At one time or another I’ve owned most of the modern sequencers (incl. Cirklon, Oxi One, Hapax, many others) and grooveboxes (Elektron original trinity, digit-trinity, Push 3, MPC, Force, etc) and here’s what stands out to me about the Deluge:
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It’s not the absolute best sequencer, sampler, or synth but it does ALL of these things very well and in a compelling and pretty intuitive manner.
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It’s portable and battery powered without being too small – it’s very lap or kitchen table friendly while still very playable. Other battery powered grooveboxes like Push 3 or even MPC Live II are ostensibly portable, but are heavy and bulky and/or have short battery life.
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The OLED upgrade has made a huge difference for me in terms of remembering and absorbing short-cuts, etc
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The community driven OS has brought lots of new features that I’m really enjoying and I think the future is really bright for this instrument
Because of it’s mix of features and capabilities plus it’s long battery life and size the Deluge is often my go to in terms of couch noodling, driving another instrument via MIDI, etc