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What do you guys use?

I've come close to throwing my Magic Mouse 2 on the wood floor of the studio several times this week alone. Time to replace that irritating squirrel with something that works and is ergonomic! I need to have it be wireless with a usb dongle. I have a Magic Trackpad that I love, but I can't use it for fine editing in DP, like edge/fade editing, pitch automation, plugin parameters.

Very important that it be ergonomic and won't worsen my hand condition. Essentially the opposite of the MM2, which is not designed for human hands, but for space aliens.

Touchscreens are cool alternatives.. but I need to look up at my screen, not down, so for now a great mouse will do!

Cheers!

I used a Logitech MX Revolution for years, but once I got the hang of the Magic trackpad 2 (thank you Shooshie) I disconnected the mouse for good. o/t I also use a Logitech solar powered keyboard and love it, but it's loosing the connection so I'm looking at a wired keyboard today. I'm just tired of not being able to type. It may be the OS, but wired keyboards always seem to work. The trackpad never seems to loose connectivity. The mouse did often as well. Probably the Logitech proprietary RF frequency, but I really don't need a wireless keyboard all that much.

The idea of using a mouse seems quaint to me now. As Shooshie said, what happened is that I have a new way of navigating my computer. Could use the magic bar thingy if I had a MBP. Maybe there's a keyboard with that now? Must check that out before I pull the trigger.

So the short answer is: Magic Trackpad 2. Version one sucked! Ver 2 is great. I'll never go back to...

Magic Trackpad 1 plus a Logitech usb wired trackball that I've had forever—long discontinued and I don't use any of the proprietary drivers.
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Trackma ... B00005NIMJ

I have a Magic Trackpad 2 on my "things to spend my refund on" list.

My wired keyboard is the Apple with the numeric keypad. I haven't found one that I like better. It used to be a lot more expensive.
http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MB110 ... us-english

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Keyboard-C ... B005DPF08E

[quote="MIDI Life Crisis"]I used a Logitech MX Revolution for years, but once I got the hang of the Magic trackpad 2 (thank you Shooshie) I disconnected the mouse for good. o/t I also use a Logitech solar powered keyboard and love it, but it's loosing the connection so I'm looking at a wired keyboard today. I'm just tired of not being able to type. It may be the OS, but wired keyboards always seem to work. The trackpad never seems to loose connectivity. The mouse did often as well. Probably the Logitech proprietary RF frequency, but I really don't need a wireless keyboard all that much.

The idea of using a mouse seems quaint to me now. As Shooshie said, what happened is that I have a new way of navigating my computer. Could use the magic bar thingy if I had a MBP. Maybe there's a keyboard with that now? Must check that out before I pull the trigger.

So the short answer is: Magic Trackpad 2. Version one sucked! Ver 2 is great. I'll never go back to...

OK see I have a Magic Trackpad 2.. what am I not understanding about precise editing with this thing? I go to an edge edit to make a small adjustment. I mash my finger down, and then roll it to the right or left? Or do I tap it to engage, do the edit, then tap it again to disengage? How about some heavy pitch automation? I tried it once with the trackpad, very frustrating.. There must be something about the MT2 that I just don't understand.

Killahurts wrote:

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I used a Logitech MX Revolution for years, but once I got the hang of the Magic trackpad 2 (thank you Shooshie) I disconnected the mouse for good. o/t I also use a Logitech solar powered keyboard and love it, but it's loosing the connection so I'm looking at a wired keyboard today. I'm just tired of not being able to type. It may be the OS, but wired keyboards always seem to work. The trackpad never seems to loose connectivity. The mouse did often as well. Probably the Logitech proprietary RF frequency, but I really don't need a wireless keyboard all that much.

The idea of using a mouse seems quaint to me now. As Shooshie said, what happened is that I have a new way of navigating my computer. Could use the magic bar thingy if I had a MBP. Maybe there's a keyboard with that now? Must check that out before I pull the trigger.

So the short answer is: Magic Trackpad 2. Version one sucked! Ver 2 is great. I'll never go back to...

OK see I have a Magic Trackpad 2.. what am I not understanding about precise editing with this thing? I go to an edge edit to make a small adjustment. I mash my finger down, and then roll it to the right or left? Or do I tap it to engage, do the edit, then tap it again to disengage? How about some heavy pitch automation? I tried it once with the trackpad, very frustrating.. There must be something about the MT2 that I just don't understand.

Killahurts wrote:

Killahurts wrote:

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I used a Logitech MX Revolution for years, but once I got the hang of the Magic trackpad 2 (thank you Shooshie) I disconnected the mouse for good. o/t I also use a Logitech solar powered keyboard and love it, but it's loosing the connection so I'm looking at a wired keyboard today. I'm just tired of not being able to type. It may be the OS, but wired keyboards always seem to work. The trackpad never seems to loose connectivity. The mouse did often as well. Probably the Logitech proprietary RF frequency, but I really don't need a wireless keyboard all that much.

The idea of using a mouse seems quaint to me now. As Shooshie said, what happened is that I have a new way of navigating my computer. Could use the magic bar thingy if I had a MBP. Maybe there's a keyboard with that now? Must check that out before I pull the trigger.

So the short answer is: Magic Trackpad 2. Version one sucked! Ver 2 is great. I'll never go back to...

OK see I have a Magic Trackpad 2.. what am I not understanding about precise editing with this thing? I go to an edge edit to make a small adjustment. I mash my finger down, and then roll it to the right or left? Or do I tap it to engage, do the edit, then tap it again to disengage? How about some heavy pitch automation? I tried it once with the trackpad, very frustrating.. There must be something about the MT2 that I just don't understand.

You should use the tap to drag feature. I think there may be a setting in system prefs for it.

You just lightly/quickly tap and then all future actions act as if you are dragging. Another light tap un-drags the cursor. No need to smush and roll.

Killahurts wrote:what am I not understanding about precise editing with this thing? I go to an edge edit to make a small adjustment. I mash my finger down, and then roll it to the right or left? Or do I tap it to engage, do the edit, then tap it again to disengage? How about some heavy pitch automation? I tried it once with the trackpad, very frustrating.. There must be something about the MT2 that I just don't understand.

For fine edits, put two fingers on the trackpad, hold one finger stationary and move the other. You can move stuff that way m(such as a folder in the Finder or a selected note or data in most programs). You don't really have to roll your finger. Think of having one finger be your anchor and the other as your moving cursor. You should be able to get fine edits that way. Much finer than rolling, depending on what resolution your zoomed into, which is, of course, critical for super-fine edits (zooming in, that is).

A light touch is definitely required on these devices. It's not really a mechanical switch like a mouse. Maybe think of it as "heat sensitive." It really responds to an extremely light touch. I did some pitch correction recently (for the first time, but in some dialogue to change inflections). If I pressed "too hard" I got some aux type of response to select the phrase, or something like that. Just a light touch and move you finger and you should be good. Also, if you think of it as an "oiled" surface, it may help in getting the feel of it. Just a light touch to see if it's "wet."



Fine editing is a bit more tricky. Finger rolls can work, for sure, and I strongly suggest you look into some like Better Touch Tool where you can program a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, not all apps support the pressure feature. If DP did, for example, pressing harder would increase scroll speed and other feature enhancements. But it don't... such is life.

I should also add that when I'm working intensely in a program like Finale, I also depend heavily on Keyboard Maestro for some mouse stuff, including moving the cursor across to different places on my three monitors. This has saved a lot of time swiping on the trackpad, so when I do have to use it, I tend to more delicate and make less errors by clicking on something while swiping across several screens or selecting data.

Logitech Performance MX. I could never get used to track pads despite trying. My brain doesn't really get the whole gesture thing. I do many hours of editing every week so I've customized the MX functions for what I need. I tried a vertical mouse (don't recall the name) but the wheel clicked and you couldn't disengage it to be freewheeling like you can on the Logitech. I'm a freewheelin' kinda guy. Holding the shift key and spinning the wheel is my preferred method to quickly scroll horizontally which I have to do a lot in my work.

I totally get that, Phil. I hated track pads and roller ball stuff. Having 14 or so programmable button really speeds things up. I've replaced those macros with Quickeys and later, Keyboard Maestro. The unexpected transition was necessitated by two aging MX Revolution mice and they are not being made now. I dislike the new incarnation in the Perf MX and the TP2 was the new TPad 2 on the block so I gave it a shot. A nice side effect is my wrist and hands aren't grabbing a potato(e) all day and remain in a more natural position. As a pianist I appreciate that.

Obviously it comes down to personal choice and there's no lack of choices to be made.

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I totally get that, Phil. I hated track pads and roller ball stuff. Having 14 or so programmable button really speeds things up. I've replaced those macros with Quickeys and later, Keyboard Maestro. The unexpected transition was necessitated by two aging MX Revolution mice and they are not being made now. I dislike the new incarnation in the Perf MX and the TP2 was the new TPad 2 on the block so I gave it a shot. A nice side effect is my wrist and hands aren't grabbing a potato(e) all day and remain in a more natural position. As a pianist I appreciate that.

Obviously it comes down to personal choice and there's no lack of choices to be made.

I used Quickeys in the past. I really need to look into Keyboard Maestro. I do a lot of repetitive tasks. I tried using a Contour Shuttle Pro for my left hand- it would almost do what I wanted, but not quite. Maybe the combination would work. This is a good discussion. It's how we interact with DP and all the rest.

If you do try KM, let me know. There are some quirky aspects that aren't clearly explained in the documentation and aren't even explained in their forum very well (by the developer). But they are responsive and do try to help. It's a decent program and is comparable to QKeys, but I prefer QK and if it ever gets updated I'd buy out again. The mouse... not so much...

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:For fine edits, put two fingers on the trackpad, hold one finger stationary and move the other.

This absolutely changes everything. I did not know this, and now I'm wondering what else I don't know about the Magic Trackpad 2.

I've got some work to do..

Killahurts wrote:

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:For fine edits, put two fingers on the trackpad, hold one finger stationary and move the other.

This absolutely changes everything. I did not know this, and now I'm wondering what else I don't know about the Magic Trackpad 2.

I've got some work to do..

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Magic+M ... own/51058/

Go to 03:50

Following Jay Oliver's lead I picked up a Kensington trackball, and what he says about the ring being a great thing for DP is true! I use the wired $39 one (now $23), but they have a wireless version. The "Expert" one is my next purchase.

https://www.kensington.com/us/us/4493/trackballs

+1 on the wired Expert Mouse. I use the Steermouse driver with it.