Raven MTi 2 : Future of mixing?

Is this as said the future of mixing? That remains to be seen but what do I think of it?

When I first ordered it I expected it to take over from mouse and keyboard completely, this did not happen.

Why?

I use Logic Pro, not really optimized for touch, screen prompts to show where you have for example grabbed the start of a stem to shorten it are hidden under your finger so you can never be certain you have pointed at the right place.

Now on saying that many aspects are made a lot more instinctive. Mixing, turning on screen knobs on plugins, scrolling, turning stuff on and off, muting and other switches all fall naturally into the touch domain. So too do things like editing fade in/out curves.

Other things I still reach for the mouse, but as an added tool, where it works well for me, it is a joy.

Batch Commander is the software that turns it though from a mere touch screen into a real time saver. Many macros are supplied to add tracks, name them, undo takes, change tools and many many more functions. User macros are easy to program too. I will leave the reader to find out more about this.

Setting up a project has lately become automated too. A press of a button and Batch Commander will set up your DAW to integrate the Raven. So even old projects are soon set up.

So why given that it did not replace my traditional input tools do a give it a full 5 star review? Because I could not live now without it, where it helps it it really helps. Also the support is superlative (given time zone differences) and the Slate team are always working to make it better. Most of the flaws are not of the Raven but Logic not being optimised for touch.

So yeah, it's been part of my studio and my work flow for a few months now and I have no regrets. At the mixing stage particularly it has become irreplaceable.