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I'm quite interested in the Tranzport but the USB receiver unit seems rather cumbersome.
It's the sort of design one expected to get with a wireless keyboard/mouse combo a few years ago, but these days such devices tend to be even smaller, more like a USB memory stick/pen.
That size would be more convenient for use with a laptop than the current design.
Are there any plans for further miniaturisation?
Hello Comradec,
Sorry, no plans to shrink it any further. Actually we have never had that request before. We find that many users use the cable length to get the transceiver out from behind their computers or equipment racks for better reception. Some remote the USB interface on USB extension cables or CAT5 converters for even greater flexibility.
CS
Oh well, it wasn't such a vital issue for me as I've just ordered myself a Tranzport, which should arrive tomorrow.
A micro-receiver, along the lines used in Logitech's recent mouse/keyboard products, would have been more convenient for my situation, but I accept that's not necessarily the case for all users, whose needs may be different.
I already use an AlphaTrack with Ableton Live 8 on my main desktop computer and will be using the Tranzport with my laptop.
I won't need to use it at great distances from the laptop, let alone inside recording booths and suchlike, but the flexibility offered by wireless connectivity will be very convenient when I'm chilling out on the sofa with my DAW set-up on a little laptop table.
I have one of those Korg nanoKONTROLs at the moment but, despite the attractiveness of its layout, it has turned out to be quite a disappointment in practice. It's been very fiddly to set up with Live - no templates built in, unfortunately - whereas I know from my experience with the AlphaTrack that Frontier Design controllers are extremely easy to set up with Live.
I'll use it alongside a nanoKEY and nanoPAD, though, as they're pretty good products.
My TranzPort arrived today and I'm pleased to report that it's absolutely brilliant. The USB receiver is actually rather smaller than I'd expected so it's no bothered to keep tucked out of the way with the laptop set-up I'm using.
Configuring it with Ableton Live 8 was no problem at all. Just a matter of choosing the TranzPort from a drop-down menu and ticking a couple of boxes. Far easier than other controllers I've tried - and tested quite a few, believe me, including Korg's nanoKONTROL, M-Audio's Axiom and Edirol's PCR300. Only Akai's MPD32 has been as easy to configure, but that has the major design flaw of omitting a loop control button, which is vital for using Live.
One thing that the TranzPort doesn't have, which I'd have quite liked, is less 'clicky' buttons. There are, of course, advantages in buttons with a clear and satisfying click - such as providing certainty that you've actually pressed them - but quiet buttons can be useful too, especially in situations where you're messing around with a laptop DAW in a 'social setting' while others around are doing other things, like watching the television. I guess that rubberised buttons might help achieve that, but then there's usually a greater degree of hit and miss with buttons of that type - sometimes they need pressing twice.
Maybe that's a future product idea for Frontier Design - a MIDI controller you can use quietly without annoying your partner? Hey, we could sneak a controller like that into the office at work then too.
Hello Comradec,
and thanks for the feedback. We're glad to hear that your new TranzPort is working out. Ya, the button clicking was tough decision during development. We tried many types with many results and realized that no matter what we did it wouldn't be ideal for everyone. Given the intended duty of a slightly stressed, maybe hectic recording environment we decided that some reassuring feedback from the buttons was probably for the best.
But your point is well taken.
Enjoy,
CS
I agree with comradec
On which point?
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