Erae Touch V1.3

Erae Touch
1

Hello everyone!

The new firmware is ready!
https://www.embodme.com/downloads

So far this is the biggest update we’ve ever done since the launch!
We spent a very long time refining the Touch sensitivity and consistency, and polishing the UI.
So please write your feedback here!

Here is a comprehensive list of al the bug fix and new features:

[Updated Changelog (Erae Touch Firmware only)]

* CC and Channel numbers can be changed from the CC mapping menu
* User can choose whether to send MPE and non MPE MIDI data on different USB MIDI outputs or not
* Long press on Alt button when in CC Mapping mode will save all layouts (including MIDI channels, MIDI CC and scale information)
* Improved finger detection
* Fixed button behaviour when using with DAW
* Revamped all MIDI FX
* Better finger pressure filter on slide
* Fixed inconsistent internal BPM issue
* Fixed issue that caused some USB MIDI messages to not be transmitted
* Fixed sequencer sequence saving issues
* Fixed stuck note issue in sequencer (a single sequencer can now play at most 16 notes at the same time)
* Control Change & Program Change buttons state is now shared across all layouts
* Fixed button bugs
* MPE configuration messages are now only sent when changing layout
* MIDI Clock is now in internal mode by default
* Fixed imprecision of note selection in Harmonizer effect UI
* Fixed a bug that prevented some animations from being displayed
* Fixed BPM display issues and capped internal BPM to 999
* Fixed some visual bugs
* Improved Sequencer Record Quantization

[Updated Changelog (Erae Lab)]

* Project management
* Pitchbend in vibrato section
* Improved learn section
* Deactivate preview mode upon pulling layouts
* Fix duplicate elements bug
* Contraints relative CC initial value within min/max
* Various UI improvements
2 Likes
2

I don’t know if it’s psychological and I have to test it more, but I feel play os more fluid, more secure now.

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3

I tried this yesterday…

I’d echo, I do think it is better.
really the Eraa Touch is much more usable to me now… adding the ability to change the CC and midi channel on the device, particularly, has made it more attractive to use.

I still have a few issues… @embodme

the worst one (by far) is Im seeing it breaking a touch (gate on)… usually when on initially touch, but occasionally at note off.

what does this look like…

I press the surface once… so would expect one long note,
but what I see (when recording)
is VERY short note, (note-on/note-off), followed by a new note for the duration I expect.
so something like e.g.
N N----------------------------------------------------------------------N

or as above, the note is on for the duration, but rather than just on release, and then there is a very short note as I release e.g.
N----------------------------------------------------------------------N N

to be very clear… these ‘stray notes’ are extremely short, not something you would play.

what I think is happening, is during early/late part of the touch, its probably dropping below the min threshold and then bouncing back up, this is being interpreted as two touches.
I think this is ‘fine’, its a limitation of the technology

however, I think a bit of more hysteresis in the touch algo could resolve this.
particularly in the note-on example, the note is so short, I think the firmware could wait a ‘tiny’ fraction to see if the note ‘reappears’ quickly, and so just continues the note.

the delay could be ‘configurable’ as it could potentially responsiveness a tiny bit…but its really so short I don’t think so.

the note-off could be done in a similar fashion i.e. don’t allow new note on (for same note) within a fraction of ms

I do think this area is really important…
as we’ve mentioned before, the most important thing , beyond anything else for an instrument is it behaves consistently… you cannot have it dropping notes, or introducing new ones.
as it just sounds like you are playing badly.

(obviously, how much this unexpected behaviour can be heard depends very much on the sound source you are using… !)

if that means loosing responsiveness, so be it… consistency is king here.
I can play around latency/responsiveness but not pseudo random behaviour.

4 Likes
4

I’m on the verge of buying one, but feel scared away by the lack of responsiveness of the company. Are you all generally happy with your decision to get one? It seems to have great future potential for high resolution controlling with the MIDI 2.0 spec and UMP stuff in it? Of course if it’s abandoned, that really doesn’t matter much :frowning:

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5

Don’t buy it for MIDI 2.0 IMO. It’s a plus, but knows when we will see some actual MIDI 2.0 products

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And the MIDI 2.0 spec was updated recently and the updated details were only made public in recent weeks.

And do they list any specific MIDI 2.0 functionality that is available in the device already?

I ask that because there are many different parts to MIDI 2.0, so devices will need to be explicit about which of those they’ve actually implemented.

A red flag for me is that in their online manual they describe a ‘MIDI 2.0 TRS mini Jack’ but actually some important parts of the MIDI 2.0 spec dont work over traditional DIN/Jack connections at all, including some features that we would imagine being of use with expressive control surfaces. And some other parts of MIDI 2.0 that do work over DIN/TRS require 2-way communication so you would need both MIDI in and out.

3 Likes
7

For example, MIDI 2.0 things like higher resolution messages and far more per-note messages require Universal MIDI Packet (UMP) data format. The spec currently exists for that format to work over USB, not DIN/TRS. Work to support it over networks is in progress, and the MIDI associations do not rule out developing it to work with other transports such as serial in time, but there is no certainty about that.

So for now I’m inclined to consider references to MIDI 2.0 and this device as sloppy marketing, and a statement of future intent, rather than anything more meaningful at present.

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TRS cannot be used in bi-directional way ?

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9

It could if there were two of them, an in and an out, just like DIN.

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10

Because I am sometimes too cynical about that sort of thing, I solicited opinions from MIDI 2.0 experts on that and got a useful response:

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11

In fact, what Embodme does about this is using MIDI 2.0 messages types internally

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12

yeah the MMA published a video about ET use/support of Midi 2.0 (a year ago!) ,
where embodme state they use midi 2.0 structures internally.

so the main thrust is, supporting midi 2.0 externally is ‘not such a major step’ for them.

of course, we need to temper this a bit…
we don’t know how close the internal implementation is to the midi 2.0… as we haven’t seen it, and they didn’t have to get it certified at all.
(put another way, using UMP as the internal data format … does not mean its midi 2.0, thats only part of the puzzle/protocol)

frankly, most of this is just marketing,
( basically the MMA need to show devs are taking midi 2.0 seriously, and planning for its future) … as we, as end users, see no benefit from its use internally (at this stage).

you do also wonder why if its ‘so close’ , that a year later, embodme still dont support it externally, even in a limited/experimental/beta form.
at a minimum, for them, there would be some marketing kudos, and would start to help midi 2.0 chicken n’ egg situation.

don’t get me wrong…
midi 2.0 won’t be main stream until officially supported in major OSs and daws.
but that does not stop a small company like Embodme, getting a bit of a head start, even if its for marketing at this time.

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I totally agree it’s not a « major step », it’s a small step that still has to be confirmed with future development. And at Embodme current updating pace, who knows when (and even if)

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14

I still hoping to pick one of these up once I get reassurance that it is still being supported. Has anyone heard anything in awhile?

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15

no, even marketing is quiet these days

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16

I got a notification from the Embodme forum:

" We are currently under the implementation of an entire new system upgrade that will be released very soon. We have not forgotten you, but we usually keep this forum for our users, if you like to ask us anything directly feel free to reach out to support@embodme.com. But we take into account all your feature requests and something new is coming soon, so stay tuned ;)."

soon can mean many things :slight_smile:

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17

I think in the case of ET, any news is better than none :slight_smile:

it is kind of strange, that they seem to be actively still promoting ET, but we have not seen any dev effort - or indication of what they may be up too.
of course, its possible, that at this point this is a ‘part time’ effort for some/all of the team, so perhaps they just don’t have that much time at the moment to take it further?

but all speculation, given we have heard nothing for a long time.

note: forum seems to be down… though, perhaps this is all part of the same plan :wink:

3 Likes
18

I got an e-mail saying this:

" arjan simons

if you look at the downloads, the firmware version, embedded in file, is 1.30.

the long awaited firmware version, that fixes sensitivy etc.?"

Also, for anyone who doesn’t know yet, Embodme is having a BF sale and the Erae Touch is $200 off.

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19

How is it working out?

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20

I’ve had some time to mess with the Touch and am super impressed with the responsiveness and tactile feel. And the software and whole system seem so well designed. I’m very glad I got it. Someone from Embodme told me that their whole team is working on an update for it and that it could come out as early as January. Pretty excited about it, considering where it’s at right now. It really is a perfect controller for me. I can see how it could be a replacement for all my 3 keyboard controllers. I particularly like how large the surface it. I can have multiple layouts to access which is super helpful. I experienced a couple glitches where it didn’t seem to sent layout controller assignments properly from Erae Lab. But eventually it did with multiple attempts. Would be curious if anyone else had this happen? I’m using firmware 1.30.

3 Likes