Motif xs8 and roli block

[heehee62]

I have a motif xs8 right now. Thinking about giving it to my 6 year old niece to start learning the piano with. Would buy myself either the roli rise or blocks as a substitute.

 

1. Is the motif good for someone to learn with? My mom's last teacher insisted an actual piano was needed.

 

2. How well does the Bluetooth work with the roli?

 

3. I currently have studio monitors. But I'm not a pro and I was thinking I'd just get regular old Bluetooth speakers for myself once I gave my current system to my niece. Is that a bad idea? I'll use irig to hook up microphones and a guitar sometimes too sometimes.

 

4. Does the mac offer much more than an iPad when it comes to roli? Don't want to get a mac.

 

5. Am I going to regret switching to a roli completely?

 

 

[Sven Golly]

1) Yes. No. Maybe. It's akin to giving your niece a manual transmission roadster (that won't start unless you feather the gas just right) for her driving lessons. No built-in speakers. Lots of buttons to press to make it be anything BUT a "piano," with all the distractions that take away from quality learning/practice. In my opinion, inappropriate.

 

2) Very well.

 

3) Bluetooth speakers have an inherent latency that will make them useless for playing like you're thinking. They're fine for playing back tunes off your device, but you'll absolutely notice a delay between playing a note and hearing it.*

 

4) Yes, way more. But if you don't want to get a Mac, don't get a Mac.

 

5) Yes. This isn't an instrument you "switch" to. It's not a piano. It's not a keyboard, in spite of the layout that borrows from the traditional piano paradigm. It's an alternate controller that opens up a whole other aspect of performance and expression, but it's NOT a replacement for a traditional keyboard (especially a weighted one). **

 

* There are a wide range of qualities in Bluetooth speakers, depending on the version of BT being used, so with this YMMV.

 

** I'm writing this as a proud and satisfied owner of a Roli Seaboard Rise 49 and a Roli Seaboard Block and Touch Block.

[heehee62]

Thanks. Now I want to keep my motif, get the roli, AND buy a mac though I can't bring myself to do it financially. You're so lucky with your instruments.

 

Urgh, I think I'm going to have to suck it up and buy a mac one day. Why won't windows and android step it up and improve their system when it comes to sound.

 

I actually think the extra sounds on the keyboard are a good thing for my niece as it will keep her entertained and not quitting. But yeah, feeling my keys, the motif does have hammer action but it really is as you say about not starting unless you feather it just right. Not good for developing technical skill I would think.

 

[Sven Golly]

I'll jump in really quick here and just correct you on the "Why won't windows and android step it up and improve their system when it comes to sound" comment.

 

Firstly, Android's issue is that the platform is like the wild west of hardware, and there's very little chance of having a MIDI/Audio app behave nicely enough for musicians to be satisfied with it, without investing huge development costs in coding, testing, recoding, retesting, etc. Given the basement-level pricing of apps, there's really no ROI there to justify such costs.

 

There are apparently some apps out there that have very specific hardware/OS requirements for Android, but I don't play in that space, so you'll have to either Google it or wait for someone to pipe up in this thread (not likely given the subject, but accidents do happen ).

 

As for Windows, there's absolutely no issue getting a Windows machine to do everything a Mac can do for music, video, etc. It's merely that, as with Android, hardware is not standardized, and the OS needs to be 'tweaked' or 'optimized' to work best for music. There's nothing inherently wrong with the platform, except that you need to have a bit of a tech mind in order to get things humming along nicely (or pay someone to do so), whereas with Mac OS it's generally more ready to go out of the box.

 

So yeah, let's try and avoid the tired old "Mac vs PC" chestnut, shall we?

[heehee62]

Thanks for the explanation. That's good to hear about windows. I'd rather not have to tweak but I can do it since it'll save me from having to buy a new laptop.

 

I thought windows couldn't do Bluetooth well though.

[Sven Golly]

Thanks for the explanation. That's good to hear about windows. I'd rather not have to tweak but I can do it since it'll save me from having to buy a new laptop.

 

I thought windows couldn't do Bluetooth well though.

 

Let's be clear here. I didn't say your current laptop would magically be great for MIDI/Audio.

 

I also didn't say anything about Windows and Bluetooth.

 

cf. my comments above about PC (and Android) hardware being non-standardized. With all such situations, YMMV. Check your specific hardware and OS and determine whether or not it's suitable.

 

Roli works on Windows 7+, or Windows 10 if you're wanting to utilize the Blocks Dashboard software. You may need to update the firmware to get it "Windows ready" which would require that to be done on a Mac.... take the Block to any Apple store if that's the case, and they can do it for you.