Devices that punch above their weight?

The Lounge Other Gear
#27

Yep, a drum machine AND 4 part synth for that price, with all those faders, are really a steal.

When it came out, it was quite quirky and hard to use - but still sounded awesome. Now it got a number of lifts and it’s starting to rival (IMHO) with Elektrons, but in its own way, with very particular features (e.g. you can sequence the routing to separate outputs, patch changes, etc.).

The new FW to be released soon adds a pack of features I would have never expected on a machine in this price range.

1 Like
#28

Holy fudge! Where can I find out about this new firmware?!

1 Like
#29

I think Korg NTS-1 should be on this list. oscillators and effects from higher models SDK, in a tiny package for a small price

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#30

I’ve read some volcas in here, but I’m missing the volca bass on the list. Very light, but can be heavy in sound

2 Likes
#31

(don’t know how open it is, though)

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#32

Slightly cheating as it makes no music on its own but the clear winner for me is the Blokas Midihub. It’s so good I feel it’s almost an essential in every electronic music setup. It’s a major upgrade to every piece of midi enabled equipment.

I mostly only use it for routing, splits, Digitakt polyphony and transforming values but the other day I made a sequencer on it (see LFO note triggers that no one cared about sad face) and people have built hugely complex things with it.

If they made one (same size) with a tiny screen, four internally assignable buttons and encoders and maybe a battery it’d be even better but even on its own it’s ridiculously useful. And the editor, patchstorage integration is easy to use.

13 Likes
#33

opz used price £250 16 tracks insane sequencer sampler synth audio interface lighting controller microphone doorstop

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#34

Model:Cycles. Some of my favorite songs I’ve ever done were on that little machine. Check out the M:C only music thread here and there are so many cool pieces of music done on it. Though I replaced mine with a Syntakt (no regrets), I’m still tempted to re buy another one because they really have their own magic

13 Likes
#35

INDIVIDUAL TRACK LENGTH! Very cool! Granted I’m probably going to be sequencing it with the Digitakt, but still good to not require it!

Man, those wild sounds with wild sequencing! Its going to be…wild

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#36
  • 201 pocket piano by critter & guitari with random samples in segmenti mode. can’t lay that thing down.
  • roland tb3 - best acid machine ever in my opinion.
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#37

Oh…my…GOODNESS!

It just came in, and I’ve been dabbling with a cleared pattern and exploring its sound design.

Off the bat, I thought there was already an admirable amount of depth regarding the sound design. But its somehow DEEPER!

I didn’t realize that the entire synth panel was separate for EACH SYNTH VOICE!

This isn’t just a in-depth approach to FM percussion- this is the level of hands on direct control ive always wanted in FM synthesis!

And the percussion is as easy to get wild as I hoped- possibly moreso!

Hot dang! Is this EXACTLY what I wanted!

Now its time to actually learn how to properly use it!

Thank you Twisted Electrons! This is paradise to me!

7 Likes
#38

Model:Cycles
MicroMonsta 2
Typhon
Volca Drum
Roland SE-02

#39

If we talk about weight literally, then I’d say the M8. It’s still so crazy to me that something so light sounds so good.

If we talk about the price, then for me it’s the PO-32 Tonic, it can have so many different sounds. I mean it’s Microtonic in your pocket, so in terms of sound design that’s awesome.

7 Likes
#40

As a clear obvious choice the Dirtywave M8 punches well above its weight in every category for me at least.
As a less obvious choice is the Virus Ti for me, whilst fairly weighty as is, punches relatively above its weight. 16 part multitimbral with extensive & complex sound design capability. Even though it’s expensive so has an expectation of ‘weight’ to come with it but there’s really not much else out there with the same capability to punch as hard as it does.

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#41

Keystep 37. I can’t play keyboard but this makes me feel like I can. Well made with a sleek design.

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#42

Another vote for the Model:Cycles and Roland S-1.

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#43

Dirtywave M8
volca drum
yamaha QY70
MPC One/Live/X

Dirtywave capability is DAW tier in ur palm
volca drum is genuine drum synth in ur palm
QY70 is genuine 80s/90s PCM in ur palm

I say MPC punches above it’s weight because of the pads, with pressure mapped to synth parameters it’s genuine polyphonic aftertouch. it’s generally known that percussion is the most dynamic instrument. MPC pads as they are designed and constructed are more dynamic than real percussion, before you even add pressure sensitivity. I belive a modern MPC is the most dynamic instrument that exists

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#44

Probably this one :

I pre-ordered it, it looks fun. 100$.

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#45

This one punches above your waist

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#46

A good mouse, keyboard and chair. All punch very much above their weight.

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