Excellent video, just such a shame that Pioneer only produced one firmware update for this amazing piece of hardware, I hate it when companies abandon their projects or don’t care about customer feedback.
Pioneer have a long track history of that. They still haven't fixed some of the basic problems with the AS-1. It's just been abandoned. Although you can register for their "support" forum, if you want to receive abuse from their narcissistic "support" dude. Time they fired him.
Great review! Time warp is a great feature: a note buffer to play until you get something you like and decide to keep, the last 2, 5 or more minutes. That way you don't have to 'try' to get it right again.
I've had this unit since it came out and really love it. I really hope Pioneer DJ adds pattern chaining and a couple of other features. There's a lot of potential here, but at the end of the day I'm happy with it as it is. They should also make the speed slider assignable to pitch bend or other cc.
I was expecting to look up the price and see at least 1k, but at 600, I can only imagine this power house is going to become the backbone of many DAWless rigs. Incredible feature set and a lot of unique offerings.
@sbmphr Yeah, I think that will eventually come, but I think the competition is thinner than you'd expect, especially at this price point and with the kind of sequencing features you only really see in the modular world. Squarp Pyramid is amazing no doubt, but a different workflow. I think there's room for both!
Looks like this is something I might be looking for in the near future. I'm just sceptical that they'll update the software sufficiently. I'll have to wait this one out until they do, or get something else. Nice video!
Hey, I checked into this just now. They released the most recent firmware update in Feb 2021. Seems like they are supporting this unit fairly well. Knowing this, I might get one soon.
As a user of modular and desktop gear, this unit answers a lot of requirements for me. Like a Beatstep Pro, Rene and Metropolis rolled into one on steroids. Thanks for a great review, as always - helped me decide to order one. Not sure that the comments comparing this to other gear that's far more expensive (Cirklon) or different (Deluge) that helpful really. Pyramid seems a good comparison, but for me, I like as much dedicated button / function as possible, so this wins. Gotta find what fits for you.
@@ramseydoon8277 I haven't actually had it plugged in for about 12 months. I got an Akai Force and have been sequencing everything with that. However, I am planning to hook it up again soon because there are some features the Squid has that are still unique (I think) which I miss. The chord buttons are great for laying down a monophonic sequence and then applying chords on the fly, which you can leave as a 'live' performance feature or record onto the sequence as an overdub. The real time direction buttons and rhythmic control buttons are great for being able to 'jam' on the fly with a recorded sequence. What lets the Squid down is that fairly simple, 'bread and butter' sequencing functions can feel a bit clunky, especially given there are 16 tracks. I did use it as my main sequencer for quite a while but it took a lot of planning to build up a song with various patterns per track and jumping betweens screens can get quite confusing. I would not recommend it as your only or main sequencer, but as a secondary sequencer to do the live manipulation stuff it definitely has a place. Good luck keeping track of 16 midi channels worth of sequences though!
Would love an AS-1 and SP-16 review…the Toraiz line is a case study in coulda, woulda, shoulda. They are STILL excellent, IYKYK, but the missteps in the line are frustrating to say the least.
The few, the proud, the Toraiz fans 😉 I've come to terms now with their limitations and flaws, and the fact that they won't be updated again. What people forget is that all 3 products are excellent, some of the best pieces of hardware ever created in their respective categories, irrespective of their shortcomings. The SP-16 did actually get some decent updates during its life cycle, the final firmware update was pretty huge. I'm still finding new ways to use mine
it does record note repeats now. You need to make sure the quantise is at a high enough resolution to allow the capture. Also worth mentioning that the current latest firmware 1.12 has a bug with CV out. If you use the transpose pad mode with CV out, all works as expected until you add some CV slides. Currently CV slides aren't subject to transpose so your pattern goes wrong if you transpose notes with slide.
4:52 also how the Toraiz SP-16 works. Things like song arrangement and squashing the scale to fit more octaves to the 16 pads are on the SP-16. The Squid complements that device beautifully. Probably because people asked for some of these features to be implemented (playable transpose, arps, polyrhythms, probability) but Pioneer created the Squid instead. I don't mind though. One is more traditional and the other is for enthusiasts. The SP-16, Squid, and AS-1 together is like the 1992 Dream Team.
Been thinking the same. Think I’ll start with the sp16 then once I reach its limitations expand with a squid! I’ve been led to believe the sp16 can only do 4/4 do you know if this is true?
@@CleanConnections The SP-16 assigns all the tracks to the same step sequencer so no polyrhythms. But the sequencer can be 1 - 16 steps. So odd pattern lengths like 7 steps will have all tracks work at 7 steps. There are 16 patterns per "Scene" so one pattern can be 3 steps, another 12, etc. There are 16 Scenes per save file for 256 total patterns per save file. However, the SP16 does something weird when you expand this odd 1 bar sequence into 2 - 4 bars. It's expecting 16 steps to multiply nicely into 2 - 4 bars. It "breaks" using less than 16. I kinda like it but it feels unintended... HOWEVER, the song Arranger can sequence the odd patterns together without issues. In the arranger, you can have the pattern repeat multiple times and even change tempo. This is the way to deal with odd rhythms. Hope that helps.
My first thoughts on this product weren't entirely positive. I didn't know what Pioneer was really thinking putting this out to the market. Maybe it just wasn't explained well. You explained this very well. This seems like a very cool product. I won't buy it because I already have an MPC, but I'll definitely be hype when I see these guys in the wild
EXCELLENT review, thanks so much! I'm having a lot of trouble understanding how Pioneer can claim this is a sequencer for the modern studio / live gigging musician WITHOUT pattern a chaining / song capability. Have they said anything about bringing this feature online in a firmware update?
Thanks for the kind words. They haven't said anything to me. Personally, I don't see the lack of chaining / song mode as a dealbreaker. That said, I realize that for some it may be hence why I mentioned it, and it certainly is a limit in certain cases.
Still no news on this. Over 14 months since the last firmware update, and it seems that just like the AS-1, Pioneer have completely ABANDONED another expensive product.
Thanks for all your thorough walk through. You're really top tear when it comes to product demos. I just got one of these machines and I'm liking it but I'm not sure how to go from one project to another without having everything stop. What I'd like to do is program an hours worth of sequences that I can "mix" into. As it stands now, I can only figure out how to make one song at a time. Not really what I'd be expecting from a manufacturer geared toward live equiptment.
@@membery208lune5 The problem here is that you can't play multiple tracks seamlessly with the Squid alone, so you use a DJ mixer to blend between the Squid and a sampler (or looper, or drum machine, or turntable, anything really) so there are no gaps in your performance. So, play from the Squid, blend in another source, load a new project, blend back, etc.
Found a workaround today regards the annoying drum programming by performing and recording drum sequence into squid using beatstep pro. Yes it helps to have another drum sequencer lying around, but then you also get the added squid playability and manipulation (and means you can have performative aspects on multiple tracks at a time - as in a drum and a synth track) . I presume a push or launchpad pro could be used in this way, depending on whether you are sequencing/performing your drums in ableton or other outboard gear... Or infact the seq of drum machine or sampler, then switch to blank pattern and play back into it with squid, if that makes sense?
Excellent peice of gear! Still debating whether or not this or the keystep pro would be best for my setup. I wanted to know if I had something like the Drumbrute impact, I could put each part of the kit on different MIDI channels. Is that something you’d have to set up on the impact , the squid, or both
Most drum machines use one MIDI channel for all the different instruments. The instruments (kick, snare, hihats, ...) then are assigned different notes. For this, Arturia (and others) created dedicated drum tracks which are available on both the Keystep and the Beatstep Pro. The advantage of these drum tracks is that you can record, trigger, mute, tweak and keep and eye on all the 16 instruments live on a per note basis with the pads (Beatstep) or keys (Keystep) flashing according to their own sequence visible and controllable on one single "page". The notes can also be triggered and muted independently on that same "page". This is similar to the track view on the Squid where you see the different tracks flashing whenever they are triggered. On the Squid, you can also control drum kits on a per note basis by setting several tracks to the same MIDI channel and assigning a certain note to the triggers on each track. So you actually "sacrifice" one whole track for each drum instrument if you want to avoid what Loopop mentioned as a con in the video (having to record drums polyphonically on one track). The good thing is that Squid has a generous track count of 16 whereas the Beatstep Pro and Keystep only have 4 tracks (plus the three melodic tracks on the Beatstep Pro are monophonic). You have to ask yourself whether you prefer working on a note level or rather a track/channel level. I personally think that if the Squid featured one or more designated "drum" tracks like the competiton, it would be much closer to perfection than it already is. Also, I'm pretty sure that it would be rather easy to implement this by means of a firmware version "2.0" but as mentioned in this comments section, it's unlikely Pioneer will ever deliver that 😕.
@@loopop Oh I have and love the Pyramid, it's the hub of my live rig. Buuuut moving patterns between PC and Pyramid is nowhere near as seamless as it sounds like the Squid is. Having to pull the SD card thing is already considerably less friendly, but not terrible. And generally moving MIDI tracks from Pyramid to Ableton isn't hard. But unless you're willing to start a new project every time, going from PC to Pyramid is decidedly more difficult. Want to modify the 5th measure of pattern 3 on track 19 without altering anything else about your masterpiece project? Better be satisfied with doing it in the Pyramid. Fortunately the built-in editing capabilities are quite good, so its usually doable on the device itself. It just may require duplicating your efforts if you've already gotten the master version how you want it in the DAW.
@@rdean150 I agree with that - plus the seamless back and forth does facilitate a workflow of making quick changes and sending them back, especially if you want to fit a full drum kit on one track (though Pyramid does let you go note by note on the grid and edit it right there...)
They should added more buttons and dropped the shift function. Not like there isn’t space. Especially if they took away the seemingly useless speed slider. Good review though. Thanks.
I've found some (limited) uses for the speed slider, but I agree - I'd give it up for more dedicated buttons and less shift functions. Ah well, it is what it is
Best Squid video so far,..pls I'd like to know, is midi in sync solid? will lost external sync switching from project to project? how many seconds to load another project?thanks!
Same. This is my other major complaint about it. Why did they not just carry over the scale mode behavior from the SP-16? That was perfect. A single octave across all 16 pads makes the scale mode unusable for me.
Realtime recording only via its pads? hello?? Will someone eventually make a real DAW killer sequencer? Naturally we wish to real time record using our preferred MIDI controller
Hello Loopop, I am trying to sequence my drum machine that uses single midi for each channel but I would like to play and record the drums on one page.. for example, playing the kick, snare and hats at the same time. Is there a way to have all drums on one page? Thanks so much for the deep dive!
Good job mate. I always wait your review, you are the best ever. Times ago thanks to you I bought the rev 2 :) . I really need your help in choosing the sequenzer, btw squarp, polyend, cirklon and now thanks to you the toraiz. (I am in 10 months queue for the cirklon). For now I stay with squarp ( I love the live mode and few other things), what do you prefer between squarp and cirklon ? Be careful about your answer because it's fatal for me lol. Thanks for everything ❤️
Thanks so much and... ha I didn't know lives were at stake! I have never tried Cirklon, but I've looked in its manual and couldn't find something Pyramid couldn't do. Maybe I missed something though. Between Squid and Pyramid, Pyramid is way more powerful, but Squid has some fun live jamming functions Pyramid does not. It's really about what appeals to you more - if you find something in Squid that isn't in Pyramid then go Squid, otherwise, Pyramid
@@loopop Yes fantastic videos! Veeeery interesting. So you think the Pyramid does the same thing the Cirklon does? AND its more powerful than the Squid.
Speaking only from reading the manual, I don’t see anything cirklon does that pyramid can’t. Maybe outputs. Squid has some jamming tools Pyramid doesn’t, but Pyramid still has more features overall
The chord templates made me think they should have included groove templates like that found in some Roland and Kong products. Though this is such a minor detail and it’s a fantastic product as is
It's still in fairly early phases of development. I'm basically just using a raspberry pi to route and process USB-MIDI events. So far, it only does two things: 1. Route events so all I have to do is plug devices in and it "just works". 2. Remap notes. That second one is the most interesting so far. It reads events on two inputs -- a "hint track" and a "performance track", and outputs a combination of both. The hint track specifies which notes are valid, like what key/scale/chord/whatever the song is using at that moment... and the performance track is intended for a human to play. Normally I send perf data from a keystep, and hint data from a spare keyboard and a sequencer. The result is that the keystep's white keys are always in tune with the song, no matter what key or scale the song is in, and it can remap itself in real time as the song changes. For now, the main result is that it's really easy to improvise on the fly, and easy to come up with interesting riffs while composing. It's a bit like playing a Kaossilator, only more precise, more flexible, and more automatable. And I think time warp would fit into that pretty nicely. For later, the plan is to add rhythm patterns, touch surface input for performance, arpeggios, a time warp function, and a touch screen to configure settings and display chord/scale analysis info. Perhaps also some randomized pattern/song generation too, but that may be better as a separate project.
Great. Now make a matching performance mixer! I hope you’re listening Pioneer. One thing that really bothers me is how they copied Squarp in terms of the 4 pages of patterns; A, B, C & D. I’d like a page for each song-having 8 or so pages would make sense. Why I love the Octatrack, a whole row per song is how I program it.
I've been looking at a lot of stand alone sequencer devices recently (mainly from your channel :-)) and the more I look, the more I get confused. Now, the Squid looks really interesting, so the obvious question is: has the firmware updates made any difference to the "cons"? Because if so, then I think the Squid might be the one for me. Deluge 3 also seems very cool but, as I already noted in a comment on that video, it has 2 big, glaring omissions: no OLED screen and no velocity-sensitive pads - the pads could be sorted with a firmware update but the screens can't. Further, I'd be really interested to hear your opinion on the matter; that matter being "best stand alone sequencer". Personally, I'm not so worried about built in synths... the reason I've been looking to get one is to trigger other synths via midi. I'm not too fussed about a keyboard - so that kind of rules out the SL Mk III. Anyway, thanks for your videos.
So my question about the squid is can you set different tempos on each track pattern length anything to do with multiple timing differences between tracks is what I want to understand.
Have Pioneer / Toraiz officially indicated an intention to provide firmware updates on the Squid? Seems like a contentious topic that some companies definitely prioritize more than others. Apologies if this was answered in the video and I just missed it. Great review as always!
The released the first firmware update about 3 weeks back I think. It's a good sign. The utility for shuttling midi clips back and forth to DAW works like a charm.
Brilliant pattern creation tool. Nearly unusable live performance tool. Since a Pattern Set is required any time you want to change the pattern of more than one track at a time, 16 of them is unacceptable. Like... I have never used another multitrack sequencer that has such a ridiculous limitation. Most have at a minimum 4x as many at 64 but usually more like 128 or higher. 16 is just... WTF were they thinking? If you are just creating ONE song at a time on the thing and have no plans for performing, 16 might not be an issue but "the heart of my studio and live rig" as it has been marketed, needs to be able to be a little more flexible. Most performers I know use more than 1 track at a time in a 16 track sequencer. Trying to bounce between Track and Pattern pages for each instrument I want to change in a live setting is a fail. Until they up this to 64 at a minimum, it is strictly a studio piece and that's a shame because it would be a lot of fun live.
PS Nice review. It really is a brilliant piece of gear. It's just another WTF frustration from a company that creates NEARLY perfect gear but completely blow it with things like this that should have been figured out LONG before the device made it to market. The SP-16 is the greatest sample playback machine ever created but It also makes me want to choke one of the developers when I have to spend hours coming up with some kind of workaround because some basic function has been broken since release and never addressed.
@@MidnightMusicClub Its so common to read devices that would have been brilliant only if they didnt mess with that or forget to include this. And the bigger the brand name apparently the greater the pain they pour on the lowly consumer that are suckers if they buy it. Companies that release products but make blatant obvious mistakes are just not users of their own products. They go home on the weekend and spend all their time in the garden and walking the dog. Not interested.
I would guess that Pioneer DJ looked at what the officially ‘cool’ DJs/live techno people say about performing, and said: "The kids seem to think that you’re not playing truly live if you go to a gig with batches of pre-created patterns, that’s ‘DAW’ workflow not live jamming. ‘Real’ performers create everything live on the spot and their tracks evolve slowly over time." I’m not saying i agree with that, but it is kind of what the ‘cool people’ would tell you about playing electronic music live. I think there’s a reason Pioneer DJ didn’t include better pattern chaining, and it’s because of this ‘anti-DAW’ ‘anti-Song’ ‘you’re not playing live if you don’t make it in front of the audience’ feeling in much of the club music world.
So…as a live performer this puppy seems to limiting? See how easy that was? Economy of words is a good thing yet I do hope you feel better after venting.
Both, use the squid to create and the pyramid to save! This is what i do with my pyramid .... beatstep pro + midi keyboard + Yamaha tenori on -> pyramid midi in. It's funny and realy faster than pyramid alone.
You (and by you, I mean they) lost me at "these repeats can't be recorded onto the pattern...". Congratulations, Toraiz, face-palm moments like that are usually reserved for the likes of Roland. Cheers!
Yes we hope they make some updates.....,but with Pioneer it will probably stay with hoping! Otherwise I would buy this as a companion for my Deluge for more hands on control and special features. Great vid as always. Greetz ✌️🤞👍
@ Hakuna Matata ... I have a Deluge. Only had it a week. But do you think two Deluges would be part of an awesome set up ??? Your thoughts, or any one wishing to share their knowledge/ experience.
Tommy G The Deluge has everything, but i would not pair it with another Deluge. At this moment I would pair it with the Tr 707 for more hands on or the 1010 music blackbox for the bigger screen. Greetz 👍✌️🤞
@@starwars007oele Thanks for your insight and sharing it... I will look at those more closely. The 1010 needs another look, I think you are very correct..
good evening, I would like to know the best solutions to be able to create excellent melodies for techno music solutions, connecting synthesizers. I would like to know how to best use pioneer
Currently no. There is no currently midi learn functionality for the CC control knobs and they must be assigned by manually choosing a midi CC for a control.
Akai MPC 2000xl 7 albums.. 10 outputs 2 midi ins 2 midi outs Thousands of HIT records with 2000xl. So, Why should switch and slow down my progress? Song Mode? Or just an Ableton competitor???
Because the SQUID gives you another tool for pattern creation that is impossible on the MPCs. It would not replace them, it would be a tool to generate unique sequences that you could load up as .mid files in the MPC. It would be a killer sidekick to the mighty MPC actually.
7 albums AND thousands of hit records are built in features of the 2000xl? Amazing they had room to fit all of those between the midi io and audio output ports. But keep in mind - not all new products are better than all old products. If you've already produced thousands of hit records with your 2000xl, sounds like you've got a good thing going and maybe this review isn't targeted specifically at you.
Impressed by this but what's with the odd oversight of not condensing the scaled notes? Or at least leave the accidentals and just keep the scaled notes lit, otherwise wtf?
R S yes once a scale and key is selected, all notes are filtered into that scale and key. Even already recorded notes, so you can audition a recording in different scales and keys.. this also applies when the pitch of notes are randomized
@@djmattplay Thanks for the detailed reply! This is awesome, I'm feeling more and more like this is the best MIDI sequencer for performance / noodling that is out right now...
Expecting a meaningful firmware update from Pioneer is a waste. One needn't look further than the way Pioneer left all their SP16 customers in the lurch. So much promise, so little delivered. Shame really. Pioneer is notoriously bad at updates and communicating with their user base. Fantastic video as always though.
This is very true. Don’t expect any updates from Pioneer. The SP-16 sounds great, but still lacks basic functionality like recording external midi, a second fx slot, and the ability to delete samples without a computer. Same goes with the AS-1. I love both and wouldn’t sell them, but I wouldn’t trust Pioneer to make any substantial firmware updates the Squid.
Can the squid be used to modulate cutoff on a Crave? I've configured USB midi ch1 to go to CV1 with CV1 connected to the Crave CV cutoff in. But it doesn't react to CC movement.
I ha e a couple of questions that wou l be very helpful me a and others. I record sequences trafionslly live and NOT stepped. I have MPC Live. Do I need this or pyramid or can basically so this with my MPC? I haven't tried with my MPC cuz it's current in another state until winter
I'm not familiar with MPC live. This has a resolution of 6 "micro steps" per step - so you can play into it live - Pyramid has a higher resolution and much longer track support
You can absolutely play live without any quantization or steps of any sort with the MPC Live. The MPC Live might be the most overlooked piece of kit out there right now. Its been shoved into a corner and kinda forgotten even though it can do pretty much everything this Squid does except for CV control. Not that the Squid isn't cool, it is.
@@methodamericon thanks dude. I've pretty much decided to save my money from squid & pyramid. I'll gladly use my mpc live and NOT have to worry about step recording and being able to put sequences into song mode as well as playing sounds from it.
i want to know if everything is connected cv/gate midi in clock in trigger out if everything stays in sync and play tight thats a issue with the toraiz
Unfortunately no - Pioneer abadoned the whole Toraiz line. Still looking at possibly getting one to mate with my SP-16 and AS-1. All three were well designed, but not rolled out properly and not supported. If Pioneer would have just developed more firmware updates they would have sold many more units.
@@ftlaud911 I got a Squid for that reason, I already had the AS-1 and the SP-16. On that basis I'd recommend it. They all play nicely together 👍 If you buy second hand you can get a Squid very cheaply. I got mine mint condition for £240 which is pretty insane for how powerful it is
@@rorz999 - 100% agree...took me a while to wrap my brain around how the squid worked. Sad reality is most functionality of the squid should have been enabled on the SP-16. Even the squid is handicapped. Pioneer had great devices and could have really taken some business away from Elektron, Roland, and Akai. Sad they just abandoned them. Wish new Pioneer mgmt would hire some developers and give us a few more firmware updates. Will never happen at this point. Still enjoy making tracks with them, but the 4 bar limitation kills me.
I have and love both. The Digitakt is great, but I found it's midi sequencing a bit limited. On the Squid things like chord mode and transpose really take it up a notch, but I use it in conjunction with the Digitakt and wouldn't want to be without either of them.
@@2112jonr I've the sp-16 and as-1. I thought the as-1 only had 1 update and that was years ago...gotta check on the versions now, cheers. And, yep, utterly woeful support/respect to customers.
its so intuitive , and you can get creative so fast. messaged toraiz few weeks BACK ..and they replied saying "Firmware updates are always under careful consideration, but unfortunately we have no timetables we are currently able to share. "
Whenever I buy new gear I’m mostly influenced by your review or I watch a review of yours after I purchase usually your the first channel
Excellent video, just such a shame that Pioneer only produced one firmware update for this amazing piece of hardware, I hate it when companies abandon their projects or don’t care about customer feedback.
Thanks and true :/
Pioneer have a long track history of that. They still haven't fixed some of the basic problems with the AS-1. It's just been abandoned. Although you can register for their "support" forum, if you want to receive abuse from their narcissistic "support" dude. Time they fired him.
AnthonyS?@@2112jonr
I bought this thing on a whim today and brought it home to find out it is AMAZING
Great review! Time warp is a great feature: a note buffer to play until you get something you like and decide to keep, the last 2, 5 or more minutes. That way you don't have to 'try' to get it right again.
Dear lord, that time warp thing is the holy grail midi retroactive looper we’ve all longed for, even if we didn’t know it!
It is so badass. It makes capturing a performance and making it into a new pattern SO easy.
You make the best equipment reviews by far
I've had this unit since it came out and really love it. I really hope Pioneer DJ adds pattern chaining and a couple of other features. There's a lot of potential here, but at the end of the day I'm happy with it as it is. They should also make the speed slider assignable to pitch bend or other cc.
Any firmware updates?
@@ramseydoon8277 Nope
@@trickfall8752 oh wow well that's a bummer
@@ramseydoon8277 It's really a shame they never did a FW update. It's still my favorite unit for hardware jamming.
@@trickfall8752 Why do you love it for jamming? (I’m looking for a hardware sequencer for jamming)
Even with the updates that are def needed to get this up to snuff, this seems like a crazy powerful machine
it is. so much .. power
I was expecting to look up the price and see at least 1k, but at 600, I can only imagine this power house is going to become the backbone of many DAWless rigs. Incredible feature set and a lot of unique offerings.
@sbmphr Yeah, I think that will eventually come, but I think the competition is thinner than you'd expect, especially at this price point and with the kind of sequencing features you only really see in the modular world. Squarp Pyramid is amazing no doubt, but a different workflow. I think there's room for both!
Looks like this is something I might be looking for in the near future. I'm just sceptical that they'll update the software sufficiently. I'll have to wait this one out until they do, or get something else.
Nice video!
Hey, I checked into this just now. They released the most recent firmware update in Feb 2021. Seems like they are supporting this unit fairly well. Knowing this, I might get one soon.
@@KristianWontroba Can you post a link to it please? Their site is as awful as their "support" team. :-(
As a user of modular and desktop gear, this unit answers a lot of requirements for me. Like a Beatstep Pro, Rene and Metropolis rolled into one on steroids. Thanks for a great review, as always - helped me decide to order one. Not sure that the comments comparing this to other gear that's far more expensive (Cirklon) or different (Deluge) that helpful really. Pyramid seems a good comparison, but for me, I like as much dedicated button / function as possible, so this wins. Gotta find what fits for you.
What's your three-year review of it?
@@ramseydoon8277 I haven't actually had it plugged in for about 12 months. I got an Akai Force and have been sequencing everything with that. However, I am planning to hook it up again soon because there are some features the Squid has that are still unique (I think) which I miss. The chord buttons are great for laying down a monophonic sequence and then applying chords on the fly, which you can leave as a 'live' performance feature or record onto the sequence as an overdub. The real time direction buttons and rhythmic control buttons are great for being able to 'jam' on the fly with a recorded sequence. What lets the Squid down is that fairly simple, 'bread and butter' sequencing functions can feel a bit clunky, especially given there are 16 tracks. I did use it as my main sequencer for quite a while but it took a lot of planning to build up a song with various patterns per track and jumping betweens screens can get quite confusing. I would not recommend it as your only or main sequencer, but as a secondary sequencer to do the live manipulation stuff it definitely has a place. Good luck keeping track of 16 midi channels worth of sequences though!
What about the most important thing when it comes to a sequencer: How tight / stable is the clock?
We're still waiting for it to be implemented FOUR YEARS from the launch of the AS-1.
Basic. MIDI. Sync. Missing. No. Fixes.
Rock solid
Timewarp! What a great feature. Just wish it to be ported to every other device in my life.
Great job on the review. I enjoy the jams at the end of a few of your videos. Hope it becomes a feature in future product reviews.
Thanks very much! Yes, it's in pretty much all of them, more or less ;)
Would love an AS-1 and SP-16 review…the Toraiz line is a case study in coulda, woulda, shoulda. They are STILL excellent, IYKYK, but the missteps in the line are frustrating to say the least.
The few, the proud, the Toraiz fans 😉 I've come to terms now with their limitations and flaws, and the fact that they won't be updated again. What people forget is that all 3 products are excellent, some of the best pieces of hardware ever created in their respective categories, irrespective of their shortcomings.
The SP-16 did actually get some decent updates during its life cycle, the final firmware update was pretty huge. I'm still finding new ways to use mine
had my squid for a few weeks and I really really dig it. midi mangle machine!
8:44 ‘You can smash any keys on your keyboard and still sound reasonably artistic.’ Yes, now we’re talking 😎.
it does record note repeats now. You need to make sure the quantise is at a high enough resolution to allow the capture. Also worth mentioning that the current latest firmware 1.12 has a bug with CV out. If you use the transpose pad mode with CV out, all works as expected until you add some CV slides. Currently CV slides aren't subject to transpose so your pattern goes wrong if you transpose notes with slide.
You are the best reviewer ever ... full featured ...
4:52 also how the Toraiz SP-16 works. Things like song arrangement and squashing the scale to fit more octaves to the 16 pads are on the SP-16. The Squid complements that device beautifully. Probably because people asked for some of these features to be implemented (playable transpose, arps, polyrhythms, probability) but Pioneer created the Squid instead. I don't mind though. One is more traditional and the other is for enthusiasts. The SP-16, Squid, and AS-1 together is like the 1992 Dream Team.
Been thinking the same. Think I’ll start with the sp16 then once I reach its limitations expand with a squid!
I’ve been led to believe the sp16 can only do 4/4 do you know if this is true?
@@CleanConnections The SP-16 assigns all the tracks to the same step sequencer so no polyrhythms. But the sequencer can be 1 - 16 steps. So odd pattern lengths like 7 steps will have all tracks work at 7 steps. There are 16 patterns per "Scene" so one pattern can be 3 steps, another 12, etc. There are 16 Scenes per save file for 256 total patterns per save file.
However, the SP16 does something weird when you expand this odd 1 bar sequence into 2 - 4 bars. It's expecting 16 steps to multiply nicely into 2 - 4 bars. It "breaks" using less than 16. I kinda like it but it feels unintended... HOWEVER, the song Arranger can sequence the odd patterns together without issues. In the arranger, you can have the pattern repeat multiple times and even change tempo. This is the way to deal with odd rhythms. Hope that helps.
My first thoughts on this product weren't entirely positive. I didn't know what Pioneer was really thinking putting this out to the market. Maybe it just wasn't explained well.
You explained this very well. This seems like a very cool product. I won't buy it because I already have an MPC, but I'll definitely be hype when I see these guys in the wild
Best review format on RUclips, ever.
EXCELLENT review, thanks so much!
I'm having a lot of trouble understanding how Pioneer can claim this is a sequencer for the modern studio / live gigging musician WITHOUT pattern a chaining / song capability.
Have they said anything about bringing this feature online in a firmware update?
Thanks for the kind words. They haven't said anything to me. Personally, I don't see the lack of chaining / song mode as a dealbreaker. That said, I realize that for some it may be hence why I mentioned it, and it certainly is a limit in certain cases.
@@loopop any news on if they updated this or ever plan too?
any news on if they updated this or ever plan too?
Still no news on this. Over 14 months since the last firmware update, and it seems that just like the AS-1, Pioneer have completely ABANDONED another expensive product.
You do the best reviews.
Epic review. They should just include a link for this in addition to the manual.
Thanks for all your thorough walk through. You're really top tear when it comes to product demos. I just got one of these machines and I'm liking it but I'm not sure how to go from one project to another without having everything stop. What I'd like to do is program an hours worth of sequences that I can "mix" into. As it stands now, I can only figure out how to make one song at a time. Not really what I'd be expecting from a manufacturer geared toward live equiptment.
You might be better off with the AKai Force for that.
I got the Live. It's perfect.
You can combine it with a sampler/looper and a DJ mixer using cueing, it's a Pioneer :)
@@WH3 how would you do that? 🤔
@@membery208lune5 The problem here is that you can't play multiple tracks seamlessly with the Squid alone, so you use a DJ mixer to blend between the Squid and a sampler (or looper, or drum machine, or turntable, anything really) so there are no gaps in your performance. So, play from the Squid, blend in another source, load a new project, blend back, etc.
Found a workaround today regards the annoying drum programming by performing and recording drum sequence into squid using beatstep pro. Yes it helps to have another drum sequencer lying around, but then you also get the added squid playability and manipulation (and means you can have performative aspects on multiple tracks at a time - as in a drum and a synth track) . I presume a push or launchpad pro could be used in this way, depending on whether you are sequencing/performing your drums in ableton or other outboard gear... Or infact the seq of drum machine or sampler, then switch to blank pattern and play back into it with squid, if that makes sense?
Excellent peice of gear! Still debating whether or not this or the keystep pro would be best for my setup. I wanted to know if I had something like the Drumbrute impact, I could put each part of the kit on different MIDI channels. Is that something you’d have to set up on the impact , the squid, or both
Most drum machines use one MIDI channel for all the different instruments. The instruments (kick, snare, hihats, ...) then are assigned different notes. For this, Arturia (and others) created dedicated drum tracks which are available on both the Keystep and the Beatstep Pro. The advantage of these drum tracks is that you can record, trigger, mute, tweak and keep and eye on all the 16 instruments live on a per note basis with the pads (Beatstep) or keys (Keystep) flashing according to their own sequence visible and controllable on one single "page". The notes can also be triggered and muted independently on that same "page". This is similar to the track view on the Squid where you see the different tracks flashing whenever they are triggered.
On the Squid, you can also control drum kits on a per note basis by setting several tracks to the same MIDI channel and assigning a certain note to the triggers on each track. So you actually "sacrifice" one whole track for each drum instrument if you want to avoid what Loopop mentioned as a con in the video (having to record drums polyphonically on one track).
The good thing is that Squid has a generous track count of 16 whereas the Beatstep Pro and Keystep only have 4 tracks (plus the three melodic tracks on the Beatstep Pro are monophonic). You have to ask yourself whether you prefer working on a note level or rather a track/channel level.
I personally think that if the Squid featured one or more designated "drum" tracks like the competiton, it would be much closer to perfection than it already is. Also, I'm pretty sure that it would be rather easy to implement this by means of a firmware version "2.0" but as mentioned in this comments section, it's unlikely Pioneer will ever deliver that 😕.
Your videos are like college courses for free
I will buy your book
Have you done a review on the AS-1 ?
Cheers
no I have not
can you make a review about pioneer dj toraiz sp 16 and its featyre of pros and cons comparing it to todays latest sequencers..
Damned your audio demos in headphones sounds great!
That MIDI file import/export capability is fantastic. There's something I *really* wish the Pyramid had.
Just to make sure you didn’t miss it - Pyramid has MIDI import/export (it saves its patterns as midi) but yeah this is pretty seamless
@@loopop Oh I have and love the Pyramid, it's the hub of my live rig. Buuuut moving patterns between PC and Pyramid is nowhere near as seamless as it sounds like the Squid is. Having to pull the SD card thing is already considerably less friendly, but not terrible. And generally moving MIDI tracks from Pyramid to Ableton isn't hard. But unless you're willing to start a new project every time, going from PC to Pyramid is decidedly more difficult. Want to modify the 5th measure of pattern 3 on track 19 without altering anything else about your masterpiece project? Better be satisfied with doing it in the Pyramid. Fortunately the built-in editing capabilities are quite good, so its usually doable on the device itself. It just may require duplicating your efforts if you've already gotten the master version how you want it in the DAW.
@@rdean150 I agree with that - plus the seamless back and forth does facilitate a workflow of making quick changes and sending them back, especially if you want to fit a full drum kit on one track (though Pyramid does let you go note by note on the grid and edit it right there...)
Thank you very much! Great review. This is the thing i was looking for.
Need it!
They should added more buttons and dropped the shift function. Not like there isn’t space. Especially if they took away the seemingly useless speed slider. Good review though. Thanks.
I've found some (limited) uses for the speed slider, but I agree - I'd give it up for more dedicated buttons and less shift functions. Ah well, it is what it is
Great video, as always!
One Question - what happens when you record a phrase longer than 4 beats?
Great Review, Dude! Is Squid Jam anything like Fish Paste...? ;)
hahah, tastier!
Looks like you never did a review of the MPC live? Might be an idea, its getting better and better with every software update..
I agree - just need to find time
Hi, what are using for the piano sound early on in the demo?
Excellent demo by the way. I own a pyramid but still learned a lot from this.
Best Squid video so far,..pls I'd like to know, is midi in sync solid? will lost external sync switching from project to project? how many seconds to load another project?thanks!
I didn't try that at all (used it as a "brain" mainly). Loading a project works really quickly, but it does stop playback
@loopop : This, or OPZ if you could only have one?
Squid jam is lovely 👏🏻
Nice review. 8:30 - completely agree
Same. This is my other major complaint about it. Why did they not just carry over the scale mode behavior from the SP-16? That was perfect. A single octave across all 16 pads makes the scale mode unusable for me.
❤️ for the product. ❤️ for the depth of the video.
Realtime recording only via its pads? hello??
Will someone eventually make a real DAW killer sequencer?
Naturally we wish to real time record using our preferred MIDI controller
Are you sure? I can't find any notion that it can't do realtime recording of incoming MIDI.
@@adam_volt I cannot find now, where I dug this information from, i think it was a review, not in the manual
@@adam_volt here :
theintrovert.net/2019/05/28/toraiz-squid-early-impressions/
also note that you cannot record notes out of the grid...
It records note on/off and velocity, that's it. No incoming CCs, expression data or program changes are recognized.
Hello Loopop, I am trying to sequence my drum machine that uses single midi for each channel but I would like to play and record the drums on one page.. for example, playing the kick, snare and hats at the same time. Is there a way to have all drums on one page? Thanks so much for the deep dive!
Thanks! Sorry, this review was from a long time ago - I don't recall if that's possible - please check the manual and if possible or not let us know!
Great review. "Wait, what's cc 103 again?" is so true. Pyramid style instrument profiles... yes, please! Looking at you too here, Digitakt.
will you get to review the sp16?
not likely
@@loopop you should; it is quite the under appreciated gem….
Good job mate. I always wait your review, you are the best ever. Times ago thanks to you I bought the rev 2 :) . I really need your help in choosing the sequenzer, btw squarp, polyend, cirklon and now thanks to you the toraiz. (I am in 10 months queue for the cirklon). For now I stay with squarp ( I love the live mode and few other things), what do you prefer between squarp and cirklon ? Be careful about your answer because it's fatal for me lol. Thanks for everything ❤️
Thanks so much and... ha I didn't know lives were at stake! I have never tried Cirklon, but I've looked in its manual and couldn't find something Pyramid couldn't do. Maybe I missed something though. Between Squid and Pyramid, Pyramid is way more powerful, but Squid has some fun live jamming functions Pyramid does not. It's really about what appeals to you more - if you find something in Squid that isn't in Pyramid then go Squid, otherwise, Pyramid
@@loopop Yes fantastic videos! Veeeery interesting. So you think the Pyramid does the same thing the Cirklon does? AND its more powerful than the Squid.
Speaking only from reading the manual, I don’t see anything cirklon does that pyramid can’t. Maybe outputs. Squid has some jamming tools Pyramid doesn’t, but Pyramid still has more features overall
@@loopop excellent! And is the chance FX per track or per step on the Pyramid? Can you explain this more and maybe compare it to Elektron?
Is it possible to transpose several tracks at once?
dat intro panning 🔥🔥🔥
The chord templates made me think they should have included groove templates like that found in some Roland and Kong products. Though this is such a minor detail and it’s a fantastic product as is
5:40 "There's no arranger or pattern-chaining functionality" is kind of a deal-breaker for a dedicated MIDI sequencer.
Time warp is cool though. I may have to add a feature like that to my little midi processor program.
You have a midi processor program? Please share...
It's still in fairly early phases of development. I'm basically just using a raspberry pi to route and process USB-MIDI events. So far, it only does two things:
1. Route events so all I have to do is plug devices in and it "just works".
2. Remap notes.
That second one is the most interesting so far. It reads events on two inputs -- a "hint track" and a "performance track", and outputs a combination of both. The hint track specifies which notes are valid, like what key/scale/chord/whatever the song is using at that moment... and the performance track is intended for a human to play. Normally I send perf data from a keystep, and hint data from a spare keyboard and a sequencer. The result is that the keystep's white keys are always in tune with the song, no matter what key or scale the song is in, and it can remap itself in real time as the song changes.
For now, the main result is that it's really easy to improvise on the fly, and easy to come up with interesting riffs while composing. It's a bit like playing a Kaossilator, only more precise, more flexible, and more automatable. And I think time warp would fit into that pretty nicely.
For later, the plan is to add rhythm patterns, touch surface input for performance, arpeggios, a time warp function, and a touch screen to configure settings and display chord/scale analysis info. Perhaps also some randomized pattern/song generation too, but that may be better as a separate project.
There's some nice shortcut type features on here it seems but I'll be sticking to my xp80's sequencer.
Great. Now make a matching performance mixer! I hope you’re listening Pioneer.
One thing that really bothers me is how they copied Squarp in terms of the 4 pages of patterns; A, B, C & D. I’d like a page for each song-having 8 or so pages would make sense. Why I love the Octatrack, a whole row per song is how I program it.
I've been looking at a lot of stand alone sequencer devices recently (mainly from your channel :-)) and the more I look, the more I get confused. Now, the Squid looks really interesting, so the obvious question is: has the firmware updates made any difference to the "cons"? Because if so, then I think the Squid might be the one for me. Deluge 3 also seems very cool but, as I already noted in a comment on that video, it has 2 big, glaring omissions: no OLED screen and no velocity-sensitive pads - the pads could be sorted with a firmware update but the screens can't. Further, I'd be really interested to hear your opinion on the matter; that matter being "best stand alone sequencer". Personally, I'm not so worried about built in synths... the reason I've been looking to get one is to trigger other synths via midi. I'm not too fussed about a keyboard - so that kind of rules out the SL Mk III. Anyway, thanks for your videos.
Last firmware update was 9th July 2019 so I very much doubt they fixed any of the cons.
No, none of the downsides to this device have been fixed. Another abandoned product from Pioneer DJ. :-(
Very good review! Can you a video using the Squid Manager?
Thanks! I briefly show it in this video - not much more to say, it's quite straightforward
@@loopop Thank you very much.
So my question about the squid is can you set different tempos on each track pattern length anything to do with multiple timing differences between tracks is what I want to understand.
Great review, looks really powerful. Any news on a firmware update?
Thanks! Not that I’ve heard....
@@loopop fingers crossed!
Nope, nothing for the last 14 months. Another abandoned Pioneer DJ product :-(
Thank you for this great movie! How can I get a copy go your midi book?
Thanks for the comment and interest! Check out www.patreon.com/Loopop - there’s also a link in the description
Have Pioneer / Toraiz officially indicated an intention to provide firmware updates on the Squid? Seems like a contentious topic that some companies definitely prioritize more than others. Apologies if this was answered in the video and I just missed it. Great review as always!
Thanks! I’ve not heard anything about promised updates
The released the first firmware update about 3 weeks back I think. It's a good sign. The utility for shuttling midi clips back and forth to DAW works like a charm.
Brilliant pattern creation tool. Nearly unusable live performance tool. Since a Pattern Set is required any time you want to change the pattern of more than one track at a time, 16 of them is unacceptable. Like... I have never used another multitrack sequencer that has such a ridiculous limitation. Most have at a minimum 4x as many at 64 but usually more like 128 or higher. 16 is just... WTF were they thinking? If you are just creating ONE song at a time on the thing and have no plans for performing, 16 might not be an issue but "the heart of my studio and live rig" as it has been marketed, needs to be able to be a little more flexible. Most performers I know use more than 1 track at a time in a 16 track sequencer. Trying to bounce between Track and Pattern pages for each instrument I want to change in a live setting is a fail. Until they up this to 64 at a minimum, it is strictly a studio piece and that's a shame because it would be a lot of fun live.
PS Nice review. It really is a brilliant piece of gear. It's just another WTF frustration from a company that creates NEARLY perfect gear but completely blow it with things like this that should have been figured out LONG before the device made it to market. The SP-16 is the greatest sample playback machine ever created but It also makes me want to choke one of the developers when I have to spend hours coming up with some kind of workaround because some basic function has been broken since release and never addressed.
@@MidnightMusicClub Its so common to read devices that would have been brilliant only if they didnt mess with that or forget to include this. And the bigger the brand name apparently the greater the pain they pour on the lowly consumer that are suckers if they buy it. Companies that release products but make blatant obvious mistakes are just not users of their own products. They go home on the weekend and spend all their time in the garden and walking the dog. Not interested.
I would guess that Pioneer DJ looked at what the officially ‘cool’ DJs/live techno people say about performing, and said: "The kids seem to think that you’re not playing truly live if you go to a gig with batches of pre-created patterns, that’s ‘DAW’ workflow not live jamming. ‘Real’ performers create everything live on the spot and their tracks evolve slowly over time." I’m not saying i agree with that, but it is kind of what the ‘cool people’ would tell you about playing electronic music live. I think there’s a reason Pioneer DJ didn’t include better pattern chaining, and it’s because of this ‘anti-DAW’ ‘anti-Song’ ‘you’re not playing live if you don’t make it in front of the audience’ feeling in much of the club music world.
So…as a live performer this puppy seems to limiting? See how easy that was? Economy of words is a good thing yet I do hope you feel better after venting.
Great presentation! Like this gear!
Great video
Great review! Burning question for me is, Squid or Pyramid?
Thanks! Right now I don’t have a better answer than watch both videos and see which is better for you...
@@loopop That's fair
Both, use the squid to create and the pyramid to save! This is what i do with my pyramid .... beatstep pro + midi keyboard + Yamaha tenori on -> pyramid midi in. It's funny and realy faster than pyramid alone.
You (and by you, I mean they) lost me at "these repeats can't be recorded onto the pattern...". Congratulations, Toraiz, face-palm moments like that are usually reserved for the likes of Roland. Cheers!
Yes we hope they make some updates.....,but with Pioneer it will probably stay with hoping! Otherwise I would buy this as a companion for my Deluge for more hands on control and special features. Great vid as always. Greetz ✌️🤞👍
@ Hakuna Matata ... I have a Deluge. Only had it a week. But do you think two Deluges would be part of an awesome set up ??? Your thoughts, or any one wishing to share their knowledge/ experience.
Tommy G The Deluge has everything, but i would not pair it with another Deluge. At this moment I would pair it with the Tr 707 for more hands on or the 1010 music blackbox for the bigger screen. Greetz 👍✌️🤞
@@starwars007oele
Thanks for your insight and sharing it... I will look at those more closely. The 1010 needs another look, I think you are very correct..
good evening, I would like to know the best solutions to be able to create excellent melodies for techno music solutions, connecting synthesizers. I would like to know how to best use pioneer
Can you easily send a cc ping so that a control you have listening for an assignment can easily be assigned?
Currently no. There is no currently midi learn functionality for the CC control knobs and they must be assigned by manually choosing a midi CC for a control.
Akai MPC 2000xl 7 albums..
10 outputs
2 midi ins
2 midi outs
Thousands of HIT records with 2000xl. So, Why should switch and slow down my progress? Song Mode? Or just an Ableton competitor???
Because the SQUID gives you another tool for pattern creation that is impossible on the MPCs. It would not replace them, it would be a tool to generate unique sequences that you could load up as .mid files in the MPC. It would be a killer sidekick to the mighty MPC actually.
7 albums AND thousands of hit records are built in features of the 2000xl? Amazing they had room to fit all of those between the midi io and audio output ports. But keep in mind - not all new products are better than all old products. If you've already produced thousands of hit records with your 2000xl, sounds like you've got a good thing going and maybe this review isn't targeted specifically at you.
@@MidnightMusicClub Cool gotta do more research. BTW anyone MaJoR using it yet?
@@rdean150 not me.....LOL just a few CDs. Speaking of Kanye and that crew....Just Blaze etc.
at last someone caught ...The Squid!
Sold
good job as always \o/
is it possible to work together with the squarp pyramid? squid make rythms and riffs and pyramid save all the midi data add build the track
Seems like overkill but potentially yes
Impressed by this but what's with the odd oversight of not condensing the scaled notes? Or at least leave the accidentals and just keep the scaled notes lit, otherwise wtf?
Jsn Sdx - This could totally be an option in preferences.
The scale mode is pretty much useless as is. One octave at a time no matter what scale you're in? Fail
seems realy awesome for live sets or just getting creative
Can you apply randomization of pitch within a given scale?
R S yes once a scale and key is selected, all notes are filtered into that scale and key. Even already recorded notes, so you can audition a recording in different scales and keys.. this also applies when the pitch of notes are randomized
@@djmattplay Thanks for the detailed reply! This is awesome, I'm feeling more and more like this is the best MIDI sequencer for performance / noodling that is out right now...
R S you’re welcome.. it is an extremely fun box. It’s also capable of USB power so nice and portable just as a midi controller for DAW too
Expecting a meaningful firmware update from Pioneer is a waste. One needn't look further than the way Pioneer left all their SP16 customers in the lurch. So much promise, so little delivered. Shame really. Pioneer is notoriously bad at updates and communicating with their user base.
Fantastic video as always though.
Yea same with the Toraiz AS-1 they never fixed the midi clock!
This is very true. Don’t expect any updates from Pioneer. The SP-16 sounds great, but still lacks basic functionality like recording external midi, a second fx slot, and the ability to delete samples without a computer. Same goes with the AS-1. I love both and wouldn’t sell them, but I wouldn’t trust Pioneer to make any substantial firmware updates the Squid.
Good to know! Thanks 👍🏼
What did they promise for the SP16 that they didn't deliver on?
@@TheArtisticFlavor Yes, that's a big claim that needs details.
that beat could be your intro. dope
Zelda BOTW Guardian vibes @ 17:15
Can the squid be used to modulate cutoff on a Crave? I've configured USB midi ch1 to go to CV1 with CV1 connected to the Crave CV cutoff in. But it doesn't react to CC movement.
Cv is control voltage not midi.
I ha e a couple of questions that wou l be very helpful me a and others. I record sequences trafionslly live and NOT stepped. I have MPC Live. Do I need this or pyramid or can basically so this with my MPC? I haven't tried with my MPC cuz it's current in another state until winter
I'm not familiar with MPC live. This has a resolution of 6 "micro steps" per step - so you can play into it live - Pyramid has a higher resolution and much longer track support
@@loopop thank you
You can absolutely play live without any quantization or steps of any sort with the MPC Live. The MPC Live might be the most overlooked piece of kit out there right now. Its been shoved into a corner and kinda forgotten even though it can do pretty much everything this Squid does except for CV control. Not that the Squid isn't cool, it is.
@@methodamericon thanks dude. I've pretty much decided to save my money from squid & pyramid. I'll gladly use my mpc live and NOT have to worry about step recording and being able to put sequences into song mode as well as playing sounds from it.
i want to know if everything is connected cv/gate midi in clock in trigger out if everything stays in sync and play tight thats a issue with the toraiz
MinimalWave1982 I’d like to see 8 synths sequences on this. Possibly using a midi splitter.
what heppen when you import midi clip longer than 4 bars?
Anyone know if this is still being supported/updated?
Unfortunately no - Pioneer abadoned the whole Toraiz line. Still looking at possibly getting one to mate with my SP-16 and AS-1. All three were well designed, but not rolled out properly and not supported. If Pioneer would have just developed more firmware updates they would have sold many more units.
@@ftlaud911 I got a Squid for that reason, I already had the AS-1 and the SP-16. On that basis I'd recommend it. They all play nicely together 👍 If you buy second hand you can get a Squid very cheaply. I got mine mint condition for £240 which is pretty insane for how powerful it is
@@rorz999 - 100% agree...took me a while to wrap my brain around how the squid worked. Sad reality is most functionality of the squid should have been enabled on the SP-16. Even the squid is handicapped. Pioneer had great devices and could have really taken some business away from Elektron, Roland, and Akai. Sad they just abandoned them. Wish new Pioneer mgmt would hire some developers and give us a few more firmware updates. Will never happen at this point. Still enjoy making tracks with them, but the 4 bar limitation kills me.
Cool!
What about user scales or user arps?
price £519.00
How many channels of midi over usb?
16
how would you compare this to the digitakt?
I'll be making a video about that in a few weeks...
I have and love both. The Digitakt is great, but I found it's midi sequencing a bit limited. On the Squid things like chord mode and transpose really take it up a notch, but I use it in conjunction with the Digitakt and wouldn't want to be without either of them.
Am i the only one wondering where does that piano comes from? Moog? Squid? Computer?
me3 !
Nearby computer
txs @@loopop , really good & rare, a name ?!
Do you mean the plugin? I don’t remember but probably either Arturia piano v2 or una corda from native instruments
@@loopop merci and also for ur good work :)
i don't know i love Pioneer for their dj stuff, i like maschine for music creation though,i might give this a shot but buying one? nah...
Please view this as the finished product, and not to expect regular (or any) updates. Pio have been abysmal with their other toraiz products thus far.
Yep, the AS-1 was completely abandoned too. 14 months now since the last firmware fixes for this.
Pioneer don't deserve your cash.
@@2112jonr I've the sp-16 and as-1. I thought the as-1 only had 1 update and that was years ago...gotta check on the versions now, cheers. And, yep, utterly woeful support/respect to customers.
It’s still on firmware 1.1. Silly old Pioneer.
Have they added a song mode yet? This is currently a deal breaker for me. Shame, as it feels more intuitive than the Squarp Pyramid
its so intuitive , and you can get creative so fast. messaged toraiz few weeks BACK ..and they replied saying "Firmware updates are always under careful consideration, but unfortunately we have no timetables we are currently able to share. "
seems to be abandoned.. no pattern chains.. or drum style mode... still great but those are big oversights..
Squid ore torso t1?
I know this will be good... but I'm so early the video isnt even at 1080p yet.. at 360p text isn't readable, COMEON RUclips!
Thanks! and bummmmmerrrr - I thought I waited long enough :/ will give youtube more time next time...
Time to ditch pyramid?
No, they're still quite different
Still no song mode - what a pity
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😘
ONLY ROLAND MC 707 👍🔥 rest all in vein