Originally Posted by
mmauve
Well, here is my experience personally.
Some people would argue that Im out of my mind to state that A&H delivers a bad product of any sort. Their hardware is phenomenal, Im a huge admirer of A&H quality and build, and as far as Im concerned, their DJ mixers and 1D/2D controllers are quite excellent.
However, the Xone 4D has so many issues wrong with it (ESPECIALLY any units with a serial number under 90000 - infamous for being total bricks), Im blown away they put their name behind it. My unit had everything from issues being recognized by either Mac or Windows OS, light pipe issues, audio drop outs, and just plain old fashioned non-responsiveness randomly.
Not acceptable for something that's that high in the price range. I would have been better off buying a Korg Zero 8 instead for almost 1/3 the price.
After battling with them for about 2 weeks (long awaited emails, lack of solutions offered, shoddy RMA process) I turned to the Xone community forums for feedback, a community which is bi-polar when it comes to most 4D discussions. They love the concept, feel, and build quality - but absolutely trash talk the support and stability. If you are fortunate enough to see such threads before the moderators delete them, it offers plenty of insight in regards to ownership experiences across the board.
I pawned mine at a $200 loss, which I consider a small price to alleviate myself from having to deal with the issues I was. I'm not one to give up easy on technical issues, but this was a lost cause.
Sure, they [A&H] have sluggishly made progress on these issues (sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't) but bottom line, why subject yourself to the gamble of 4D ownership when there's cheaper alternatives which are more stable, and equally as flexible.
If it's any indication, Richie Hawtin uses only the 1D and 2D for a reason (rather, used to), and Deadmau5 ditched his 4D to go back to the Lemur.
To anyone who has owned 4D and have had good experiences with it - I envy you. While you're at it, buy a lottery ticket with your good fortune.
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