25 thoughts on “Synthstrom Audible Deluge 2.1 Multisampling Sneak Preview”

1. It’s starting to become a little unbelievable at this point. The Deluge was amazing when I preordered the idea of what it was going to be. The continual development is sooooo excellent… and the features coming on board… and how well they are implemented… I’m just beyond impressed.

   1. > how well the features are implemented

      so apparently in the year of the lord 2018 a display is not a feature anymore. sad.

      1. Admin: Personal attack deleted.

         Keep comments constructive and on topic.

         1. It wasn’t so bad… just wondering if ALL things in life need a screen… like how about stadiums without a JumboTron?

            1. Plus… if we are to keep things on topic… why, after making a positive comment about a wonderful machine, is this person allowed to come along and crap on my opinion with an off topic rant? The reply had nothing to do with my original post, and in its own way is a personal attack. Just sayin’. Would be nice if moderation happened on a clearly and consistently “off topic” contributor.

   2. wait till you discover “laptops”. it will blow your mind when you see the feature set and ongoing software development. it’s kinda unbelievable.

      1. I’d love to see a laptop for sale with built-in cv/gate/midi din in/out, boots up in under 5 seconds, has one committed developer (that listens and actually resolves issues asap), and only requires one purchase to remain functional… This market, is in large part for the folks who have, for various reasons, opted to avoid the mainstream consumer options and are wanting an all-in-one solution, without the endless hassle of driver/software updates and troubleshooting. Not quite sure why any post from this company showcasing it’s developments gets such derision from fellow electronic music makers? Is it perfect? Will it make you toast? Nope and nope. Do some people really, really like it? Are some people enjoying see its development? Yep and yep.

         1. I’ll change my mind once I see this thing pop up in professional live PA. And the standalone argument is ridiculous, apart from very simplistic noodling trying out basic features I haven’t seen videos or lives where the deluge isn’t used as part of a larger setup.

            1. Usually laptop is also just a part of a larger setup. But as a Deluge user I can tell you that you could easily play with just Deluge. And maybe a MIDI controller to have more knobs. But you would also use MIDI controller with a laptop, right? I’m using Deluge with MIDI controller and two synths. They are connected to Deluge so I can apply some effects to them. And that’s it. No other samplers, sequencers etc… And yes, I’m playing gigs outside my bedroom 😉

               If you prefer working with large screen then use MPC Live. Or iPad. Or laptop. If you like to work with sequencers and don’t necessary need a big screen then Deluge is perfect. As a person who works in office 8+ hours a day in front of a computer, it’s nice to make music without staring at screen.

      2. Please tell me more about these “laptops” you are referring to. Sounds intriguing!!

2. But there are still many many features which aren’t implemented well. The workflow is on some cases unbelievable bad. Hope they finally smoothing old features, too. Too many big new features, too less intuitive workflow.

   1. Bob could you explain what exactly ? I am interested in the Deluge but workflow is important for me.

      1. Hi Jean, it’s not easy to explain every issue if you don’t own a Deluge but I try to explain a few.

         Song view on Deluge should be something similar to Ableton‘s session view. If you’re interested in this function, forget about it. You will never have the same overview and performance possibilities. 1 horizontal line is = 1 track. So 8 tracks max visible (why not vertical = 16 tracks visible?). But the biggest problem is: if you want to make a variation of your melody (Ableton: new clip), you need to copy the whole track! If you have more variations the sceen is full (if there are 8). You need always scrolling, it’s not possible to launch different clips/tracks simultaneously. Besides this, it’s very hard to detect which line/track os referring to which instrument. There is not: 1 single color = 1 clip (like Ableton). Your tracks are often multi colored.

         If you work with different tracks lengths (so different zoom states), you always need to adjust the zoom state when you enter a new track. This happens because the Deluge uses always the last zoom state to all tracks. Very annoying and often you will not find the zoom of the notes which you edited before.

         Cloned tracks behaving strange. You can’t play them simultaneously and you can’t set them to the same preset. And if you change synth parameters some will affect other clones, some parameters not. It’s very chaotic and dangerous.

         Unfortunately there is more stuff like this, currently. Would be nice if the following updates will be „workflow enhancements only“.

         1. The eight tracks visible at a time thing is true, but it is possible to launch multiple clips simultaneously. You can either click the tracks individually or group them into colors/scenes. All tracks that are assigned the same color are launched at the same time, and you even have the option per color/scene to stop previously playing tracks (completely new scene) or keep the previously playing tracks playing (like adding a solo or additional percussion). It arguably could be improved if they layed out things exactly like Live, but it isn’t a dealbreaker.

            Zoom states could be added as an optional global setting, but it makes sense to leave everything at the same zoom level in my opinion. There are dedicated knobs to zoom in and out anyways.

            Cloned tracks ‘behaving strangely’ is by design. If two tracks share the same preset, whatever track is currently playing will stop when you launch the cloned track. If for instance you copied a bass track and made a variation to it, launching the variation track will automatically stop the original bass line. Though it may sound unintuitive on paper, this makes much more sense in a live setting. It would be bad if launching the variation did not stop the original track. If the performer wants both tracks to play simultaneously, it’s trivial to change the preset number of the cloned track to make that happen.

            The workflow is incredible for some people and ‘unbelievably bad’ for others. I personally believe the Deluge is in a class of its own. The multi-sampling and sample editing features previewed for the 2.1 update fix the main issues I have with the device. It is a swiss army knife of a production tool, and the price is an absolute steal given its feature set.

            1. From my point of view you’re whitewashing issues. But each to their own taste, of course.

               No, if you have several tracks with several variations you can’t play them flexible like in Ableton (scrolling through many clones/tracks to find the desired ones to activate them step by step, is not an option). You just can make some kind of „scene“, this isn’t the same as jamming with clips.

               Cloned tracks which share the same preset (Ableton = clips) should stop eachother, yes. But the problem lies in the design of song mode. This just makes sense if each line is a specific track (which isn’t the case in song mode, just in arranger mode), not with copied tracks.

               And the issue that some synth parameters affecting other cloned tracks, and other synth parameters doesn’t do it… you love this behavior, too??

               If the current zoom state is always changing/affecting everything, it IS a fault by design. If you zoom ie. your hihat to 1/64, you like that ALL tracks (including song view) is also set to 1/64?? Come on, you must be kidding! Can’t see any advantage and don’t know any sequencer which have this confusing behavior.

               Doesn’t matter, if you like this behaviours it‘s ok. On the other hand there must be a reason why there is some kind of a „standard“ behaviour in sequencers, and a reason why people complaining very often about the same issues (as I told there is some more stuff like this).

               I don’t want to badmouth the Deluge, it’s a great device. But it definitely needs much more development in terms of workflow.

3. It’s a wonderful machine. Screen is debatable but I would go for it myself, even if just to scroll through unwieldy filenames.

4. I have not used this device in any professional capacity. I’ve only watched videos and have come to the firm conclusion that its workflow isn’t for anyone!

   It’s now my life’s responsibility to let people know that this device is not going to work for them by posting on forums and ranting about the aspects of it, I’ve never experienced first hand and never will.

   I will direct all my frustrations to the fact that someone decided to use their own time and money to create a product that was not tailored to my specific needs that I clearly know are actually everyone’s specific needs.

   Its nothing more than a glorified lite-brite especially without a screen. It will fail as a musical product just like the piano, guitar, sax, and the drum due to this lack of screen and non- laptop like workflow.

   You’ve been warned my children

5. it’s not a good sign when a product can’t stand up to criticism, many people say the Deluge is an acquired taste and a workflow that is especially not for everyone and those same people get all hot and bothered when others come along to question the workflow and features, you can’t have it both ways. The developer of the Deluge is a very nice person, please don’t get that confused with how great the workflow is, the deluge is a great instrument and it needs a lot of work.

   1. seriously. this is a very beautiful, nice toy, and an obvious labor of love by the developer. if you have the spare cash, supporting the developer is a great thing to do.
      the only thing is just, don’t fool others into thinking it’s an actual full blown instrument and compare it to the other examples of serious electronic or classical instruments listed, which all have decades or centuries of development by hundreds of people behind them. it’s “just” another DIY synth / sampler like there are so many out there. probably the greatest of them yet, but let’s see how many people will remember the Deluge in 10 years from now.

6. Wow! this thing just keeps getting better! Impressive additions!

7. I agree. It’s an amazing machine. The dev is putting his heart and soul into this and it shows. The wave form editing function is genius. Can’t wait to get one.

8. I’ve had one for awhile now. As far as workflow goes, the Deluge isn’t better or worse than any other groove box. It’s not as immediate as the old gen Electribes, but it’s easily more accessible and faster than most of the Elektrons. It’s not a fiddly as something from MFB, certainly not as overwhelming as the MPC Live but not as funky as the Tempest.

   It is what it is and in terms of what it does, it’s just a matter of what you like and not. There’s no inherent flaw or fundamental divergence, it’s just something else. There’s no objective statement to how good or bad it is to work with, it’s your own preference that decides this.

   For what it sets out to do and how it positions itself, it’s a great piece of kit. But like any instrument that aims to lt you create complete productions on it, you gotta learn it and you gotta like it as you learn it. And that’s as much on you as on the Deluge.

   1. Andreas I don’t think it could be said any better than that.

   2. Well said, Andreas.

9. Thanks, guys 🙂