Portable-ish groovebox for "off-studio jamming"?

The Lounge Other Gear
#18

Dont go wrong, take an m8… try it with an headless setup if really not sure… in your pocket you’ll have an fm synth with a quite elegant implementation, mutable instruments braids, chiptune synth, very honorable sampler that sample, all your sample library( sd card a la ot) powerful internal and poly midi sequencer with very rare capabilities (tables) , reverb, delay chorus, amp sim , mixer with audio input (2 mono or 1 stereo) sendable to fx, 10 track mixer, scale and transposition support (including custom) ( in a so efficient way that youll have hard time to found better device to realise better melody with so little efforts ( betwen’ the way scale ,transposition and cloning is implented) its really portable, not like all recomendation up. Meaning it can go right in your edc, everyday, everywhere, everynight. Making it the perfect device with a life not about music, and in the struggle to find time for it…with only one usb cable it will do midi an audio with any ios device… touchosc will then give you controller for it on your iphone…or a moog model d ios… instant startup…

The ui is just so well thought and realised, comprehensive control, presentation, and combo among all pages. Its such an elegant device. You can connect it to a computee or a tv ( via a pc or raspberry) for more ergonomics at home.Support and communication wonderful.

Someone else on elektronauts say thats the sort of thing youll seen one time in one life, i think the same. I was part of the post beta preorder, don’t understand why people here seem to have spent one year before starting to understand.

Plus its only ONE MAN work (who i think was already responsable of the arduinoboy)

Plus bug correction, is sort of immediate, and firmware upgrade with new things come every two month or so…

Hard to justify to not at least spend some time with the headless version, dsc4 and a dualshock/xbox pad ( you can then configure excess button directly to combo, lovely)

If youll really try it, youll spend one day muscle memorizing the combo button, then around one week memorizing the command place in the command screen. Then youll disvover how quick and efficient writing music on it is. The note input method in no very different than on elektron in fact. You choose a step then a note… elektron are sort of trackers…

I see m8 as way more powerful than any elektron device taked alone…

Just one track of the 8 with fm instrument by ess:

Another track by grazcore m8 only

Another i like A lot

https://youtu.be/S3gAH9RsRKg?t=2697…

But load and loads of good tracks on the discord…

I hope that you start understand that with dirtywave « the off the studio making music » is not an « artificial construction » anymore, and that the m8 IS a full studio…

By the way, the discord community is great, more to my taste thats now here. The complete nature of m8 make that people spoke less about gear, more about music, tricks… they share complete songs as bundle that you can study, samples, themes…the fact that on this place the m8 is often the only device, or at least the principal in music creation process, even in studio, give comprehensive discutions. You wont have massive, serum, timefactor in it. But it save you time, and in the end, it make you remind and re realise that finally music is more about note and rhytm than about pure sound…

At the end, i will just add that this thing is a fuck you at all major cie. Surely it will evolve in a different way with the inevitable success and recognisation that will come, but for instance the transparency, honesty in devellopment, in effort… youll reward a guy for his passion and the love he give. How many time we were waiting for overbridge, trx b2… did you remind that the md or the octatrack were not developpable anymore said elektron,then seing alternative firmware with new instrument for md, or chance appearing on octatrack after years? ( clearly showing marketting bullshit…)
It also question what are really big brand do , when you see what only on man can do… remind me a lot of mutable for all this reasons… the m8 is a labor of love, and love is what youll received if you order it…

Finger crossed that the success dont make dirtywave explode, not that i am waiting for the next thing as i dont need anything anymore, but i dont want to see this gem disapear from the market, as i want one in my life till the end ( will purchase spare unit when money here, and too because i hop to soon « live » with two unit and a dj mixer, loading my own loops instead of tracks, for a compact efficient creative and original setup…

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#19

teensy 4.1 headless setup is my plan to check if i gel with m8.

ordered a teensy, might get it soon.

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#20

Synthstrom Deluge is always a choice in this area. If you want true portability though (i.e. whip it out on a bus ride for 10 minutes to mess around) then it’s hard to beat the M8 or OP-1/Z.

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#21

”Portable-ish” is a pretty broad term as you noted yourself. :grinning:

I can see the pros and cons of getting yet another Elektron device but personally I’m so used to p-locks that I don’t know if I could live without them on a groovebox (of course there are other boxes that offer similar functionality). But DN, DT or Syntakt would certainly fit the bill. Or indeed another OT, mk1s are still going for ~600€ which is crazy good value.

Also depends if you mostly want to explore sounds or write tracks - hard to do the latter without having a proper (internal) sequencer or having the instrument connected to an audio interface in case you want to capture an otherwise ephemeral moment of (semi-modular) beauty.

Like others have said, I’d keep it simple with a single box. Personally I might start with the A4 which you already have. Of course depending on how frequently you’re using your main setup AND the A4 as a key part of it.

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#22

Electribe2/2s, MC-101, Volcas, Deluge, OP1/Z, Polyend tracker.

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#23

OP-Z, Model:Cycles, Organelle. Either solo or in combination with an 0-Coast or a Meeblip Geode (for super-portability).

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#24

Great advice so far! The iPad is actually intriguing – I’ve kind of bounced off it so far, but maybe it’s time to rethink this. Not least because i have an iPad mini.

@comradecry the Organelle! One thing I’m kind of wary of is having a very ‘modular’ workflow in that you have multiple apps between which you switch. That’s often a recipe for distraction for me, as evidenced by Norns. So it might be that having an environment like that is too much, but will have to dig more.

The M8 gets really expensive with shipping in the 85USD range, plus VAT and custom…

I think OP-Z is actually pretty strong in this race. Or getting another Digitone, kidding myself that I’ll use it ”on the couch” is a tried-and-true option :sweat_smile:

#25

I’d definiely explore your iPad Mini before making any big purchases - buy a couple of apps without too much outlay, and if you decide it’s a good path you can take them with you to a bigger / newer device. If Drambo runs on your Mini then I very much doubt you’ll regret it however things turn out - and Koala is absurdly cheap. I think the Moog apps are still on sale at the moment, too. Take a look at some Aum videos to get an idea of how a broader iPad setup would work. As an anywhere, any time music environment, it’s very difficult to beat the iPad in terms of scope, and at any point you can spend the price of a couple of lattes to add a whole new set of tools and options.

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#26

Drambo (p-locks, ability to build virtual devices, clip launching, sampling, too much to list), FM synths like BLEASS Omega and others (including DX7 clones), lots of FX, Koala (sp404-like), Loopy Pro, AUM…

A $100 gift card and you’d have a virtual Octa/DT/DN/sp404 in the palm of your hand with multiple synths/drum machines, samplers, sequencers (traditional and generative/Euclidean/polyrhythmic), and quality FX.

That’s actual portability that doesn’t require having a bag or case or any preparation when you head out the door.

Add something like an MPK mini or Novation Launchpad or LaunchControl and you’d have a small setup that fits in a laptop case or small courier bag/backpack.

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#27

OPZ is great in theory, but be aware for composition it can be very fiddly to use on the lap/couch due to the small size of the keys, that said it can be done but is better with an external controller, which somewhat negates the point of it being so small.

For ipad a lot of the Korg apps are great, the classic synth ones, gadget etc.

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#28

Im pretty sure since ORAC 2.0 you can combine any number of modules into one patch, so no need to switch, pick the ones you like and use them together.

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#29

Actually shipping was 39 doll to france, and vat around 130… but hey semm your decided to let the train pass anyway!

#30

Just checked, 85USD pour moi for shipping :frowning: So, all told, about €750.

#31

If you like the M8, but are unsure of the lack of note input, then maybe check out the Polyend Tracker. It samples, slices, has playable note grid, some good sequencer options and sequencer FX, has some wavetable and granular options, song mode (if that’s your thing), performance mode is fun, and is fairly portable as it can be powered by USB battery pack.

There’s also the MC-707 and MC-101. They are about as complete of boxes as you can get for creating a track start to finish.

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#32

See also this post (couch gear, very detailed) and the rest of the thread it’s in.

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#33

The OP-Z is extremely portable and flexible. You can make beats extremely quickly with it. The keyboard can be a little too small for playing chords so I typically use mine with a keystep (the op-z powers the keystep), but it’s still very fun on its own. A model samples or cycles might also work for you, they’re pretty easy to make mobile.

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#34

Another big recommendation for M8!

Haven’t tried these myself, but they might also fit your needs: SP-404-MKII or SmplTrek

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#35

Reading through the OP again, the sound design, interesting melody lines timbres and sequencing possibilities…

I agree with your gut to not do another elektron box. You want something to take you in a different direction. The question is more fundamental:

Do you want to “play,” do you want to “sequence,” do you want to “write” or do you want to be “inspired by sound” (sorry couldn’t squeeze that last one into one nifty word).

If you want to sit on your couch and play out melodies, the op-1 is a good fit for this style and the tape metaphor will push you to think differently than you do with our Elektron devices. What you lose (imo) is the ability to take it back to your studio / desk rig and incorporate it flawlessly. It has always felt very contained to me. And that can be good, it pushes different creative buttons, but it can be limiting. On the other hand, you can sample to tape from your modular and then take that to the couch and layer and overdub and work on ideas, so there’s some benefit there. It also has a fun factor (all of this is the og, which is suddenly highly available on reverb for some reason)

If you want to sequence, I can’t recommend the deluge enough, and I’m still struggling to understand why anyone would pick the polyend play over it outside of the screen. It can sample, loop, multisample, do va synthesis, simple fm, wavetable synth, euclidian sequencing, you can set a different sequence length per note on melodic sequences or drum sequences, has a robust song mode, and solid midi implementation with mpe for when you get back to your desk. It has a battery and streams samples straight from the sd card, so you’re limited only by the cpu eventually choking. The limitations are it takes more time to learn its shortcuts and workflow without the screen and the engines are “okay” but not particularly inspiring - but for building ideas outside your normal workflow, it’s sequencer is really underloved in these parts.

If you want to write - the m8 is the absolute winner. It’s the closest to the elektron workflow as they’re really just tracker brains in 808 bodies. This one also gets the honorable mention for “inspired by sound” as it has such a wide range of synth engines with the full braids set, a wonderful sounding 4 op fm engine, sampler and all of which share a common 2 envelope 2 lfo multimode filter, drive, reverb and delay structure after the osc. This is a great place to get a basic sequence going and then just start messing with your patch until you’re in love. Downsides are it’s just not as immediate for “playing” or sequencing as the other two, but having all of these in my life, it’s the one that is never not in my laptop bag and always comes out. It’s also an audio interface and so you can use it with a phone or ipad with a connection kit to expand its universe.

The other key for me is on the couch, the less gear the better. I don’t want a powerbank or a secondary keyboard or device. I really want something I can just chill with, and so that’s either going to be the m8 or my phone or tablet (the arguments for the ipad are strong here, and not needed to be repeated, but I think these three devices all have specific merit for getting out of your normal zone).

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#36

from the looks of things it’s probably the performance aspect of the polyend play that’s garnering most of the attention, if the deluge had a performance mode like the play or the polyend tracker it would be incredible, as is it’s cool, but I really hope Rohan adds some new and interesting FX and performance fx to be triggered via some kind of performance page… making use of all those pads like the polyend tracker does

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#37

Lately I have been enjoying the Sonicware stuff, kind of late to the party as I hadn’t really took much notice of them before, the Liven range seem pretty good for casual (or studio) use. The built in speaker is ok to get stuff going, and the keys whilst not super responsive do the job ok with a couple of octaves. I find them pretty fun to use, and there is something almost naive and simple in the use yet with sufficient depth to not get bored. I have the 8bit warps and Lofi12 but will probably get a few more from the range in the future. Great fun.

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