Please familiarise yourself with the forum, including policy on feature requests, rules & guidelines

Feedback and thoughts

0
RoJaFuRoJaFu GuernseyPosts: 4

The Good

Grid buttons feel absolutely fantastic.
Inspiring to use grid shortcuts and needing minimal screen, very refreshing.
Hardware is light and feels well built.
Workflow is easy to get along with and productive.
Synth patch 140!

The Bad

Having poor eyesight, in less than perfect lighting, reading the shortcut labels is impossible, most of the rest of the labels are very difficult to read.

Optimising legibility:
Mixed case typeface.
Crisp printing.
White characters on a black background.
A box around the shift functions rather than an inverse block.

Included is a photo where some of the labels have been replaced with printed stickers, hopefully it demonstrates the huge difference in legibility. All of the labels on my machine have been replaced like this, making it easier to read but it looks dodgy.

I would be happy to buy other case if you ever produce one with mixed case black text on a white background.
Alternatively if you produce full size a sticker as above would be happy with that too.
Otherwise a magnetic overlay printed as above would help!

Overall

This is an inspired machine, wish I got one earlier. Thanks for making the Deluge.

Comments

  • 0
    WillWill Middle of NowHere, CanadaPosts: 236

    I too have eyesight which is getting worse instead of better, and agree it's a pain to try and read the shortcuts, esp. in environments with less than ideal lighting.

    I guess that's a trade off for having so many features within such a compact piece of gear, with a very limited interface screen.
    That said, I'm really LOVING this box, and can see clearly that the company is keeping on top of updates, continually listening to users, etc.

    I keep thinking that using some form of iPad editor (touch screen), would be an ideal programming solution - staying really light and portable.

    There's a really obvious benefit to dealing with a small company which (currently) only has one product to further develop/support.

  • 0
    cypher79cypher79 UKPosts: 157

    There are magnetic overlays available, when purchasing you get the option to either have the shortcuts printed on the Deluge, or an overlay.

  • 0
    RoJaFuRoJaFu GuernseyPosts: 4
    edited November 2018

    Hi cypher79, looking at the current overlay on the website the overlay has the same black background with the typeface in white and all caps as on the box, as mentioned before this is really tough to read with less than perfect eyesight.

    The suggestion was for a future overlay to have a white background, black text in mixed case.

    I’ve included a photo below which shows the difference between white characters on black background and black character on white background, notice how much easier it is to read the latter, under the same lighting conditions!
    You can see the same in the original photo above.

    Using a mixture of upper and lower case characters also give shape to the words making it easier to differentiate. This is the reason road signs with town names tend to use mixed case as it is easier for most people to read under varying conditions.

    Hi Will, absolutely fantastic box such a great workflow leading to way more songs happening. I’m really happy there is minimal screen, after 40 years, trying to get away from screens as much as possible.

    Also if Rohan is working on Computer/Tablet/Phone editors that means less work on the Deluge…

    Post edited by RoJaFu on
  • 0
    Ian_JorgensenIan_Jorgensen Wellington, New ZealandPosts: 614
    edited November 2018

    I guess the point with having it this way is so it was a balance that worked for most cases. Lots of people wouldn't want bold text because they memorise them pretty fast or have fine eyesight. In those other cases. (including for myself) we do have the overlays which are currently sold out which are white on black as opposed to grey on black and are easier to read.

    We could look into doing an overlay which was black text on white. I'll explore it and see if there is interest, but we wouldn't change the print on the Deluge itself at this point. We believe it's a nice balance between not having to have a ton of text constantly shouting at you when you don't need it.. But being available for you for when you do need it.

    Have different printed models was a nightmare hence why we only offer the one variation now.

    Post edited by Ian_Jorgensen on
  • 0
    p_watsp_wats TorontoPosts: 111

    I was initially overwhelmed by the shortcuts and thought it would be an issue in poor lighting conditions, etc., but the more I've gotten familiar with the functions the less I've needed the labels at all.

    I hope it doesn't sound like I'm discounted your concerns, but offering that you'll find things get very easy when you've got some muscle memory/workflow going

  • 0
    RoJaFuRoJaFu GuernseyPosts: 4

    Hi p_wats,

    First night with the Deluge I had to use a torch, with the shift short cuts, that was requiring 3 hands!
    As you can see from the first post, on the second day I printed a sticky sheet with all the labels in legible text, cut it up into labels and stuck them on, so personally this no longer affects me.

    However there are many people with poor eye sight, some will buy the Deluge and have the same problems.

    I’ve included a screen capture from Ron Cavagnaro’s Basic Loop Slicing video on Youtube, pretty much sums up the legibility for me, notice the difference with the Octatrack next to it.

    Some points to ponder on muscle memory, it works well for the most commonly used shortcuts, some of the more infrequent ones less so.
    If one is separated from the Deluge for a time, maybe sailing across the Pacific, muscle memory has to be restored.

    Kaizen is a concept applied to Japanese manufacturing where products are continually improved, the Deluge deserves to be the best it can be.
    For me this is an instant classic, up there with the OP1 and Octatrack.

    Hi Ian, thanks for considering changes to the overlay, if you ever make one, put me down for one.

  • 0
    WillWill Middle of NowHere, CanadaPosts: 236

    Another thing to keep in mind, is the possibility of using UV reactive (glow in the dark) tape, as used in theatre - (visible cue marks on the stage for actors). That way, you if you are working in a live setting, you'll have some ability to read labels when the lights are dimmed or out...

    ;0)

Sign In or Register to comment.