What about Norns vs organelle? What should I go for? Already had 3 organelles, the bigger screen + nicer graphics make me want to try Norns, but no keyboard, less knobs, grid only patches make me say no
Here is a video that might help you.
TwoRoundRobins and his āambient talkieā videos is great place to learn more about Norns.
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I think it goes beyond grid only ā¦ and any midi controller can be mapped
Sort of. You can map any parameters in a script to external midi control and use keyboards etc with some scripts too. Many scripts run without need for a Grid as well.
Thereās also the Midigrid mod that allows devices such as Launchpads to be used as substitute Grids,which is what I have as theyāre substantially cheaper, though not as refined.
There is a hack that will run Organelle patches on Norns, but a recent OS update broke it, so it will need some development if anyone feels the urge.
Iāve had both. Norns >>>>> Organelle. And I liked both.
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I get the feeling, thereās a lot more action going on in the norns community.
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Thinking of getting of these.
Monome is releasing a new batch of the Standard soon.
But there are also a few used for sale online.
Iām a bit clueless - which version of raspberry pi should I be looking for (or avoiding).
There is a Shield for sale near me with version 3B. Is that any good?
Thanks
Edit: also is there a big difference in audio quality and overall quality between the Standard and the Shield?
I may be wrong, but I donāt think thereās any difference in audio quality between the shield and standard.
Iād been after one for ages, ended up snagging a mates black standard version. Now Iāve got that, if I was starting again, Iād get a shield secondhand and then wait for a standard if I liked it. The newer standards have the extra disc space (99% thatās the only difference?), and thatās useful but not a necessity.
Iāve ordered a Grid and Crow. I think thereās a good reason to get the Grid - but not all scripts require them.
One tip - add a script or two at a time. I added a bunch and then got issues that were harder to work out as I couldnāt remember what scripts Iād just added. And it can get a little overwhelming with all the choices.
The standard Norns is less susceptible to electrical hum because itās fully isolated, and it has dual mono ts jacks, which are really robust. The shieldās audio is just a single trs and it feels pretty flimsy, but you probably wont notice the difference in sound quality. If you do end up buying a shield though you should make sure that itās a 211028 version or higher. Monome fixed the noise isolation considerably on this revision.
A 3b pi should work fine but you can switch it out if youāre needing more processing power. The standard can only be upgraded to a pi3b+ but the shield can be upgraded to a pi4. It should be noted that if you get a shield with a pi4 itās important that you turn off its Wi-Fi since that can be a source of noise.
ā¦but, from my experience of owning multiple versions of shield, including a standard and an xl, Iād highly recommend purchasing the xl. You can a kit from denki oto shieldXL (DIY norns synthesizer kit) (youāll have to sign up via email or join their discord to be notified for the next batch release) The standard Norns definitely has the premium build, but the xl has similarly robust audio jacks, plus trs midi jacks, removable storage, and itās a fraction of the price. They do require soldering (unless you find a used pre-soldered one) but itās completely doable. I have very little soldering experience and it took me a few hours to get it up and running.
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It isā¦
āBased on the 200323 revision, Includes a Raspberry Pi 3B, 32GB MicroSD containing the latest Norns OS preloaded, black bead-blasted resin case, white display, white buttons, black aluminium machined knobs, high resolution encoders, black faceplateā
Is that any good?
Oh you mean 210330 revision? Thatās actually where they first fixed noise issues (not 211028, like I said), and yes that should work. Iām curious how much theyāre selling it for?
Thanks. Itās Ā£250. Does it sound like a good build? I guess itās hard to tell with these DIY builds. Is that right number for having the noise issue fixed?
I wanted to use it as an FX box and also to use some of the weirder MIDI machines to trigger samples. Would it be good for using it with other gear or is the Standard a better option for that? Is the MIDI a TRS MIDI?
No difference really between the two for using with other devices. The XL has TRS midi.
You can also use one or two Launchpads as cheaper alternatives to a full Grid with the Midigrid mod (Norns for a script that runs in the background, not a physical modification).
Ā£250 seems reasonable, though impossible to know if a DIY Shield has been built well.
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Yeah, like @DoS said, xl is the only one with trs midi, so youāll have to buy a usb to midi adapter if you want midiā¦ The price youād be paying is decent enough, but youāre always taking a chance with shields since theyāre not under warranty by Monome if something breaks. If you do end up going that route, you might also want to consider purchasing a decent soldering gun and practice soldering, just to safeguard the possibility of something breaking down the road.
If you donāt want to take that risk, you can always go the standard Norns route. Buying official Monome products is expensive by most peopleās standards, but you are buying into their top notch customer service. Iām not sure how Monomeās warranty works for someone outside of the us, but my personal experience with them has been amazing. I once bought a used grid from someone on lines (back when you could make transactions). The grid ended up having various hardware related issues, so I reached out to Monome and they ended up replacing my grid, free of charge. I donāt know any other company that would do something like that, better yet, a company that only consists of three people! Theyāre very much about sustaining the culture around their products, and electronics/coding in general, more than making a huge profit.
So yeah, affordability vs quality, diy vs company support, itās up to you. Since you are just dipping in for the first time, the shield would be a great way to try it out to see if you even like it. Not everyone does!
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Thatās great info. I wasnāt aware of the XL model. Is that a diy or official monome one?
Itās a diy kit that you can purchase from Denki Oto. I dropped a link to it in my previous post, but if you didnāt see it here it is: shieldXL (DIY norns synthesizer kit)
I highly recommend it, as itās the perfect middle ground between affordability and qualityā¦ itās also really fun to put together (at least it was for me)
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Man this looks perfect! Out of stock at the moment. Are they regularly producing more?
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Also, would a USB to MIDI adapter on the Standard and Shield be plug and play or would I need special scripts to run it?
I should put myself on the waiting list for an XL as they look great, though with two Shields already thereās no real rush. I also need to do some soldering one day.
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Iām not sure how often kits are made available. I bought mine in the first batch and havenāt really paid attention since then.
It should just detect it, or it can easily be assigned within the Norns. A cheap one off of Amazon should work fine.
following their discord is probably more dependable than joining the mailing list (I actually donāt remember ever being notified via e-mail, although it mightāve just been detected as spam mail)
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