Just got one today. First impression, I love it. That midi export is so useful too, especially after stumbling across a happy accident with speed modulation, running direction etc.
Great review. I dig the squid, and it has some really cool features. My biggest complaint is that when in scale mode, the notes that aren't in that scale are just greyed out. They should have it so that all 16 pads are notes in that scale.
Thanks for the review... I've been waiting for reviews as I'm jonesing for a studio sequencer. I feel like I may get a Deluge or a Pyramid though as there are some issues with this one that I'm not a fan of. Are you gonna review the Synthstrom Deluge?
Alright. I am about 2 minutes in and I think I'm sold on this sequencer as the new foundational step towards a cohesive creative chaos control center. I'm excited. Hm. Big hugs. Thanks my dude. You kick serious ass, time child.
What do you like better the Novation sl49 mk3 or the squid. I was going to buy a Keystep Pro but they just went up in price a $100. Or should I get a squarp pyramid?
Thank you. Nailed my biggest complaint. Not even considering this until Program Change per pattern is an option. Major oversight on Pioneer's end. The Engine can already do this per pattern.
Great review Ricky, I'm curious to know whether you've bought one and are using it? If so how are you finding it now? Your demos of the sequencing aspects of it were pretty convincing!
@@devonhughes3805 I am hesistant about it.. i heard Pioneer is bad with supporting their products when theres a problem. How is your experience so far? Any noteable Firmware upgrades or bugs?
Also could do with a lot more pattern sets too. I don't understand how Toraiz, Akai etc all opt to make a DAW replacement as there are so many limits as to how far you can take your music. Without a song mode or program change per pattern, you're stuck. So you'd buy a OB-6 and spend days on making sounds of which you can only use one per project? If I build up a track, b4 I get to the rocking part of the structure (Kick, Bass, Loops etc) I'm already 5 pattern sets in. Pls make it so musicians can use it and not just loop/sample pack jocks who don't really need that much variation
Great video, as always. How's this one for launching clips, would you say? I'm running a 1010 Black Box now, with a mix of loops, clips and one shots spread out over the sixteen pads. How funky can this get if the Squid sequences the Black Box, with my mish mash of already mentioned clips, loops and one shots? Or is this primarily for harmonics and one shot content?
Maybe I'm just old but to me, this instrument would have been killer during the days on the synth module. A Triton Rack, JV or XV Roland Module, plus a Motif Rack paired with a Squid would have endless possibilities and be totally gigable. But......... Given the current "Tabletop" trend, the rising popularity of modular, and other products from Elektron and Roland. I feel like this products has come behind it's proper time. I would have assassinated people in order to buy something like the Squid back in the 90's!
With my sp16 I can honestly say I’ve never had to look at the manual. Only had the squid a day, the sequencing is much more advanced & for a drug addled mind like mine, I got some study to do to get the most out of it. It’s not crazy menu diving stuff but if you don’t have a perfunctory knowledge of gate , clock divide midi channels etc… there’s an unavoidable learning curve, But sequencing multiple bits of gear from each other usually leads to a bit of head scratching & the squid does a good job of making it fairly intuitive. Do agree global swing & time bends should be in there though. Unfortunately pioneer seems to have dropped all updates for this series’s. As it stands though it’s a very powerful bit of kit & they’ve done a good job fitting it all in there balancing complexity with playability. Cheers for the review Ricky nudged me to give it a try and glad I did 👍
OK, those are awesome camouflage moving blankets from Harbor freight. I think I’m gonna do that in my music room. That definitely makes for a nice music room/man cave.
Just got one, have only had the obligatory plug it straight in and mash all the buttons jam, but got some crazy rhythms out of it. Got sequences I couldn’t do on my analog rytm out of it. Mostly happy accidents but hay not even read the manual. In an ideal world all the toraiz families unique features would be in one ultimate box. But hay I’m not a businessman exec.! Really powerful performance sequencer 👍
Hey world, just wondering if any or all of the cons mentioned here were ever fixed? Looks like a great machine that could be an excellent one. Thank you
You played chords. How are you playing chords? What is the set up for notes and sequencing limits as far as polyphony? Is there a synth engine in there as well? What are the specific parts of this box?
Great review. Love your channel. Looks like some awesome features. How bout varied pattern length? ie 11 steps? Also, I vaguely remember reading that Pioneer don't have the best reputation when it comes to updates and support. Is it likely they actually will update it and respond to user requests?
As ever a joy to watch - thanks Ricky... I have a limited budget and limited set up but am looking for something to sit at the centre of my stuff and control things was saving for a Digitakt (as that would give me a sampler too....and no one seems to have a bad word to say about it) - this looks pretty cool too - maybe a little to advanced for me in terms of there are lots of things to get distracted by!
I'm guessing you have already decided what is the best machine for you already but...they are both very, very different instruments. I own both. I got the BB for on-the-go stuff and thought that the 16 sample grid would be a perfect companion for the Toraiz, switching/import/export stuff from one to the other. It's never really worked out that way (for me). I would strongly recommend the SP-16 to anyone though. It's my desert island device. Pure joy. Intuitively fast to use and sublime sounding. And of course works beautifully with the AS-1 (which I also own & adore). Used prices are still pretty low for what it is. The BB is far more versatile and a really incredible bit of kit, especially in terms of sequencing. Also 1010 Music are a truly fantastic company that continues supporting their products, unlike how Pioneer completely neglected/abandoned their Toraiz range. Pick an Sp-16. It's the SR-71 of sampler's. Sexy, sleek & cool, the speed of sound/sound of speed.
just saw this device in my sweetwater catalog and wondered about this. funny, i heard the first 3 seconds of this earlier earlier today and was wondering if this was the topic - so glad it is!
Another great video thanks! A video showing the workflow benefits of this Rythmic enhancer in a DAW would be awesome! I'm currently trying to figure it out, but the Time Warp feature is cutting my DAW editing to seconds vs. minutes. Amazing machine!
Man they came so close. But: 1- no song mode 2- only 16 pattern sets 3- can’t transpose across all tracks 4- don’t think you can have global time sig changes across all tracks Does thing ratchet? Goin w the squarp pyramid but really wanted this at first glance.
How does the Sequencer on the Novation Circuit compared to the Squid? An also ran, sorta similar, Apple’s and Rutabegas? Currently trying to grab a Vintage Alesis MMT-8 or Yamaha QY70 for Hardware Sequencing but the Circuit looks appealing too. I currently use Xequence and/or StepBud Sequencer apps on iPadPro and Maschine 2.xx on my Laptop but hard to beat Knobs, buttons, faders etc of Hardware. I LIKE having hardware to manipulate over just software. Thank you kindly.
Hello Ricky I got a question about the squid : Is it possible to import several quite complex midi files (polyphonic) from a protools session in the squid to make them play by analog synthesizer (like vermona perfourmer). I'm working on a live and i don't want a computer on stage. So I'm searching a sequencer quite simple but able to import and play the midi files i'm working on protools. Thanks !
Control center 9000 🤣🤣 #nailedit Great review! Saw this up close at Moogfest w/ the Toriaz guys. That workshop and this video reaffirm my thoughts of this monster.
The biggest fail on this product is only giving 16 Pattern Sets. With a Track based sequencer architecture, there needs to be a way to group patterns together in meaningful ways. The Engine allows you to create snapshots which include all of the current settings for each track, including what pattern is assigned, mute states, etc. They included 128 of these which is ample for a live performance. It allows you to easily change up patterns on multiple tracks, send midi program changes, etc and build up songs on the fly.. With only 16 Pattern Sets you are limited to basically one "Pattern" on any more traditional Pattern based architecture. That's one "Scene" on the SP-16. It takes anywhere from 4-7 button presses just to change a single pattern and that change happens at the end of the current bar. Imagine trying to change multiple patterns simultaneously? 4x patterns would be anywhere between 16 and 28 button presses all in a 4 bar time frame. This is ludicrous and I cannot recommend this sequencer to anyone until this glaring oversight is corrected. The SQUID needs at LEAST 64 if not 128 or 256 Pattern Sets or it's a useless machine for anything other than generating cool 4x bar midi patterns. If you have an in at Pioneer, please let them know this needs to be addressed ASAP.
Hate to say this but yesterday was first time I ever hooked my Drum machine to my Squid. I’ve got the bloodshot eyes to prove that was a MISTAKE. Drove myself insane till 2:30 am Is there a way to set aside say 8 tracks of the Squid for Kick, snare, open and closed hats, 2 toms crash and ride? Then still use the randomizer for the beat without having to manually go in and change all pitches to that of a Kick drum? Etc Thank you kindLy, I’ve seen folks doing it on YT with the SP-16 but I’m using an Uno Drum. I even jumped into Logic Pro thinking maybe it’s something weird with the Uno Drum. Is this MAD idea even possible?
Love your videos and I am glad you covered this sequencer. I was hung up between this and the Squarp Pyramid, but I hated the fact that the pyramid only had a mini-USB for power. Anyone else have the Beatstep break issue? (Table gets bounced and the mini-USB gets broke). Anyway, your demo was spot on, gave me the facts, showed it can do everything I need it to ... so I ordered a squid.
Fantastic channel Ricky and your expertise and experience is always appreciated. Bit late to the party on this one as have been through a few other sequencers of late (Polyend Seq for instance - bit of a toy). Thought this was going to be the holy grail but can you just clarify that a pattern change has to made manually? Assume this can be set to come at the end step of the previous running pattern... Really don't know why companies do this. I had an original Roland R8 in 1990 - that had song mode on it. Would've been pretty much useless without it. (Eric - England)
I liked it, as in, didn't hear anything bad from it. But a good test which i haven't done is put a few drum sounds on different channels all on the same step. to hear the drift. I'll give that a try.
Your reviews are the best. Do you have a contemporary sequencer with song mode that you would recommend? Is the Octatrack a way to go? I have been using an old Roland micro composer but I need an upgrade for live situations.
THE WIDE EYE I love my Octatrack but for sequencing I prefer my Squarp Pyramid far more. It’s only focusing on MIDI where Octa is a sampler at heart. Pyramid has unlimited length patterns, chord types, easier to blend between songs, brighter screen, smaller footprint and cost... to name a few. Hope that helps.
@@elissitdesign thanks Eric. It sounds promising! It's just the midi stuff I need, and I thought that Squid would be perfect at first, but then I realised there was no song mode as I like to have as option as I am making vocal based music and like to have the sequencer running pre-programmed while I can tweak the synths and sing, as well as having the option of doing stuff on the sequencer if my focus is free to do so. Your helpful comment is much appreciated! Will check out Pyrmid a bit closer now. Thanks again.
What Eric said. Honestly I'm more MPC than any other sequencer, but the squid has won my heart in DAW sequencing. But the pyramid and it's Song mode are pretty wild in terms of flexibility
It looks like fun! Hey ricky, i noticed you have a behringer ddm4000, i have it too, but it crapped out on me....does yours still work? I think it needs a new capacitor because it still works, but it goes into "shock" (all lights turn on), but the middle section where the screen is, it doesn't even display anything which is weird.
@@RickyTinez I actually miss my DDM4000 a hell of a lot, yeah they all crapped out eventually and were built like crap, but functionally there's so much to love about that thing.
Is the issue at 10:20 with program changes fixed? Does it mean that this machine is basically useless when playing live, or does it just mean that I must change the preset on my synth directly and manually during a set? Also, how reactive is the Toraiz community and Squid devs - are you guys happy with the firmware updates?
Anyone know if it's possible sequence the TR8S with the squid? Really want the tr8s but also the flexibility of the squid (for micro timing ect) 🤔 any advice would be much appreciated
Squarp. You're going to want to have ur computer open with the Squid. think of it more as house and techno sketch book than an all-in-one solution to move away from ur laptop.
Always been hesitant about Pioneer moving into the music creation area cos of their DJ rep which led to gear which I didn't always figure was that musical. So let me ask you straight up as a guy I trust: would you call this musical?
Does anyone know if this can record Midi Piano chords with Sustain and modwheel inputs from a keyboard, then record another track of bass then another track of pads then another of drums....you know like a midi multitrack that nobody has made since 1983! Every one of these "live" stoner machines never records actual playing of full chords and sustain pedal inputs and pitch and bend. I'm going crazy I can't find a simple midi multitrack device for recording songs....and NO I dont want to go buy a laptop and drag that around and load software and use a mouse...I want a modern MSQ-700 with some more modern features and maybe even an SD. So what say you? Anyone know of a device that would do this? Does THIS record actual full piano chords and sustain?
I know I’m late but when you guys do videos for this gear why don’t y’all do one for the hip hop heads. Y’all got all this gear but do techno or house, I want something other then the MPC & Maschine to.
Hmmm, I’ve been on the fence about buying a new sequencer for a while & this seems pretty decent. Thought it would cost more but £520 seems pretty decent. Great review mate
Hey bro, great videos! Would you consider doing a video where you compare, sayy, drum machines that are in the same price range? And yeah, beginner friendly stuff is always appreciated :D
I'm not trying to sound all too negative here but it seems like sequencers are going in weird directions nowadays. We've seen the linear concepts in DAWs like Cubase and in the old hardware machines like MPCs and QYs with all their complexity, then the stripped down "easier" concepts in the Electribes and such, the Elektrons with their "alternating loops" kind of workflow with probability, polymetric patterns and all that... Apparently companies are currently pushing the idea of creating these "happy accidents" which I'm sure can be fun to a certain extend but I feel like they are really overdoing it. When I'm listening to a song I want to feel connected to an idea, I'm trying to understand the intention of what someone is trying to express. But this becomes watered down and almost impossible when the machine is taking over the process of creating even the most basic musical elements. I want to be the musician, I don't want the machine to do that type of work for me because that wouldn't be my music anymore. I know you don't have to use the machine this way but let's face it...
I don't agree that's what's happening. The producer is totally making the decisions, and crafting a piece that's much larger than what you're looking at. Although i appreciate that information. I'm moving over from software to hardware.
I dont get why almost no one gets the deluge by synthstrom!? It has everything you want from a grovebox.. i know the price can be high, but the deluge is probably the last grovebox you have to buy
@@museovations Im using it mainly to sequence external gear. in my case the behringer model d, the microbrute and the roland sh-01 gaia. the gaias parameters can even be controlled remotely from the deluge by sending midi cc messages. in my opinion this little box is the best bang for your buck.
Are we talkin audio or midi? With the squid they have an application for your computer where you can drag-and-drop sequences off of the squid directly into a daw like Ableton. It's badass
