Best quick noodling device as an alternative to a phone?

The Lounge Other Gear
#21

If you are in the right age range (or maybe even if not) you will appreciate this… I have considered buying one several times and he has options for if you want it assembled or to buy it as a kit with various levels of included components depending on what you already have available to you so even at the max cost it’s not ridiculous priced and can be rather cheap if you have parts and do things yourself. Anyways, it looks incredibly fun and he wrote a whole UI custom for it, so it’s not a SWAG product:

OPL Studio from Cheerful Electronic on Tindie

OPL Studio - OPL2 / OPL3 MIDI Interface | Hackaday.io

It looks like he just sold out but they’re back in stock pretty frequently so if you like it you could get on the list or email him about when he expects to have more.

you will see it, in it’s intended housing on the pages linked, it’s not just the circuit board and screen.

#22

That’s very cool.

Unfortunately distributed by DV247 who I will not deal with.

#23

Razzmatazz is practically perfect for this use case but, melody is really not its thing or is limited/challenging to achieve.

I’ve had mine about a month now and have lost any apprehensions I had about the device. It better serves the role that I wanted M:S to cover as a sidekick/extender for tracker.

It has pretty much replaced casual phone interactions with casual audio nonsense winning

It has some quirks of course but, it’s a pure delight to use.

1 Like
#24

Is it nice to work on the device?

I was suspicious of the BoBeats review where he says how great it is, but always sequences it from another device.

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#25

I like pocket operators small and quick to get a fun groove cooking fast

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#26

I was really suspicious of the interface at first and bought it with the plan of sequencing externally.

I wound up really enjoying the internal sequencer and use primarily stand alone.

#27

SP404 mk2 maybe… it’s another sampler, but different/fun/fast workflow and runs on batteries.

Quirky workflow though. Im thinking of selling mine and getting the circuit rhythm instead

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#28

I have a dream that someone will make a M8 crossed with the sequencer of a Polyend Play on its side for musical Tetris.

Yep, I’m on board with this. Feels the most standalone and useful since you can fly solo with it for long periods of time. That said @monquixote has the tracker which I don’t know if you think they are too similar? The only thing I would say is the Tracker is like a surgeon’s scalpel and the Rhythm like a butter knife. Can be fun!

#29

Oddball suggestion maybe, but what about a second (used/old) phone that isn’t connected to the internet? Put some stickers on it to make it feel more like an instrument. Uninstall all apps that can be removed.

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#30

used 1010 blackbox?

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#31

Blackbox is potentially a shout and can do some stuff the PT can’t

#32

Volca beats; super cheap used, super simple, quick programing, good selection of immediate control for playability.

Additionally, run it through monotron delay for pretty great sounding compression/filter/delay

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#33

Misses the melodic component?

#34

Maybe Orba 2 ?

1 Like
#35

The T8 is a really fun device! In my opinion it’s the perfect balance between good sounding and playful to use. Even though I’m not the biggest 303 fan, i have to admit the simplicity combined with accented steps sounds really really good.
Highly recommend as a smartphone alternative!

#36

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#37

A small 4ms Pod with a uPlaits and a Pam’s new workout. Hours of fun and can be battery bank powered.

#38

What do you not like about the so404? I recently sold my circuit rhythm and planned to buy the so404 to replace it

#39

I cant speak for clarke, but I feel the same way. I loved the old sp’s (the 303, 404 and 404sx) for their simplicity and workflow. The sp404mk2 added a lot of amazing features and can do it all now, but it lost some of its intuitiveness.

On the old ones I didn’t have to think, I just played, the new one is a deep dive and requires some planning.

3 Likes
#40

If you sell it I might be interested (assuming you are in the UK of course)

1 Like