I'm interested to hear what experiences people have with the new touch gestures that are supported in X2a running on Windows 8.

I have all the pieces in place except for a touch screen or touch pad.  For my main DAW it's probably going to be a touchpad (something like this http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2412536,00.asp).  I like the look of the giant 27" touch screen but cost and practicality put that on the back burner for now.  I may get a touchscreen laptop at a later date that I can use for working on when I'm away from my home studio.


I suspect that the experience might be affected by the quality of the device itself so I'm hoping that we can pool our knowledge here.  Note that although I can't offer any direct touch experience with X2a yet, I can say that the touch screens I tried out at a local Microsoft store were quite impressive, and the closest in experience I've had to the Macs and iOS devices I'm using at work and home...it remains to be seen if the apps and software will be designed well to take advantage of it.

Saw this video link posted regarding touch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivM1kbqFb94

Thanks for that link VariousArtist...like you I'm very interested to see how this was implemented as I have been interested in a control surface for several months now (VS-700 high on the list). If touch really works well (faders, pots all working) then I will go straight to Win 8 and embrace the beast ;-).

I wish they would have shown some operations occuring other than just zoom and docking (which are both very cool)

Thanks again,

You're welcome Mike.  I'm sorely tempted to get one of those large touch pads (not touch screens) that are offered by Dell and Logitech, and see how they work.  My guess is they won't be quite as good as a touch screen, but might be a decent compromise while we all figure out the logistics of having a touch screen as part of our interface.

I have really grown to like touch with my iPad, and come to think of it, that might be an ideal candidate for using as a touch interface to Windows 8.  The irony!  But seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if someone creates an app for the iPad that functions as your alternate touch pad for a desktop DAW.   Hmmmm.

Okay, well a bit of searching and, lo and behold...

http://www.splashtop.com/win8


Using your iPad to control your Windows 8 desktop with touch gestures.  Is it practical for DAW use?  Maybe, but either way it shows the possibilities that might give the best of both worlds:  a nice big monitor set off out of comfortable reach, being controlled by a lightweight touch screen that's easy to grab and use when you need to.

VariousArtist:

I'm really thinking about large screen stuff. When I think of the cost vs. dedicated controller I'm sorely tempting to take the plunge. For me it appears pretty much the case that in the future (say 1 to 2 years) a touch enabled monitor will make dedicated controllers obsolute (imo). I look at what Slate is doing with Raven and the Yamaha product (the name of which escapes me) and it looks completely doable. The issue is they may be going with there own, proprietary, software which would then link up with a DAW. That spells trouble to me...

If on the other hand the DAW links up directly with a touch enabled OS and monitor...well I think it becomes obvious which direction we are headed.

Anywhose, I'm really interested to see just how far X2 goes in that direction.

Mind you I'm old guy who is not impressed with iAnything but I totally get it on a large screen monitor. Here's hoping.

Regards,

Multiple video's about touch on the cakewalk.com home page.

From watching the new Cakewalk videos, I'd say that my Mackie MCU as well as any other hardware controller is a dinosaur waiting to die a slow death.  My MCU and the two extenders may be heading for Ebay pretty soon.

The honesty's too much...

Multiple video's about touch on the cakewalk.com home page.

 
Thanks for that information. Having watched all four videos I'm seriously tempting to use really really large fonts with bold enabled and to proclaim ala BapuL This changes everything!
 
I think I'm going to be upgrading my OS, and add an additional monitor this year.
 
Those videos were tres cool.
 
Thanks