You are probably right that OT is the best or most creative sample mangler. It’s good to hear that it can be simple but can it be simple to learn even to get to that point?
@jean_voyage I can take another look at SP404 but I’ve been put off by the condensed layout. Punching in FX is appealing though.
@raindro I’m going for a separate machine to get a simple workflow that fits the DT2 like a glove. See it as minimalism but it matters for my productivity. It’s about getting the right feature set with as little distraction as possible.
Yea I’d say so. I think that its complexities are over-memed. It can be a very deep instrument but if all you want to do is load up a few samples and layer some effects onto them then you can learn everything you need from a few youtube videos. You have the crossfader too for live performance and you can do some cool looping and recording stuff.
At its core it will feel very familiar if you’re used to a DT - but there are some differences that will require you to think about some things differently.
Maybe that’s a possibility then. They are showing grey hairs and have come down in price too so I probably will have to arrange some kind of shootout with an MPC.
Another vote for the 404mk2. It’s not that complex, great for longer samples, great effects. It’s also much easier to dive into than the newest MPCs. I have one, happy to answer any specific q’s
As others have said don’t overlook the SP either - much cheaper and they’re also great for creative sampling - and you can use it as a master effects unit to run your DT into which would be cool.
I get it but have to say that the layout is only complex because of all the button combos you can learn when you wanna use it standalone to its fullest potential.
At heart it’s a clearly labelled sample player (load from sd /record, fiddle with start and end, tune or stretch, add fx, resample (swap resampled sound for source sound if you don’t want to change the midi note triggering the sound).
It also holds 16GB of samples at once which is probably by far the most out of all the units you have mentioned.
It does help if the front legend actually shows functions I’ll use. I have banged my head against many a eurorack module that often seem to take pride in cramming in multiple functions to save space. I’m happy to re-evaluate it and I do have video homework for OT and MPC as well.
The only one of these I have is bento. It definitely has gremlins but they’re actively sorting them out and doing an OK job IMO of taking feedback and telling you if it’s coming soon or not planned at all yet. It can do very very long loops. In fact, I recorded a 9 minute song into the looper yesterday from my mixer, which I’m planning to add a granulated track, effects/OD/compression/modulation, and resample all on the bento at some point soon when I get a chance. The sequencer can do step sizes down to 4 or 8 bar, it has a lot of great loop and sample tools for stretching/pitching/chopping/etc. Really it is a great device despite the warts and it’ll get better. At this point my digitakt is mostly just a preset saver for synths that don’t have preset patches, single-cycle synth, midi router, sequencer, and master compressor for end of chain since the bento workflow is more pleasant to me for actual loops and it has a more pleasant chopping and granulation for recorded samples. It’s definitely at Digitakt’s level of complexity but I think it’s easy to let it be only what you use it for until you want to do other things with it. As a looper I don’t think I’ve ever used anything as good, but it definitely has warts (I had some issues where it injected some high pitched ringing in place of silence on the wav when the input audio went silent at the end of a long loop, which I have a bug report filed for). They’ve been good about dropping betas to handle critical bugs and there’s another big FW push scheduled for September that hopefully will include audio over USB. In general I’m pretty happy with it as it is and expect to be extremely happy with it this time next year. Good time to buy a used one for cheap from an early adopter who was dissatisfied, but there’s been a few HW issues reported so I would only buy one from someplace with a return guarantee (either an actual retailer or reverb/ebay). 1010music appears responsive to hardware issues (some had an issue with the output amplifier burning out) but I haven’t seen if they do RMA themselves or ask you to get a replacement through the retailer you got it from. I got an open box one on eBay and the HW works flawlessly, I love playing the pads, etc. Not sure if I’ll sell my digitakt 1 but it does basically everything that does (including good sounding compressor and cooler IO routing options) so I feel like once it’s feature complete I will.
Bento promises the moon and I love a good bull market. Jokes aside, I could go for with if I managed my expectations just right but I’m prioritizing stability on this one. I’ll definitely keep an eye on it and even if I think it’s weak sauce to release an unfinished product, it will probably be fantastic once finished. So I’m axing the bento for now, I appreciate your thoughts.
if sample mangling is truly what you are after, just make sure when you try the mpc that you try:
track explode feature
sample layering 4 to 8 layers per pad
Pad link feature where you can trigger multiple pads with one pad
sample freeze and print per pad feature- put a sample on a pad, edit/Fx etc… then freeze and print the changes you made and turn that pad into a new sample… kind of like ableton’s bounce feature but on a per pad basis
resampling- it’s important to remember that everything on this list can be resampled while being done.
sample slicing
make sure to try out all of the sample slicing pad parameters
make sure to check out all of the Muting features, recordable muting, muting per pad, and muting per track etc…
FX layering, you can have multiple fx per pad, and then add more fx a level up at the program level which houses the pads, and then you can have more multiple fx another layer up on the master level
also check out what is possible with routing audio and fx from one pad to another (think of this like routing in ableton) and being able to capture anything you create through this technique
and it’s also important to note and keep in mind in regards to this list none of these features are esoteric in their application on the mpc, in other words you don’t have to be a wizard and you can learn the whole list in an afternoon… the best feature of an mpc is that all of it’s features are straight forward you don’t have to decipher anything.
there are alot of other things to check out, but onece you check out these features all of your questions about how you feel about it’s mangling prowess will be answered.
also give the looper a try, it’s deceptively simple but very powerful within the context that it has been implemented in the instrument… it’s very easy to make all kinds of sample fodder with it… and just regular loops too if that is what you want.
I would try the mpc one or one+ because it would sit nice and compact right next to a digitakt and you will be amazed at what can be done with that little sampler, you can even connect/expand it via usb to another mixer and get up to 32 more channels I think… so if you’re ever somewhere collaborating with others and wish that you could get everyone you’re working with inside your sampler that’s an easy way to do it. I think it’s a very elegant solution and they make an excellent combo… and when it comes to slicing up samples the mpc is better than any daw in my opinion, and the only one that can compete with daws on that level… Not when it comes to time stretching, daws are still better but sample slicing parameters on the mpc have not been bested yet by any daw… lastly it has ableton export too.
A Caveat- if you think you are even remotely going to be using whatever sampler you decide to get with a portable speaker, then make sure to try out the live 2 as well… you will save yourself a lot of headaches
Bold claim but the boxes did get their fame for just that. I’ll suspend disbelief. Form factor is important but both Live 2 and One+ would fit my desk. I’ve got a great keybed in the Hydrasynth already.
It’s your life and no biggie but using another piece of gear for hazy reasons is certainly not minimalistic. I’d recommend learning the DT more in-depth or pivoting to a platform you prefer.
I think the stability issues are a bit overblown for bento but the occasional bug and uncertain timelines for promised but not yet implemented functions are real. Others I know using them are already enjoying the looping and mangling aspects quite a bit and I’ve found it very smooth but the mic one+ is obviously much easier to incorporate since it’s such a known and documented system.
I’m kind of setting myself up for some pretty high expectations, right? Ordering multiple ones only to send all but one back seems excessive when consulting the IRL interface.
I don’t think it’s excessive at all, finding out what kind of instrument works for you, moves you, and brings you the most happiness and joy to use, or that best serves your needs is what it’s all about, the only wrong answer is letting anyone make you feel uncomfortable for doing that… at the end of this road you might just settle on an acoustic guitar it’s happened to me before and it was the right thing at that time. You literally cannot make a mistake and can only become more informed.
it’s happened to me before and it was the right thing at that time. You literally cannot make a mistake and can only become more informed.