Expressive E Touché SE USB Instrument Control Surface for Software Synthesizers, and Music Production Software

Love this and use it almost everytime I record and produce music. It adds so much more dynamics compared to other controllers. Total game changer in music production. It was easy to setup and love the instruments Expressive E has created that works with this as well. Its so much fun and couldn't even imagine using synth instruments without this now.

This product is a must-have for songwriters, composers, and producers. The included software synths are plentiful. The controller itself is responsive and well-constructed. I ended up buying the companion Arche' software, which provides wonderful modeled violins, violas, and cellos. You can play the device right out of the box, but I recommend spending some time with the manual and software (and practicing) to benefit from the deeper features — it will do whatever you want, but you need to know how to set up if you want to move beyond the default synth presets. Highly recommended!!

Having recently received the Touché standalone full version (not the LE), I have to say- it immediately impresses me. Build quality is definitely high. It is considerably larger than I thought it would be, but I think that adds to its operation. Of course, the Lié software will only function as well as your PC is optimized for it, as with any DAW or instrumental software. I've used it with the following hadware: 1. Behringer Crave 2. Korg Volca Modular 3. MPC Live (partially) I have only explored about half of the presets in Lié as of now, but enjoy it so far. Some of the presets are a bit rudimentary but there are a large number, which again impresses me. I don't understand what difficulties some reviewers have been undergoing, but a lot can vary from user to user. I am running WIN 10 on a barebone 64bit PC, with a scant 2 Gigs of ram, pretty much minspec for running most DAWs. So if you have a hardcore rig you should probably knock it out of the park comparison wise to my own experience. Overall Summary: 1. Build Quaility - High. 2. Safe Packaging - Good. 3. Software - High Quality. 4. Instructions - Adequate albeit minimal. If there was more depth here in box I would probably give a perfect rating overall if they included more upfront info on use and optimization. 5. Interoperability - Out of the box Good, will update on further inspection.

This product looked like an interesting MIDI controller for, primarily, VSTi's. Upon receipt I installed the supplied software. It came with a synthesizer app, UVI Workstation, that apparently was included to showcase the control possibilities of the device. That was a total non-functional piece of crap. It couldn't even locate it's own data that was installed with the app. It not only didn't work at all but couldn't be closed by clicking the Windows X, I had to use the Task Manager to close the process. Next I installed the Lié software that controls the Touché device. Upon first launch and connecting the Touché USB cable I was informed that the firmware was out of date. There was a selection to update the firmware so performed that step. Next I set up the device, e.g., providing the path to scan for VST instruments. As soon as the scan started it triggered PC Matic anti-virus to block the scan. I have several other applications (Cakewalk, Sound Forge) that also scan for VST's and their scans don't trigger the anti-virus. I then disabled the anti-virus and re-launched Lié. It again flagged that the firmware was out of date, even though it had just been updated. With the VST scan relaunched it quickly hung on one particular VSTi that other apps also don't have a problem with. I could either remove that particular VSTi and try to rescan or admit that this product just isn't ready for prime time. I couldn't see any good reason to remove an otherwise perfectly usable VST instrument. I returned the product. Just way too much of an installation hassle. I have no idea how it actually would function if the software weren't so inferior.

I bought it mainly as a companion for my Moog Sub37 and other hardware synths, but also for some soft synths as well. Beautiful and sturdy looking hardware. Was able to get it running quite fast, thanks to some tutorial videos. The Touche offers a new approach to control the sound, and I must say I really like the feeling and the feedback that you get from the mechanism and the wooden skin. Much more intuitive than turning on the knobs. On the software side, I first had problems with mapping Omnisphere in the Touche plug-in, but Expressive E's support was responsive and swiftly sent me some helpful instruction to make it work eventually. I don't know any other controller where you have precise control over that many parameters and it just feels right.

Very nice concept but poorly executed. I loved the idea of an upscale expression controller, especially because the touch-sensitive and hand-controlled surface seemed like a good way to control strings, pads and other virtual instruments requiring finesse. At this price point, it was a stretch. I opted for the more economical SE as I just needed controls for my DAW, Cubase 15 Pro. Out of the box it felt nice, well packed. I went through product registration and activation, all necessary online steps, and installed the soft. Upon opening the software, I got a message saying the firmware was not updated and that I should reboot the device in a particular mode, pressing three buttons at once.. only that is says "two buttons and the encoder" in the instructions--with a new device, they should not just assume you know that the "encoder" is the round knob that can be pressed down. After 30 minutes fumbling I got the new firmware installed. The installer itself seems out of Windows 95: it references "Windows for workstations" as the default windows installer and feels old all over. And all along after installation, cubase was a nightmare: as of the moment of install, it got glitchy, with freezes that required killing the program. This was a non-existent issue up until just before installing this. And even then, with the new firmware, I was jumping through hoops trying to get the controller smoothly working in Cubase--granted that might have been a midi routing issue, but this was far from intuitive, and my Korg NanoKontrol2 never gave me that sort of headaches. I cannot affort spending all this time on a learning curve and unstable software for something at this price point. It is just hard to justify to start with, let alone after problems come up. Returned it within 24 hours.

This device is amazing. If you use virtual instruments, and you want to manipulate many variables in real time with sensitive control, get this touché. It really is sensitive to such small movements. You COULD just use wheels and sliders to control your settings, but it’s still not the same. This touché is next level. The magic is controlling so many things organically. A wheel or slider will never feel like this. You can tell the computer so accurately what you want. Get it!

This device seems to be pretty solid and looks attractive while on the desk. That's where the usefulness for me stopped. I'm giving it 3 stars because I think it's a solid device and could be useful for some, but I have personal issues with it and the advertising did not seem to match up with it's actual functionality. Not touch sensitive: Unfortunately it doesn't really perform as expected. Watching the videos talking about sliding and touching and reading descriptions, I thought the top of the device was going to be touch sensitive meaning I could slide my finger across it and send midi data to my computer. Unfortunately, the paddle must be physically moved. The paddle senses 4 degrees of motion: pushed down at the front, pressed down at the back, and pulled to each side. Resolution of data not calibrated to degree of motion: I loved the idea of having a midi controller that would "push back" so to speak. When controlling volume swells (or vibrato amount or whatever) I want to be able to put physical effort into increasing the parameter, then control the parameter coming back down by relaxing my muscles and controlling how fast the device returns to a resting state. This allows you to play the device similar to an actual instrument instead of having to manually return a slider or knob back to zero. However, the Touché will send it's maximum CC message (127) somewhere in the middle of it's axis of motion, well before the paddle bottoms out. Because there's there's no physical sensation to tell you "this is as loud as it goes" its difficult to perform anything realistically without having extended chunks where the expression data is maxed out. In practice, I ended up having to go back to the CC data after recording, reduce everything, then manually mouse in more gentle curves where the data flatlined. The device does allow you to dial in a sensitivity setting, however this was an issue even at the least sensitive. When the device is at it's most sensitive, the slightest touch will send a full blast. This is potentially useful if you're into finger drumming, but not what I was looking for . The multiple degrees of motion were more of a hassle than useful: This is likely a personal thing, but when each axis of motion is mapped to a different parameter, it's very difficult to use without accidentally sending some unintended data. Pressing the paddle down in the back will inevitably end up slightly jiggling the paddle left or right which sent midi data I ended up needing to delete later on. Some people may like the unpredictable sensitivity of this, but for my production methods, I found it to be more of a hassle. There is no manual!!!: This was really annoying. The device does not come with a manual nor was I able to find any printed document on the website. Instead, you have to watch a series of videos. While sometimes it's nice watching someone walk you through how to do things on youtube, I often want to be able to scan through a document to find the info I'm looking for and move on. In this setup, if you want to learn how to program custom midi messages, or figure out what the buttons do, you have to watch a guy unbox the thing first, plug it in, install software, advertise for all the plugins this thing is compatible with, etc. This is beyond infuriating. The LIE programming environment is a pain in the ass if you use this with a standard DAW: It took me awhile to figure this out, but if their standalone LIE software is open on your computer, the device sends different signals than it would if the app is closed. I'd program one axis of motion to send a midi signal, and then try to test it out in my DAW, but it wouldn't send the signal I had just programmed it to. Had there been a manual, this issue would have been easier to troubleshoot, but instead I had to watch a whole video series to get that one answer. I often like to change the functionality of my midi devices so I may use on axis to control expression, then change it so that same axis controls modulation and record another pass etc. With most apps, you can leave them open and reprogram your midi device on the fly, but with the touche, you need to open the app, go to the custom settings, set your setting, then close it every time you want to change something. I found the presets for integrated 3rd party software cluttering: The LIE interface is very much created to facilitate loading up prefab patches for 3rd party software, and there are seemingly hundreds of these. This is one of the things that they seem to proudly advertise, but I found it more annoying than anything else. I use custom settings on my midi devices almost exclusively, but I wasn't able to find a way to have the LIE software default to the custom midi screen. Instead it loads up with a bunch of 3rd party plugins and you have to go through a series of menus to get to the custom midi stuff EVERY TIME. I couldn't even figure out how to hide the mountain of plugin settings I'll never use because I don't own the software. It's just visual clutter that makes for an annoying user experience. Suffice to say I'm returning this. I'm sure this device will be useful for the right target audience, but for me it was more of a novelty than a serious production tool.