Never used the Deluge but note preview on the Hapax is something i was expecting since the grid is like a big piano roll and pretty much every daw with piano roll that i know have the possibility to preview note entry.
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This is why some things would be better to have as option in configuration imho. Such as note preview. Lots of users can use it, and lots of users can chose not to.
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I would imagine creating such a functionality is a fair bit of coding, with conditional functionality (not in terms of turning the option off or on, but how to react to a button being pressed)
Not saying it can’t or won’t be done, but you might have to take that into account.
Essentially it’s always going to be a design choice, based on what they want verses how much time they have.
One thing I literally just noticed, which may be of interest (don’t think anyone above has mentioned this, apologies if so) but in step mode, if you press and hold the Live button, it switches to the ‘keyboard’ screen, and you can press a note on there and it sounds. As long as you have Note Learn enabled on Step mode, when you release the Live button, step mode has that note waiting for you on the bottom row.
This is less immediate than having that note available on Step mode, but playing with it just now, it’s actually a pretty quick way of auditioning notes before placing them on the grid in step mode. Can actually see myself using this a lot.
It also works for chords.
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NICE.
Mark has mentioned this a couple of times and its a quite good option. The only thing is currently not working if you have global scale filter on.
Ah ok. I skim read everything above because there was a lot of replies. Sorry for missing.
WOW your method really helps! Quick question, when you set the loop start and press < and 3, then < and 4, does it skip around ? It seems to be erratically skipping around from <4 and <5. Thanks!
Brilliant thanks for illuminating this. This and similar misunderstandings of the product are always something that happen early, but I think the documentation should be updated to emphasize, highlight, and address the numerous misunderstandings of the products capabilities and intended workflow.
@roncavagnaro just want to make sure you saw this
Hahaha… I’m not sure any person who writes documentation can address every potential misunderstanding. I write a lot of documentation of processes in my job, and sometimes the best way is just to say what you can do, rather than what might work if you’re trying to do something else.
Also, it’s worth remembering that a LOT of learning new stuff is just playing around and working out your own best workflow. No sequencer (or any other system you haven’t written and designed entirely yourself - and sometimes not even that) is perfect, there’s a few things I wish Hapax did differently, because I can see a ‘better’ way, but at the end of the day, we have all essentially outsourced this to someone else, who may or may not think differently to us.
The Pyramid was, for a very long time, the best sequencer for me, because although it was not perfect, it ticked a lot more boxes than any other sequencer I tried (and I tried a lot) and the Hapax is, luckily for me, a refinement of most of the bits I really liked on Pyramid.
It’s kind of easy to think as software can be changed (rather than hardware, which feels more ‘static’) that it should, but it still comes down to resources and the whim of the designers. The fact that they are open to suggestions and they work bloody hard on making great, (mostly) intuitive products is something to be massively celebrated. You wouldn’t get a look in on some bigger companies.
Case and point, my NI Komplete S61 has a great keybed, but you cannot change the MIDI channel of the keyboard without plugging in USB and changing it in their editor. But plugging it into USB disables the MIDI out port. Which is not only infuriating, but completely insane and actually a little bit psychopathic. But there is literally zero chance of me being able to get them to change that, and that’s just something I have to accept. Squarp, on the other hand, have never made anything psychopathically limiting, and this particular thing, whilst possibly annoying - I would never consider it a dealbreaker, because Hapax offers so many other amazing things you cannot find anywhere else. I mean… you can load TWO PROJECTS and switch between them seemlessly, which is an absolute gamechanger. Ridiculously amazing.
So give 'em a break, guys. They have given us an amazing tool and we really should not forget that. If it doesn’t work for you, then that’s fine, there are other sequencers out there, but TWO PROJECTS (and everything else)
Sorry for the long schpeel/rant. I’ve been drinking gin and tonic tonight.
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Glad it’s helpful! I haven’t noticed any issues like what you described, no. I’m usually looping at least 4 steps, but I just tried it as you described and it seemed OK …
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Ahhhh story of my life. This alone makes me want to abandon all my NI gear. Same with Maschine.
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OKAY I take it all back. hapax is absolutely amazing. I really take it all back. I figured it out, and pretty much endless awesomeness. Worth the money big time. Can’t wait to learn more about it
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glad you found a way to get your groove on 
Hey thanks I’m really sorry about all the stupid whining. I still want that feature eventually but holy crap what a great sequencer! I will use deluge still both together are awesome in their own way!
I don’t see it as whining at all…
I get that different people are used to different workflows - thats cool, perhaps some can be incorporated to good affect.
so, my primary focus is to use my experience to let users know how it works with hapax, the workflow (I believe) intended… perhaps uncovering something missed, that may be hampering their usage e.g. its seems many had not discovered the ‘momentary’ nature of Live button (*)
thats why I try to focus more on what is possible now rather than too much about on possible improvements, which may or may not come… I want users to be happy today, and not feel like they have to wait for v2 firmware !
anyway, keep exploring, keep enjoying, keep grooving
(*) top tip: same is true of pattern button 
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@Loz @jps yeah as a linux user I have had to completely abandon NI products, no matter as much as I want to shoehorn there stuff in. It is too much hit or miss with them, and they didnt have any USB class compliant products, at the time anyway, Idk about now.
Loz do you have a video showing the example note audition method you were describing? I still have not seen anyone do so on youtube. I am sure someone will demo it eventually though.
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The Akai Force has that feature & it only has 64 pads & its really convenient so i hope the Hapax get that ability with it 128 pads.
I don’t have a video, unfortunately (my phone is ridiculously old) but the steps to perform are this:
- Go to Step mode
- Press and Hold the Live button
- Whilst holding the Live button, select your note (it will play) or chord or whatever, and so long as you hold the Live button you can play around with notes or chords.
- When you are happy, release the Live button
- On Screen 1, you’ll see a grey box with your note in with “Learn” above it.
- Press the second button across in the first set (one right next to Screen 1 on the top row)
- Press the bottom row in the place in the sequence you want to place the note or chord
- It’s now in place
- Repeat steps above (although you shouldn’t need to repeat step 5.
- Done.
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FWIW, I’m trying to modify notes in a pattern in step mode while it’s playing, and it feels pretty much impossible for me to know what the pad I just pressed is going to sound like until the loop comes back around to that note. I’d definitely like a way to press a note’s pad and then, somehow, hear the note of the pad that I’m pressing.
But I have an idea! If the pitch of the note being previewed could be output to a separate MIDI channel or a CV out, just like the metronome currently is, I could send both into my cue / headphones mix so only I hear it, and not the audience. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just a clearly audible pitch that will help me, like the metronome does, while performing.
I’ll make a feature request for this now.
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My Hapax was delivered a few days back and I love it so far…
…but man, not hearing notes as I press pads in step mode (or not having the option to, at least) is really weird/frustrating. It’s like playing blind - hitting keys on a keyboard with no sound and hoping the right ones come out the next time it loops. Honestly, I’m shocked that more people aren’t highlighting this.
I’m imagining step mode working as-is, except that whenever I press a pad to enter a note, the corresponding note plays (just as it does in live mode). Simple as that.
A big +1 from me. Please add an option for this.
Edit: And I noticed the ‘press and hold the live mode button’ workaround above. It’s ok but no substitute. And to be clear, I love my Hapax. Just requesting a feature that will, I think, be of great use to me and others.
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