every other Dave Smith synth. With all the mode buttons, there should be a way to compare in real time your changes to the original parameter. The Mopho X4 does that, and this is really a replacement for the Mopho X4.

[Encephalitislethargi]

I would really like to be able to Loop envelope 1. Everything else seems close to perfect at the moment. Just got it today but I am in love. Coming from a Rev2 to Peak to Take 5. Best sounding of the 3 by far, but least features

[ronnie19@gmail.com]

Bug Fix:

My Take Five is going out of tune completely after leaving idle for a few minutes. Having to auto calibrate (CAL VOICES) to fix it every time, which it does but makes it unplayable in a live setting…

[xoxo]

Bug Fix:

My Take Five is going out of tune completely after leaving idle for a few minutes. Having to auto calibrate (CAL VOICES) to fix it every time, which it does but makes it unplayable in a live setting…

I would contact support, doesn't sound like a bug - mine is stable since two weeks...

[ronnie19@gmail.com]

Bug Fix:

My Take Five is going out of tune completely after leaving idle for a few minutes. Having to auto calibrate (CAL VOICES) to fix it every time, which it does but makes it unplayable in a live setting…

I would contact support, doesn't sound like a bug - mine is stable since two weeks...

Wow, yes ive just done that-waiting for a response, thanks!

[ronnie19@gmail.com]

Bug Fix:

My Take Five is going out of tune completely after leaving idle for a few minutes. Having to auto calibrate (CAL VOICES) to fix it every time, which it does but makes it unplayable in a live setting…

I would contact support, doesn't sound like a bug - mine is stable since two weeks...

Wow, yes ive just done that-waiting for a response, thanks!

update, its all sorted thanks to helpful Sequential support; had to do with initial calibrations for my room temp; not a firmware or even hardware issue - works fine now... Love this synth!

[Pym]

This is something we talk about a lot internally. The interface wasn't designed around this in this case. For every person who says 'man it'd be great to see what value I'm at' we have somebody else saying 'I'm SO glad I don't have to use my eyes!' It's all context dependent and surprisingly hard design problems to implement well. I'll keep thinking about options

"+1   Yeah, it would be great to see the OLED screen used for more value/parameter feedback. 

After being acclimated to all the other Sequential instruments with these screens, I had just assumed the T5 would have the same sort of UI functionality"

I am in full agreement here. When trying to learn how a preset does what it does, I like to see the parameter values in the screen, like almost every other Dave Smith synth. With all the mode buttons, there should be a way to compare in real time your changes to the original parameter. The Mopho X4 does that, and this is really a replacement for the Mopho X4.

[Moho]

This is something we talk about a lot internally. The interface wasn't designed around this in this case. For every person who says 'man it'd be great to see what value I'm at' we have somebody else saying 'I'm SO glad I don't have to use my eyes!' It's all context dependent and surprisingly hard design problems to implement well. I'll keep thinking about options

"+1   Yeah, it would be great to see the OLED screen used for more value/parameter feedback. 

After being acclimated to all the other Sequential instruments with these screens, I had just assumed the T5 would have the same sort of UI functionality"

I am in full agreement here. When trying to learn how a preset does what it does, I like to see the parameter values in the screen, like almost every other Dave Smith synth. With all the mode buttons, there should be a way to compare in real time your changes to the original parameter. The Mopho X4 does that, and this is really a replacement for the Mopho X4.

The only values that would be useful to see are the tempo synced ones from the lfo's and fx.
I have some patches that rely on the interplay between them but if I want to speed them up or slow them down together its a real pita and would so simple if I could see the values.

For all other values ears are good enough.

[Autosynther]

To have a marker when you pass the stored value when turning knob is really good.
The preset you just loaded and want to continue work on that helps a lot, IMO.
Maybe just an asterisk '*' or something lit when spot on.

Prologue does this nicely with both arrows which way to go and asterisk when spot on what is stored. Prologue show values too, but main thing is to set up ADSR's or other knobs as preset loaded.

[LoboLives]

@Pym

Would a 10 voice paraphonic mode be possible?

[Thetreehopper]

Greetings,

I’m loving my Take 5! Great work Sequential.
Excellent feature suggestions all around everybody.
I guess it’s too late for a name change  , so my big two are:

1.) to be able to use those 16 lower bank buttons in a step sequencer mode to make the sequencer more hands-on and editable like the Pro 3 or some of the Korg synths. Would also need to reassign a button to switch between 1-16, 17-32, 33-48, 49-64, etc.
That would be just unreal.
It almost seems like it was made for it.

2.) it would be really fun to have an optional oscilloscope display mode. I always appreciated the wave form visualization on my Korg. It adds another fun dimension to synthesis.

Cheers : )

[creativespiral]

This is something we talk about a lot internally. The interface wasn't designed around this in this case. For every person who says 'man it'd be great to see what value I'm at' we have somebody else saying 'I'm SO glad I don't have to use my eyes!' It's all context dependent and surprisingly hard design problems to implement well. I'll keep thinking about options

"+1   Yeah, it would be great to see the OLED screen used for more value/parameter feedback. 

After being acclimated to all the other Sequential instruments with these screens, I had just assumed the T5 would have the same sort of UI functionality"

I am in full agreement here. When trying to learn how a preset does what it does, I like to see the parameter values in the screen, like almost every other Dave Smith synth. With all the mode buttons, there should be a way to compare in real time your changes to the original parameter. The Mopho X4 does that, and this is really a replacement for the Mopho X4.

Those who say they don't want to see values can always just ignore the values... to me, that's a red herring argument / non issue...  If you're intent on "ears only", that's fine -- having values on the screen does not prevent that at all.  I constantly switch back and forth between "ears only" and "ears and eyes together". 

There's a lot of value in having visual feedback as well.  Having numeric values allows for more precision and technical sound design tricks.  Also, its valuable when you return to a patch in a new session and want to edit it further, to be able to have some indication/comparison of where you were before on knobs.   

This is a case where more is more.   You don't have to use visual cues if you don't want, but having them available further improves capabilities, and speeds up sound design... which results in more fun, and less tweaking. 

I understand and appreciate that the implementation may not be trivial.   There definitely are enough pixels in the OLED though.  Even if values are small (7px text), or just appear as temp popups, they would be nice to have.   And an asterisk or other marker, like @Autosynther mentioned. 

[Pym]

Yeah I understand why you see if that way, but it isn't always the case... as a pianist of over 30 years I appreciate the fact that my piano does NOT have a screen. If it has a screen even just seeing that while I'm playing is a distraction. It pulls my mind away from performance. Yes I can train myself to push those thoughts back but it takes effort, which is the opposite of what I want to do when I'm performing. Everybody is different, we have different triggers and get sucked into rabbit holes from various stimuli. That's why this is a very complex design problem, it looks simple from one perspective but when you try and think about it from 100 or 1000 different perspectives things blur quite a bit

Our eyes are hardwired from our biology to over-react to movement in the peripheral vision. So if I see something moving (a param value on the screen) my BIOLOGY tells me it is important. That's a very hard thing to reconcile with, so we need to be careful. Not everyone is capable of controlling their habits the way you are, and we try to gently guide them toward new ways of doing things.

Not easy!

This is something we talk about a lot internally. The interface wasn't designed around this in this case. For every person who says 'man it'd be great to see what value I'm at' we have somebody else saying 'I'm SO glad I don't have to use my eyes!' It's all context dependent and surprisingly hard design problems to implement well. I'll keep thinking about options

"+1   Yeah, it would be great to see the OLED screen used for more value/parameter feedback. 

After being acclimated to all the other Sequential instruments with these screens, I had just assumed the T5 would have the same sort of UI functionality"

I am in full agreement here. When trying to learn how a preset does what it does, I like to see the parameter values in the screen, like almost every other Dave Smith synth. With all the mode buttons, there should be a way to compare in real time your changes to the original parameter. The Mopho X4 does that, and this is really a replacement for the Mopho X4.

Those who say they don't want to see values can always just ignore the values... to me, that's a red herring argument / non issue...  If you're intent on "ears only", that's fine -- having values on the screen does not prevent that at all.  I constantly switch back and forth between "ears only" and "ears and eyes together". 

There's a lot of value in having visual feedback as well.  Having numeric values allows for more precision and technical sound design tricks.  Also, its valuable when you return to a patch in a new session and want to edit it further, to be able to have some indication/comparison of where you were before on knobs.   

This is a case where more is more.   You don't have to use visual cues if you don't want, but having them available further improves capabilities, and speeds up sound design... which results in more fun, and less tweaking. 

I understand and appreciate that the implementation may not be trivial.   There definitely are enough pixels in the OLED though.  Even if values are small (7px text), or just appear as temp popups, they would be nice to have.   And an asterisk or other marker, like @Autosynther mentioned.

[xoxo]

I understand both sides - it could be useful for sound design and distracting for performance.
but all of those features some people like and some people don't like could be also sit optional in the program menu....

Yeah I understand why you see if that way, but it isn't always the case... as a pianist of over 30 years I appreciate the fact that my piano does NOT have a screen. If it has a screen even just seeing that while I'm playing is a distraction. It pulls my mind away from performance. Yes I can train myself to push those thoughts back but it takes effort, which is the opposite of what I want to do when I'm performing. Everybody is different, we have different triggers and get sucked into rabbit holes from various stimuli. That's why this is a very complex design problem, it looks simple from one perspective but when you try and think about it from 100 or 1000 different perspectives things blur quite a bit

Our eyes are hardwired from our biology to over-react to movement in the peripheral vision. So if I see something moving (a param value on the screen) my BIOLOGY tells me it is important. That's a very hard thing to reconcile with, so we need to be careful. Not everyone is capable of controlling their habits the way you are, and we try to gently guide them toward new ways of doing things.

Not easy!

[Pym]

Yep, sometimes that works. Unfortunately the very nature of it being a hidden feature means it won't be used as much and add complication to the user experience, so we normally like to err on the side of just picking a direction and sticking with it. That design philosophy may change in the future and some instruments lend themselves more to hidden UI changes, like the Tempest or Pro3, but the ones where we focus on simplicity need more care to add things like that.

We'll keep thinking about it!

I understand both sides - it could be useful for sound design and distracting for performance.
but all of those features some people like and some people don't like could be also sit optional in the program menu....

Yeah I understand why you see if that way, but it isn't always the case... as a pianist of over 30 years I appreciate the fact that my piano does NOT have a screen. If it has a screen even just seeing that while I'm playing is a distraction. It pulls my mind away from performance. Yes I can train myself to push those thoughts back but it takes effort, which is the opposite of what I want to do when I'm performing. Everybody is different, we have different triggers and get sucked into rabbit holes from various stimuli. That's why this is a very complex design problem, it looks simple from one perspective but when you try and think about it from 100 or 1000 different perspectives things blur quite a bit

Our eyes are hardwired from our biology to over-react to movement in the peripheral vision. So if I see something moving (a param value on the screen) my BIOLOGY tells me it is important. That's a very hard thing to reconcile with, so we need to be careful. Not everyone is capable of controlling their habits the way you are, and we try to gently guide them toward new ways of doing things.

Not easy!

[LoboLives]

Yep, sometimes that works. Unfortunately the very nature of it being a hidden feature means it won't be used as much and add complication to the user experience, so we normally like to err on the side of just picking a direction and sticking with it. That design philosophy may change in the future and some instruments lend themselves more to hidden UI changes, like the Tempest or Pro3, but the ones where we focus on simplicity need more care to add things like that.

We'll keep thinking about it!

I understand both sides - it could be useful for sound design and distracting for performance.
but all of those features some people like and some people don't like could be also sit optional in the program menu....

Yeah I understand why you see if that way, but it isn't always the case... as a pianist of over 30 years I appreciate the fact that my piano does NOT have a screen. If it has a screen even just seeing that while I'm playing is a distraction. It pulls my mind away from performance. Yes I can train myself to push those thoughts back but it takes effort, which is the opposite of what I want to do when I'm performing. Everybody is different, we have different triggers and get sucked into rabbit holes from various stimuli. That's why this is a very complex design problem, it looks simple from one perspective but when you try and think about it from 100 or 1000 different perspectives things blur quite a bit

Our eyes are hardwired from our biology to over-react to movement in the peripheral vision. So if I see something moving (a param value on the screen) my BIOLOGY tells me it is important. That's a very hard thing to reconcile with, so we need to be careful. Not everyone is capable of controlling their habits the way you are, and we try to gently guide them toward new ways of doing things.

Not easy!

Would 10 voice paraphonic mode be an issue because of this?