I was disheartened to discover that Embodme is releasing a Erae Touch II not even 2 months after I purchased one. I was told before I bought it that they were planning a big update for January, but they didn’t mention it was a hardware update. Frustrating that the communication is so misleading with them. Let’s hope they get the original model working with MIDI 2.0 fully as advertised and issue a firmware update that addresses some issues and features like a fleshed out sequencer.
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Where did you see this?
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I hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid that the improvements we’ve been waiting for for over a year for the current version are compromised…
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Not too much information… Fingers crossed that they offer improved software compatible to both devices as far as technically feasible.
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They are it showing off at their NAMM booth this week.
Date, price, pics and a video can all be found here:
The surface on the Erae II is completely different from the original Erae touch. This one feels like fabric. They said the surface will be user-replaceable and that you’ll have the option of using the old surface as well.
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it’d be interesting to see some details. from what we can see…
looks like they have added an mcu, so that it can have more standalone capabilities.
in particular
- 12 cv jacks
- small oled display, plus control knob, and some buttons and micro sd card.
one small advantage, is the surface is now fully rectangular, no ‘cut out’ for the side controls.
I think the move is just extending the ‘generic controller’ vibe, by adding cv…
given 12 cv is really only 4 x/y/z axis for expressive control, and few have eurorack setups that can handle this anyway.
so, Im not so sure myself… the CV addition is indeed nice for modulation.
the oled display is nice, but I do not like that knob at all!
I love how sleek the Erae Touch 1 is… this feels like it has lost the battle of function over form.
as for mk1 owners…of course a new product always has potential of meaning no support for old products, but it doesn’t always happen. overall the tech looks very similar to me, and I could imagine a lot of firmware/ software synergy between the two… even, perhaps, continuing to sell the mk1
even the new surface… could be make available, as the mk1 does have a user-replaceable surface too.
but for sure, embodme, have not been great on there support side of the mk1… so I’d not hold my breath… but lets see.
finally… being the same tech, unless there have been some refinements we cannot see… then I see it behaving quite similarly to the mk1 - for good n’ bad.
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We can hope that, at least, touch sensitivity will be better calibrated, otherwise… like you say, if it can bring with it bugs solutions and features improvements on mk1 it may be a good thing.
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we can hope…
Ive just noticed something ‘odd’, on the left hand edge, where the mk1 has the cutout… theres no leds! I think, more evidence, the main surface is identical to the mk1, they have just added the top section, for more physical controls and cv.
Im intrigued about the surface change, I wonder what impact this might have on feel / sensitivity … and was this the driving reason for change?
or… its it more cosmetic, as the rubber surface does mark/look dirty quite quickly.
anyways… Feb 15th for kickstarter which’ll presumably provide all the details.
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A more complete presentation here : Embodme ERAE II, redesigned MPE touch controller for the modular world
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They claim to also have improved the sensors for more touch sensitivity. If somebody has a chance to play this and can possibly compare it to Erae I, Morph and Linnstrument&Co that would be interesting!
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For some reason, this does not bother me at all. I enjoy my unit, and it is already paid for. As long as our units continue to be supported and firmware improved, I’m ok.
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More info by Edgar himself at Namm
I’m impressed by reactivity on the drums at the beginning. Something I could not do on mine. Not sure what they changed though, as every manufacturer always claim they do massive changes in a new product even when not so much
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ah the cv jacks are stereo… thats cool.
sounds like the sensitivity changes are largely thru the surface type change.
(as they mention for drummers putting on the silicone which is similar to v1)
it’d be nice if they made new skins of the mk1, though economically , I can imagine its not very appealing.
for sure, new products don’t make our existing instruments any less useful…
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Sonicstate coverage. Just about to watch it myself so cannot comment on how it comes across in this video yet.
edit - sorry I didnt realise the video already posted here was the sonicstate one so Ive removed my embed (thumbnail and title were different in the previous forum embedded video to what I saw later and reposted, they must have fiddled with it later on youtube).
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Oh good, I had speculated in the past that we see a lot of expressive controllers coming out of France because of government investment in R&D there, and this was actually mentioned near the end of that sonicstate video!
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this is encouraging from Embodme’s email (my emphasis)
so, at least for now, they haven’t forgotten us 
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Hi Everyone,
We have not forgotten you!
We are aware that our communication and updates in the last 12 months has been sporadic, so here is short statement addressing some of the concerns mentioned in this forum (and elsewhere):
As you are already aware we are a small team of 6 people working full time and have been taken (not to say overwhelmed) into many different projects including the development of our breakthrough technology IRIS and fundraising to get this innovation into the real world. I will not expand too much about this here but this new technology and sensors has been in our roadmap since day one, and will be embedded into many different products and applications to come!
With the reveal of ERAE II at NAMM you can now understand why we’ve been under stealth mode for so long!
We have taken all of the feedback from our community of users (more than 1500 to this day!) and worked on some important improvement of the hardware for this new version.
The linearity and sensitivity of the force sensors being an important part of our focus for the R&D team.
To reassure you and all of the new customers we’ve also been working on the portability of all of the firmware and software between the two versions.
As you can see from the video at NAMM, beside the Looper function and the CV Gates output, the firmware running on those prototypes is the exact same as ERAE Touch.
And to prove our goodwill 
and commitment we are releasing a new firmware version 1.4 that will fix some minor bugs and UI/UX issues!
It does not includes the major features that we’ve discussed with some of you already but be assured that your ERAE will be compatible with MIDI 2.0 in the coming months, as well as some cool UI updates such as element orientation and the ability to edit notes and colors at the pixel level (without the max element limitation).
Our goal at the moment is to be able to ship the first batch of ERAE II this summer and make the official software release and portability to ERAE I along with it.
In the coming days we will publish more and more videos and informations about this new product but do not hesitate to ask any specific questions you have here!
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thanks @embodme for stopping by and giving us some background.
there are a lot of us here with Erae Touch, so having some ideas about your plans is really good news.
I’d like to address a couple of points.
Communication.
ok, I know as a developer, this can be difficult when working on multiple projects, esp. if they are using related code bases… so you don’t want to let the cat out of the bag about a new project etc.
however, there is a happy medium between ‘stealth mode’ (aka silence !) and telling everyone everything you are up to.
there are issues on the ET that have existed since day 1… when I met you at Superbooth and showed you first hand, that none of your minor updates have addressed.
also, Id work on your wording…
I dont think providing a firmware update to fix bugs and issues is ‘goodwill’, frankly, this is would be a reasonable ‘user expectation’., one we have been hoping for, for quite a while.
related, whilst its completely understandable, that new products will impact new features coming to the ET mk1, it should not impact its support and resolving existing issues.
put bluntly, really you need to finish one project before starting two others… esp, releasing a mk2 for something with issues.
Erae Touch mk2
a bit related to above, I think we need a bit more info about the mk2… with less PR spin and also how it affects mk1 users.
no-one is expecting the mk1 to magically be a mk2, or even new features to be add…
but some more details about what we can expect in terms of compatibility and firmware updates.
also…
your interviews have been talking about changes to the sensitivity, something many of us have had issues here with on the mk1.
how has this been achieved? is this due to new sensors, or the change in surface.
when marketing the mk1 (and mk2 I believe), you mentioned that the ET was built so that the surface could be replaced (e.g. in case of damage?).
perhaps you could offer then new surface in the mk1 form factor… as a ‘upgrade’ (at reasonable cost), if this might address some of the issues we are facing.
Focus
please do not get me wrong…
as a developer, I know its hard, lots of balls to juggle, and then there are the economics… you need revenue to pay wages.
similarly, I’ve come to conclusion the major ‘issue’ with the ET mk1 and mk2, you are trying to cover way to many use-cases… and frankly, that creates the danger of being a jack of all trades, master of none.
particularly, many of us, bought the ET as a MPE playing surface, its touch n’ feel, accuracy is paramount. … an area is has deficiencies in.
however, if feels this use-case, is the worst for ET… rather it works well as a more generic controller, and drum pads… something many of us, didn’t really buy it for.
overall, Ive had to change what I use the mk1 for, according to what it can actually do… rather than my intended use-case as an MPE surface which you marketed it as 
again, as a dev, I can see why you’d want to cover as many bases as possible… but its creates a lot more dev effort… since you are marketing this device to many different people, each will focus on different elements being important.
frankly, adding a looper to the mk2, does not help this use-case explosion.
I bet a tiny fraction of the community use the sequencer in the mk1, or that Ableton live mode.
The Future… Erae Touch mk2
anyway, its great you have a new product, I think the CV outputs are a great idea in particular, and the oled will be handy too.
BUT…
if you take a look at posts on this forum (with as I said a solid ET user base), you’ll see many have had issues with the mk1, and also communication.
I don’t know how many of use would be confident to back your mk2
the product (mk2) looks great, and would interest many of us (it be perfect for my eurorack setup)
but your history of support (firmware updates) for the mk1, is frankly, pretty poor
frankly, no amount of marketing/pr changes that… mostly consumers will judge based on past performance.
as I said above, there is no way, Id recommend the ET mk1 as an MPE surface, is simply not reliable enough - and frankly, Id not gamble on the mk2 being better, as you haven’t even acknowledged the issue on the mk1, so how can we know its really ‘fixed’ on the mk2.
past performance reflects on confidence for future products.
I really do hope you can turn this around…
I still think the ET mk1 (and mk2) are a fantastic form factor, but the poor communication, and lack of firmware updates to address issues, make it really hard to recommend.
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Thank you for this excellent summary of the situation, and as far as I am concerned, my feelings and fears.
Apart from a few rare outings to try to get something out of it that corresponds to my use (and its initial description), my ET has been in its box, awaiting an update since fall 2022.
A bug that I had reported, which had been recognized and quickly discussed, has been maintained for 16 months, without any feedback since. It’s very long and discouraging.
But I can’t bring myself to sell it because it potentially contains what I expected, but which is totally spoiled by the well-known defects concerning the regularity of pressure during movements. And I have no interest in using it as a percussion instrument or a simple trigger.
So I understood that these problems were heard and, apparently, addressed in version 2, which suggests that they will not be for version 1… And when I read that, as an improvement, it will there being “the ability to edit notes and colors at the pixel level”, I’m tempted to give up! Having more choice for coloring pixels than for MIDI messages (no polyphonic pressure) is also a shame…
In short, between the total non-communication of the past and the cost that purchasing the mk2 would represent, I also have my fears
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