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The main manufacturer's are overdue in the Groovebox department!


MuzikB

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I've really liked the demos I've heard ...


Plus, I really just wanted it as a drum machine anyway to jam with my Jupiter-6/Juno setup ... The Fantom drum pads aren't very convenient in my current arrangement and I need a new sound anyway ...


I got it as a trade so all it cost me was shipping ...


I agree, though, there aren't a ton of choices out there ... The LinnDrumII could work for me in the future, though ...



I think it sounds better than the Roland offerings. I just wish it had a comparable synth engine.

:thu:

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it's the synth so nice i own it twice:


emx2.jpg



Stop it! I'm starting to GAS. I'd be really upset if I buy one and they show the next model at the next musician show.

I'd much rather have Compact Flash storage.

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Stop it! I'm starting to GAS. I'd be really upset if I buy one and they show the next model at the next musician show.


I'd much rather have Compact Flash storage.

 

 

agreed; either that or SD, for me. still, if they release a new one, i won't be offing these beauties. i'll just add to the pile! (6 tribes and counting...)

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I predict grooveboxes will become, like real analogue gear, a boutique item with a pricetag to match. There will be room for companies like Elektron for for the foreseeable future but I expect the big players to give it up and start making controllers instead (witness Akai).

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I predict grooveboxes will become, like real analogue gear, a boutique item with a pricetag to match. There will be room for companies like Elektron for for the foreseeable future but I expect the big players to give it up and start making controllers instead (witness Akai).

 

 

Every year or so, the Spectralis taps me on the shoulder and my appraising stare softens a little more into kissyface. I feel like I'd need a year of solid use to grok it, but as my interest in making dance music wanes, I'm reluctant to add yet another instrument like that to the studio.

 

I know the Spectralis doesn't pass down dance music by decree, but that's been the most compelling implementation I've heard in numerous demos, and is likely how I'd use it.

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I like the Electribe samplers best out of the whole line, and it will be hard to top the ESX if they come out with a new one. Actually, what I would like to see is a new model with FEWER features. Yeah, I'm that crazy. But I'm serious. I really like the simplicity of the original ES-1 (and mkII version). So my perfect Electribe would be to take an ES-1 mkII and add two things: make the filter resonant, then add the Amp EG section from the ESX (with the Gate and Decay envelope shapes, and a knob for EG TIME).

 

THAT would be my perfect sampling drum machine.

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grooveboxes are great. BUT...I wish more of them had multi outs, higher PEQ resolution, and more then 8 measures per pattern.

anyway, what I really pine for isn't grooveboxes, but x0x sequencers.

roland is very very close. Their mc 808 is a great sequencer.

Take the mc 808. Add back in velocity/aftertouch sensitive pads, with toggle buttons to disable/enable sensitivity. Take 16 part buttons, add a knob to make that 16 x 4 and have 4 midi outs. Then add another 16 part buttons for individual note mutes, so you can mute/unmute drum parts in a kit. Finally, add about rotary 16 encoders that can spit out CC / RPN / NNRPN / sysex. Oh yeah, and don't make it the size of a gradeschool desk (the 808 is HUGE, and empty). take out the sound piece, keep the arp / rps / chord, make the ui a little bit easier to navigate (ah realtime edit/playback, never has happend with roland and may never happen). Finally, to top it all off, make each part have individual loop points, so that part track 1 / part 1 could be a measure of 16 notes, while part 2 is 2 measures of 32 notes, etc.

and that would be a very nice box indeed.

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grooveboxes are great. BUT...I wish more of them had multi outs, higher PEQ resolution, and more then 8 measures per pattern.


anyway, what I really pine for isn't grooveboxes, but x0x sequencers.


roland is very very close. Their mc 808 is a great sequencer.


Take the mc 808. Add back in velocity/aftertouch sensitive pads, with toggle buttons to disable/enable sensitivity. Take 16 part buttons, add a knob to make that 16 x 4 and have 4 midi outs. Then add another 16 part buttons for individual note mutes, so you can mute/unmute drum parts in a kit. Finally, add about rotary 16 encoders that can spit out CC / RPN / NNRPN / sysex. Oh yeah, and don't make it the size of a gradeschool desk (the 808 is HUGE, and empty). take out the sound piece, keep the arp / rps / chord, make the ui a little bit easier to navigate (ah realtime edit/playback, never has happend with roland and may never happen). Finally, to top it all off, make each part have individual loop points, so that part track 1 / part 1 could be a measure of 16 notes, while part 2 is 2 measures of 32 notes, etc.


and that would be a very nice box indeed.

 

Take out the synth engine!? :eek:

 

Grooveboxes are NOT drum machines. They are pattern oriented workstations people! With an emphasis on realtime control.

 

MPC-1000 = Drum Machine

Machinedrum = Drum Machine

MC-909 = Groovebox

RS7000 = Groovebox

 

What you need my man is found at Jomox. :thu:

 

Accept no substitute.

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The ES-1 has to have a resonant filter doesn't it?!

 

 

It does in the Effect section, but that limits its usefulness. It has another filter in the individual Part section that is not resonant, and it would have been cooler if it was.

 

If I had to choose between the two things on my wishlist though, I think a Decay knob/Envelope-controlled Amp would be my choice.

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Enjoying this quite a bit ... a good trade for me ...

 

emx1wy6.jpg

 

I can see how the EMX could stand an update in the sound generation facilities ... and yet, I still quite like it ... the arp is FANTASTIC and quite unique in my setup ... the EMX will be useful to me if only to drive my other synths (particularly the arpless Juno-106) ...

 

and this is where the illness comes in ... I can definitely see the value in having a table full of these and other groovebox babies ...

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What you need my man is found at Jomox.
:thu:

 

Amen! Agree 100%--in fact, have a 999 at my side. :thu::thu::thu: The multi outs should have read multi MIDI outs...

 

 

Question--mpc 4k, one w/va oscs, is that now a groovebox?

 

 

Spectralis eg QuasiMidi 2.0 looks and sounds great, but the $$$, it is cheaper to get an andromeda. Still on the list though, why not? Maybe one day...

 

Tribe MX1 is a nice box.

 

 

 

My only point in taking out the sound part is that I'd rather have a great sequencer and use a great sound module then a crappy sequencer with so/so sounds. The sequencing on the tribes are very limiting, to be honest. Muting drum parts doesn't mute outgoing drum notes (At least for me) and tracks area all mono. Obviously, great sound / great sequencing would be ideal. I feel like the groovebox market is so close to holy grails, the next generation could really hit the targets.

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Amen! Agree 100%--in fact, have a 999 at my side.
:thu:
:thu:
:thu:
The multi outs should have read multi MIDI outs...



Question--mpc 4k, one w/va oscs, is that now a groovebox?



Spectralis eg QuasiMidi 2.0 looks and sounds great, but the $$$, it is cheaper to get an andromeda. Still on the list though, why not? Maybe one day...


Tribe MX1 is a nice box.




My only point in taking out the sound part is that I'd rather have a great sequencer and use a great sound module then a crappy sequencer with so/so sounds. The sequencing on the tribes are very limiting, to be honest. Muting drum parts doesn't mute outgoing drum notes (At least for me) and tracks area all mono. Obviously, great sound / great sequencing would be ideal. I feel like the groovebox market is so close to holy grails, the next generation could really hit the targets.



Don't think that in general, a Spectralis costs more than an Andromeda - perhaps a new Spectralis at full price, compared to a used Andromeda. But it's pretty easy to get the Spectralis heavily discounted while new, and I've seen them for as low as $1500 used.

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i really miss my yamaha rs7000, but the thing that made me sell it, was the fact that you need to reinstall all your patterns everytime you turn it on

i sold it for a laptop that i use ableton and a monome with...but i still wish i had the RS....maybe in the future ill get one again

ive always wanted to use a mc909 and compare it to the RS


i do have a spectralis on the way, and am really looking forward to that...i hear there is a pretty big learning curve though


i personally cant wait to get my hands on a linndrum2, a tenori on would be nice too....especially to control my v synth

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I feel like the groovebox market is so close to holy grails, the next generation could really hit the targets.

 

 

I don't see a continuous linear evolution as necessarily something to expect; look at the de-evolution in some ways (e.g., interface, lack of self-containment and need for computer software) from MC-909 to MC-808...

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Take out the synth engine!?
:eek:

Grooveboxes are NOT drum machines. They are pattern oriented workstations people! With an emphasis on realtime control.


MPC-1000 = Drum Machine

Machinedrum = Drum Machine

MC-909 = Groovebox

RS7000 = Groovebox


What you need my man is found at Jomox.
:thu:

Accept no substitute.



I'm probably missing something, but what does Jomox have that's more of a groovebox than the machinedrum?

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I'm probably missing something, but what does Jomox have that's more of a groovebox than the machinedrum?

 

 

No, it's just that he was wanting a hardware sequencer with no synth engine. For what he wants, I think the Jomox stuff is great. He just needs a midi interface for more ins and outs instead of buying another instrument.

 

The X-Base 999 is so mutha freaking HOUSE, that I have to force myself to stay away from it. Bills won't get paid in my obsession to buy the thing.

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and this is where the illness comes in
... I can definitely see the value in having a table full of these and other groovebox babies ...



i'm up to 12, so i can fully attest to this. people complain that any one groovebox is not enough to make an album (and they're patently wrong), but add more than one and you can easily keep things fresh for a long time. anything beyond four (in my completely unprofessional opinion) and you begin to border on unstable though. :wave:

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