Well, I did say that this was something to ADD to an arranger rig, not substitute for it…

I think the main point is that there is a huge base of producers who are often keyboard players with an intimate knowledge of the MPC workflow and, with respect, that’s still one of the dominant hardware ways of quickly putting loops and beats together. So a keyboard that adds some basic sounds plus the groove/beat thing seems like it fills the hole in arranger design.

Can other things like Kronos or Montage do similar things, and perhaps have better ROM sounds on board? Perhaps, but if you are intimately familiar with MPC workflow (I’m not!) the speed at which you should be able to put beds together should outweigh any lack in the synth engine (which it is strongly hint that more are coming). Not to mention that the hardware is capable of modern computer load speeds, which is something still woefully lacking in current keyboard hardware.

For those willing to learn the MPC workflow (can’t say I’ve seen a demonstration yet that appears to be run by a real MPC guru) which for making beats and loops has stood the test of time and has a huge base of users, this seems to have no overlap with a TOTL arranger, which IMHO is a good thing! They each do a totally different thing, and do it very well. Put the two together, seems like you have most bases covered.

The product is in its infancy, I look forward to seeing what sound engines get added. As it’s basically a pretty modern PC under the hood, it seems to have a bright future.

Many of us are loathe to gig a computer setup with all its fragility and complexity around, and while you CAN do some pretty interesting beatboxing with things like Montage, the modernity of the I/O data pipeline puts this light years ahead of a Kronos or Montage.

But maybe the silver lining is that this product may FINALLY coax the big three to adopt modern chipsets and data transfer. A Kronos that could load up a few GB of loops and sounds as quickly as this can would be a far more usable piece of gear on a gig…