Arturia BOYCOTT - Still no fixed Keystep firmware..

[Gearhead]

I keep coming back to the forum again and again over the last couple of years to check (with my fingers crossed) ...but yep, STILL no fixed/updated Keystep firmware.

It doesn't seem to matter how much/many people ask and report the couple of easily fixed yet major issues with firmware 1.0.1.15, Arturia just (barely) acknowledge it and do NOTHING. There's also the couple of recurring and perfectly valid requests like start the transport without triggering the Sequencer or Arpeggiator  OR  a button combination to clear the current pattern (that one's just plain ridiculous that it wasn't possible from day 1!)

I've made it quite clear to Arturia support that I will not buy a single other piece of Arturia hardware in future unless something is done about this. No doubt they think that a "cheap" device like the Keystep isn't going to bring in much more cash (even though they've since promoted & released the black editions ...for some other poor suckers to blindly trust and spend their money, and have the same complaints!) so they're not going to waste time supporting or developing it. We all know that the start/reset bug for example couldn't take more than a few hours max to sort it - it's already working in 1.0.0.5!! Copy/paste that code and release it ....even as a beta if you haven't the available staff to test. I realise Arturia is a small company (your words) but you are doing considerable damage to both reputation and revenue over something so relatively minor.

I have actually had the savings over the last few years at different times to afford a Matrixbrute, Drumbrute, AudioFuse and a Keylab 61 MkII and I would have absolutely bought all of them if it wasn't for this lack of support/lack of loyalty to their customers (never mind their legal obligations to supply a device that works as advertised). I'm honestly not saying that just to try and make a point...I absolutely WAS going to purchase them. Thank **** my cop-on and common sense prevailed!
This one "cheap" device's unsolved issues led me to the right decision of buying other manufacturers' hardware instead and I will continue to do so unless ... (yeah I know I'm wasting my time!)


So anyway, I would strongly advise anyone thinking about buying Arturia hardware to simply look at the facts (not "my opinion") and not spend your hard earned money on buggy hardware (firmware) with little or no support and no updates.

If Arturia Management/Sales/Support happens to read this and acts on it by promising to, and following up on fixing the firmware (or releasing it as open source - you can be sure it would lead to a flood of sales like!), I'll gladly retract my comments. I'm not holding my breath though.

I encourage everyone to comment on this thread and share it on social media. Feel free to share whether you agree or disagree with what I've said.

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Peeved Gearhead

[gphantom]

Well, on the one hand, I don't control other devices with the Keystep, not do I control the Keystep with another device so, I can't say whether there's a bug or not.  However, for my needs, it works perfectly fine.  Though I don't use the arpegiator (don't see the need since the sequencer should do the same thing,) the sequencer does what I need it to and more, 8 times 64 steps with multiple keys/chords at a time... Pretty darn great though a way to clear an entire series of steps with a single button or combination, instead of having to go to Midi Control Center all the time would be great and, since all I need is a small transportable keyboard to bring to the cottage instead of the Keylab Essential 49, it does the job and, with Aftertouch to boot, I can't ask for more but again, I don't use the Keystep to control or be controlled, I can't say if the bug exists or not (though I'm sure that for you, it does)
All you can do is constantly ask for direct support and bombard them with your problem.
They told me that they have to prioritize based on demand so, if only a handful of people complain, it get's placed at the bottom of the stack.

[westofben]

There are more than enough complaints put together in this forum to well and truly justify decent attention to this product. The bugs exist. The product is on the whole very functional and good, none of us are disputing this. Nobody else makes anything like it.

Feature requests are plenty. One of my requests was for the ARP to work on notes received from an external source - as I have a KMI 12-Step and a mono-synth I would like to ARP with my feet, using the KeyStep as the ARP. I was informed that this *may* be possible with a firmware update... since after all, the sequencer can transpose according to notes sent from an external source. That was two years ago.

That's my personal request and so yes that is part of my agenda. But the rest are things that take a good unit and make it almost or absolutely great.

I too have been in a position to purchase more Arturia hardware, but have held off because even though I love the KeyStep, I am concerned that other hardware would suffer the same lack of attention eventually. I have no interest in software synths. Hardware is always necessary: good, appealing and FUNCTIONAL hardware is gold.

Arturia - you have opportunities to not turn existing fan base away. In this regard you're doing a fine job of doing the opposite.

[MajorFubar]

Some of you don't yet seem to have grasped Arturia's business model. All the new hardware and software synths get the lion's share of Arturia's developers' attention for the first 2-3 months after launch, then the products enter a BAU phase, joining the rest of their products. Products in the BAU phase (i.e.: everything which isn't a new product) have to fight it out with each other for developers' time, and he who shouts loudest gets heard.

Even Matrixbrute owners have been waiting over two years for what they consider to be basic bug fixes. That's Arturia's premium hardware product. Firmware updates for that machine have been promised last year, then it got knocked back to "this Spring" (nearly over) and now it's "during Summer".

[fenin]

yap 

as i said earlier:
(i also contacted support various times)

very unprofessional  company philosophy !!

this was my first and last arturia product.