quantize button UX design could use a revamp

[mixxxbot]

Reported by: Be-ing
Date: 2017-11-12T17:29:26Z
Status: In Progress
Importance: Wishlist
Launchpad Issue: lp1731779
Tags: quantize, usability

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The quantize button on decks is now a switch both for rounding (hot)cues and loops to beats as well as compensating for the user pressing the play button off beat. These are distinct use cases and IMO should be separated like they are in Traktor. I almost always want cues and loops snapped to beats, but I often do not want the play button correction when playing a track that has an incorrect beatgrid and/or starting a track without beatmatching. Traktor has separate Snap and Quantize buttons. Snap covers rounding (hot)cues and loops to beats and Quantize handles manipulation of playback. I want to use these options at different times and not always together. It gets confusing to toggle the state of the Quantize button when I want one behavior but not the other.

Also, I do not think each deck should have its own Quantize and Snap button. It's easy to forget which deck is in what state. If there were only global buttons, it would be easier for me to know with certainty what will happen when I press other buttons without having to look at my screen first.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: kazakore
Date: 2018-05-21T12:54:07Z

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Just making a comment as I found your wording here so clarifying for others how these work in Traktor.

"Traktor has separate Snap and Quantize buttons. Snap covers rounding (hot)cues and loops to beats and Quantize handles manipulation of playback."

Snap is for the settings of cue and loop points but doesn't affect playback in any way. Quantise is for playback, including keeping the triggering of hutcues or loops in time on the beat.

I've never found it an issue these being one and the same in Mixxx. Quantise is definitely useful to have separate for each deck though, especially if the music you are mixing is hard quantised/perfectly beatgrided mixed in with tracks where the tempo fluctuates and the grid is a only approximate.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: ninomp
Date: 2021-09-07T23:01:00Z

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#4271

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: daschuer
Date: 2021-09-08T06:27:29Z

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If we want to go the route of separated buttons, we need a good description first what is snap and what is quantize.

I am afraid this can be maximal confusing, because Serato uses the term "Snap to Beatgrid" which is our "Quantized play" feature. Else it looks like in Serato Quantize is almost like in Mixxx with a single "Q" button used for setting the cues on grid and play in sync. Maybe a Serato user can clarify this.

When crawling the net you can find both users, some are confused by the separated feature in Tracktor, others are missing this feature in other tools.

I have never missed a separated snap button and consider this as unnecessary extra complexity.
But I can confirm that there is a valid demand for this feature from other users.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: daschuer
Date: 2021-09-08T06:42:18Z

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Recordbox for instance has a common Quantize button like in Mixxx per deck. In addition you can configure in preferences in which situation quantize is used and to what beat fraction. You can even make it act on all decks at once.
Here is a tutorial how this makes a difference:
https://wearecrossfader.co.uk/blog/rekordbox-quantize-settings-how-its-done/

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: Holzhaus
Date: 2021-09-08T09:07:59Z

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I almost always want cues and loops snapped to beats, but I often do not want the play button correction when playing a track that has an incorrect beatgrid and/or starting a track without beatmatching

But if the beatgrid is incorrect, why do you still want cues and loops snapped to beat? They would be in the wrong location. So I do think combining the two makes sense.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: Be-ing
Date: 2021-09-08T12:42:03Z

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configure in preferences in which situation quantize

That looks overcomplicated. Let's not do that.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: Be-ing
Date: 2021-09-08T12:47:53Z

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But if the beatgrid is incorrect, why do you still want cues and loops snapped to beat? They would be in the wrong location. So I do think combining the two makes sense.

Just because the beatgrid is correct in the middle of the track where I want to place a hotcue does not mean it is correct at the beginning of the track. This is not as big of an issue now that we have the intro cue automatically placed at the first sound, but still, this coupling of play button press correction with snapping cues to the beatgrid is annoying and throws me off. For a long time I didn't even use quantize because of this and was frequently compensating by doing slow forward/backward seeking to get cues exactly on beat, otherwise I'd risk my mixes getting thrown off by the play button "correction". Now that I have a controller with a dedicated quantize button (one for all decks, not the overcomplicated per deck buttons), I am using quantize more, but I find I still have to disable it frequently to not have my mixes thrown off by the unwanted manipulation of playback when pressing play.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: Be-ing
Date: 2021-09-08T12:52:31Z

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we need a good description first what is snap and what is quantize.

I already did that in the first post. Placing a cue = snap, manipulating playback = quantize. These are separate use cases and IMO should not be coupled.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: daschuer
Date: 2021-09-09T06:26:50Z

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@ninomp: Can you describe your use case? What is itching the most, looking at the current solution? When will you toggle which of the proposed knobs? Do you have experience with competitors solutions? What's good/bad?