Ack! This is a step backwards.

I love the new shuffle modes but I don't like the fact that it's harder to toggle shuffle from the front panel. One of my general complaints about the Empeg is it's reliance on the remote control. Certain features are better used when not moving and I don't mind having them on the remote control. But toggling shuffle is something I want to do all the time when I'm driving. There is no simple and repeatable front panel button sequence that toggles the shuffle so I consider it unsafe to try and do it with the front panel while driving.

This was the procedure under 1.0:
Quick glance downward at head unit to guide my hand to the buttons. Down-right-down entirely by feel.

Under 2.0:
Dig my remote out from under my parking brake. Take a substantial look away from the road all the way down to my hand. Pick out which of the 24 identically shaped buttons I must use. Continue to watch while I guide my fat thumb to the little button. Now look back up at the road and press the button. Return remote to location under parking brake.


The true flaw in this situation, IMO, is the lack of more buttons on the Empeg's front panel. Shuffle absolutely deserves it's own button.

But given the way it is, the 1.0 solution was managable. Toggling shuffle must have been considered the second most important feature (behind navigating playlists) based on it's menu location in 1.0. Why did this change in 2.0?

I implore Empeg to make the shuffle toggle a short and consistent menu sequence. Changing the type of shuffle is much less important and can be moved deeper in the menu structure. I bet that most people will decide which type of shuffle they like and rarely change it. But I think toggling shuffle is one of the more common actions performed while driving and deserves to be accessable with a very simple sequence that can be performed without looking.

-Dylan

What's wrong with down-right-down-down?

Down-right-down-down still works to toggle between whatever shuffle type you're in and "shuffle off." Refer to this thread for some clarification on this. If you're in any shuffle mode, the shuffle menu will highlight "off," and if you're in "off" it will highlight the last selected shuffle mode. Which effectively makes it the same as in previous versions. One extra button press is still easy to do without the remote.

Yeah, I don't see the problem? It's the same menu sequence every time to toggle. They did it that way on purpose. It always toggles between "off" and whatever your last chosen mode was.

Also note that there is a feature in MLord's Hijack kernel to redefine the knob-press function to shuffle on/off. You can use that if you like.

In reply to:

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What's wrong with down-right-down-down?

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Nothing is wrong with that at all. In fact, it's a great solution. Now that I play with it I don't know why I thought it worked otherwise. My apologies.

Now I'm going to have to find something else to get all indignant about.

-Dylan

And with the hijack kernel it can become a single knob press (if you have a Mk2)