EP-133. Don’t even need a power bank!
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as close to knob per function as matters on the go, and lighter than stuff that is physically smaller, if you haven’t physically picked one up just save this for a last resort 
Yeah. I used white electrical tape and a fine felt tip sharpie to label the shortcuts. think it actually looks good enough and it’s held up for quite a while.
yup, super easy to do. considering how fast new handhelds are coming out too there could be even better and cheaper options than the RG353v that i used
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1010music Tangerine
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i just rediscovered the ipad world after having a blast around 2013 on an ipad mini 2
i now have an ipad pro (4th gen) and its a total different ballpark. its crazy, how good it is now.
im on a trip and i only have my ipad, a bluetooth midicontroller, bluetooth headphones and a recording device with me. im having a blast. i couldnt imagine a small hardware groovebox/tracker that can beat this setup.
dirtywave looks interesting. polyend tracker mini has a pretty bad screen compared to ipad. both are far less capable than my ipad setup. and more fiddly
if i would suggest something, though. that is small, not too pricy, no big screen, and packed with synth power: i would suggest the roland s1 or the elektron cycles
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as for me, perfect iPad companion is Circuit Tracks.
not sure whether it’s the cheapest, but it’s definitely on inexpensive side.
and it has MIDI tracks, so you can use it as physical tactile MIDI controller for your stuff inside iPad.
iPad with audio interface (Zoom U-22 – btw, it’s THE cheapest pro audio interface that runs on batteries) + Circuit Tracks is my travel setup, it fits any average city backpack, and i could play an occasional jam/gig with just that stuff.
PS. Electribe 2 is the second option i could think of, due to the possibility to use it as a tactile MIDI controller – but it’s bigger, heavier, has significantly shorter battery life, and only has audio input that is summed to mono.
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iPad with Drambo is a killer.
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OP wants to avoid iPad
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In my opinion the best groove box pricewise is Elektron Model Samples. It is sturdy, lightweight, reliable, If you like to work with samples it is the best groove box out there not just pricewise. Another option is Elektron Model Cycles if samples are not for you. All in all Elektron made a super convenient devices and I can’t wait for Model Samples 2 (if it will happen at all).
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Another vote for Circuit Tracks or Rhythm. Once you learn where stuff is, it’s a nice place to jam. Battery powered and surprisingly small. My only gripe with it is that some (admittedly pricier) boxes allow you to export the audio straight to DAW directly which makes the extraction of your ideas a lot easier. Turns out that’s a pretty massive/important part of my workflow. Think this is possible in the Elektron Models? But the Circuits are couchable & fast. I don’t have mine, but they’re bags of fun and if I wanted that again, they’d be high on my shopping list.
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Yep, totally agree.
The circuits are cheap, robust, fun and battery powered.
The T8 is smaller and cheaper still but comparatively limited.
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It’s definitely not the cheapest, but in this case I would personally lean towards a 1010 Blackbox as an extension of the iPad setup.
Do all your monitoring of the iPad through the Blackbox. When you have had enough of the iPad, take a multisample of the synths sounds, or record clips of what you’re working on into the Blackbox.
Then when you’re on the go, the Blackbox is a bit more tactile. You have the bones of your project there and you can mess around with it, play with arrangements, jam the synth sample etc, resample. Then you can bring anything you like back into your iPad workflow.
I personally find this a bit more inspiring and engaging curating what goes into the Blackbox, versus using a groovebox like a Circuit, which is fun, but to me always feels a bit like the ideas live there on their own .
yearrr, its so friggin good
and all those wavefolder/distorsion options these days… damn
it all sounds great and alive
also, ruismaker noir… dayum
I was in similar position. Was making music on the iPad but wanted a groove box to jam on and have as a portable sketchpad. I’ve also owned most of the boxes listed above and all are great suggestions and difficult to pick just one.
Though I enjoyed them all none replaced the iPad as all had something lacking or the iPad apps did it better. That’s just imo though.
So I looked for boxes that added something different or fun. From those I’d recommend a polyend tracker as can be bought cheap secondhand or the play. Both are fun and a bit different and good machines for jamming live.
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I own several grooveboxes, most recently the Roland SP-404 MK2, it has the juiciest and most complete sound of all. It’s all about the many effects in various combinations, providing unlimited sound design possibilities within one box.
I do agree with this.
I love the Tracker and I use it alongside the iPad. They both have different sweet spots.
The OG Tracker is stupidly cheap now. I’m selling mine because I have a Mini, but it seems stupid not to just keep it.
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Yeah I got the mini but it’s not getting the attention it deserves as all my spare time is taken up finishing tracks for a project. Once done I’m hoping to dive in, if I keep it, I have low tolerance for keeping stuff that’s not in use.
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What iPad do you have?.