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Pioneer/DSI Toraiz: First Thoughts

The Toraiz is a lot of fun straight out of the gate. I'm going to run through a short list that compares it to some other machines on the market with similar functionality, namely the Elektron Analog RYTM and Octatrack. I'll list a topic and label the winner and why it won. I'll do the RYTM later.

For reference, I'm very familiar with the Octatrack as it has been the hub of my live show for 5 years now. Call all of this a very informed opinion.

vs OCTATRACK

Ease of use- Toraiz
Pioneer spent a lot of time on easy human interaction with this machine. It's east to tell. It's quick to navigate and the 7" touch screen gives you lots of feedback about what the machine is doing without having to interpret. Navigation is a snap and the panel layout is intuitive.

Build Quality- Draw
Both machines are well built. The Toraiz won't have to deal with a burned out crossfader like my Octatrack did but the jury is still out on how long the ribbon controller will last. The screen is a gorgeous high resolution LCD screen and I'm worried that it'll get smashed if I don't take extra care with transporting it. I hope pioneer comes out with a special lid for it like Elektron did.

Sound- Toraiz
I've always noticed that, no matter how I mix, the Octatrack colors the sound. There is no such coloration on the Toraiz. It sounds impeccable through my Focal speakers. Also, you can do a proper mix rather than guessing exact mix details like I do on the Octatrack. The Toraiz mixer section shows the the mix in fantastic detail.

Depth of use- Octatrack
the Toraiz can do parameter locks like the elektron gear but not as much. You can p-lock sample attributes, sequencer data, FX settings and so on and, just like the elektron gear, find out what parameters are locked by holding down a given step. The Octatrack remains king with how far you can take sample manipulation. One example is reversing samples. The Toraiz has a button to reverse a sample. The Octatrack has start and end points for a sample that you can use to sequence when a sample reverses. Th3 Octatrack is less static in that regard. The Octatrack also has things like LFOs for modulation. The Toraiz can only modulate visa the sequencer. I use 'only' in a loose way as its still incredibly powerful.

Audio Interfacing: Draw
This really depends on how you use it. Basically... the Octatrack is better for manipulation of incoming signals and the Toraiz has a beautiful routing scheme that allows the user to program up to 4 stereo pairs (or 8 mono!) at a time. The Octatrack has one trick that makes it a beast in my live show. The Thru track allows me to run my modular system into it and then set up trigs to act as VCAs with envelopes so that I can create rhythms that are always in time with my music without messing are round on the modular. The Through Track on the Toraiz can feature FX like on the Octatrack but it lacks the trigs. The sound is always on. The only my work around it have so far for this is using parameter locking the volume knob on a filter effect for that channel. It gets some good results but not quite what the Octatrack can do faster.

Sequencing- Octatrack
It's a top notch sequencer. No question about it. Not only that but you can also use 8 independent midi sequencers to handle your external gear.

Building tracks: Toraiz
The most obvious difference between the machines is that the Toraiz has 16 tracks as opposed to the Octatrack's 8. This let's you create fantastic environments of sound that the Octatrack just can't compete with. That's 16 drum parts, loops, atmospheric elements, processed external audio.... you can just make grander scopes of audio that is far more complete (and yes... sounds better) than the Octatrack.

The Act of Sampling: Draw
As I said before, the depth of sample mangling is just deeper on the Octatrack. It's a hell of a lot easier to do on the Toraiz, however. There is a lot of interpretation when sampling on the Octatrack. You really have to spend time with it to master the craft. I was sampling on the Toraiz the first time I used it. It's THAT different. What gives the edge to the Octatrack is sample size. The Toraiz is limited to 32 seconds (or 4 bars) of time. While the Octatrack can't actively sample much beyond that, you can physically load samples that are massive (I've loaded samples 200MB big) into the static sample slots. That it's some serious firepower. But yes, for straight sampling time, they are pretty similar.

FX- Draw?
The Octatrack has way more fx than the Toraiz. The Toraiz does show lots of room for expansion in this department however. Expect more fx with future updates. The fx on the Toraiz do sound better to my ears but there are simply more directions you can go in during the FX based sound design on the Octatrack. That will change in time. I'm positive.

Physical components: Toraiz
This is an obvious win for the Pioneer. The DSI filters and overdrive are a madman. It's a hands on weapon that doesn't have an equal on the Octatrack. I'll also say here that the pads on the Toraiz don't have equal on the Octatrack. You can quantize your live playing to be on time if your sloppy. Each pad can have a user designated color. The Toraiz has a beautiful system for choking the audio between pads. Any pads with the same number assigned, choke each other when played. This feature is amazing! Chokes can also be set up really quickly. While the Toraiz does have a touch strip for message with a few parameters, it's no match for the Octatrack's crossfader in terms of sheer function. You can quickly assign a dozen parameters to the crossfader (along with offsets) and off you go.

Live use: Toraiz
I'm in the middle of setting up new lives shows on the Toraiz. It's system for arranging patterns across a scene is more intuitive than the Octatrack and the visual feedback from that screen is invaluable. Routing audio through other outboard FX is easier on the Toraiz simple because you can quickly alter the output routing of a sample. Patterns in a scene operate similar to rows of clips in Ableton.

The winner is entirely how you plan on using it. For studio sound make going applications, I'd go with the Octatrack. For live performance, I'd go with the Toraiz (through the Toraiz is no wimp in the studio) but that's a big part of what pioneer is all about so that's no surprise. The Toraiz is refreshing. It's fun and gives me what I want. It's quality and ease of use are representative of a company that has become the industry standard for those reasons. I'll be using my Toraiz for a long time to come.
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I can't brain today. I have the dumb.
Polyphony is overrated.
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Tribal/Electronic/Industrial
www.ivardensphere.com

Le prix n'est pas etonnant pour du piçneer et pour une machine standalone

Interessant, le comparo avec la rytm peut etre interessant aussi ca vient d'ou?