I’ve been watching sample based hardware for a while as nothing is suiting my needs quite enough, except Norns, but I still wasnt really satisfied and wanted one dedicated device for sampling.
Volca Sample I tried via a friend and its not immediate enough for me. I ended up recently with the Novation Circuit Rhythm and its worked out great. No screen isnt a downside for me and every key only has two functions so no complicated workflow to remember, full of multikey shortcuts that go deep. Its only mono internally, but takes stereo in, and has panning for stereo out. Its fun and immediate, but i still find myself itching for a Digitakt or something with a screen for sample editing, tho with a simple workflow still (which from what i hear is 50/50 if the Elektron workflow is something one will like). 8 tracks, effects, panning, mixer. Can be a decent brain for a setup, or just for audio, and can live effect the audio going into it with synced effects. Its pretty decent! 
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Any feedback on how this has worked out for you? How are you dealing with connecting it to norns as , from what I see, both norns and the itrack dock are A type usb connector
It works fine is all I can say really - you get stereo audio I/O with mic pres, headphone preamp, and charging in a conveniently dock shaped… thing.
And you’re right: the USB port is meant for hosting an USB MIDI device like a keyboard or a knob controller, so you can’t connect it directly to Norns which is also a host device. You’d probably either need an USB MIDI interface on both ends, or one of those “host to host” boxes if you wanted to connect iPad directly to Norns - same as without the iTrack in that sense (of course you’d also need one of the “camera connection kit” adapters in that case).
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Thanks for that… I had seen one local at a good price and was getting tempted but it would seem the alesis Io dock is still a better shout for my own needs as it has regular din midi io
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Yeah, that sounds like a better idea in that case - my primary use case was hooking up Linnstrument to the iPad to control synths and samplers, and the full size USB host port in iTrack Dock works well for that.
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I decided to go for it… it was only £46 with the dock headphones and microphone so I figure if its no use in my other non norns hardware rig, I can probably still make my money back.
thanks for all the advice
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Was this £46 including the iPad?
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Haha no… but I got a 2021 iPad on Friday for £180 which I already think is a very very good upgrade
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also with the mpc live 2, one will get 999 bars per sequence, not stuck with 4 bar loops,
JES
339
Greetings. I’m looking for a workable live / improvisatory sampling approach. I’d love just to have a straightforward easy to use sampler, but they don’t seem geared to what I want to do.
Here’s what I want to do, in order of priority.
–nonquantized playback, no clock sync required, but the possibility to sync on a reset command or return-to-zero.
–ready to play the moment I turn it on–doesn’t need a complex “save as” routine before I get going
–more than one sound or loop at a time
–takes modulation well
–straightforward interface that I don’t have to think about too much
–hardware preferred
–independent time-stretch and pitch shift would be nice
–easy to move files back and forth
What I’ve got:
–An Octatrack. If I’m away even a couple days, I forget things. You can only time stretch if it your clip is assigned a bpm, and the time stretching and pitch shifting is a bit limited and quickly sounds wonky in a way I don’t love, doesn’t like to be modulated “through zero” on rate/pitch. It’s super cool in a lot of ways and otherwise checks all the boxes but I am looking for something a little more straightforward.
–A Qu-Bit Nebulae v2. I could build my own “tape and micro sound” Eurorack around this, but I have a few frustrations–it doesn’t handle fast modulation/arpeggiation on pitch, and you can’t change files in multiple directions (just “next” via a gate input). I don’t love the granular sound but the phase vocoder is very good and I could build around that. I feel like I’d need two though, and then I think, what’s the point of buying a second if I already am ambivalent about it?
–an iPad with a bunch of software. Loopy Pro oddly needs a master clock; Enso is a candidate but has no time stretch; all the time-stretch options I’ve found are granular and tend to sound it even when they are just playing the sounds at regular speed. The problem is I don’t love touchscreens.
–I had a Morphagene. Lots to love, but I could never remember the button combos, and I could never get it back to original pitch once I started messing with the pitch knob – felt fiddly to me.
What should I try next? For sake of discussion, let’s say this is for prefab samples that I’ve edited in my computer or on my iPad, and not live sampling of an instrument, though that’s on my to-do list (currently I’m just using a Blooper and a Cosmos for that).
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I think this has been recommended already in this thread but the SP series is great for sampling.
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Rossum Assimil8or might be what you are looking for if you don’t mind Euro format and lack of time-stretching.
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The timestretching and pitchshifting within Koala is very impressive if you end up going down the iPad route. You can trigger sounds easily with an AUv3 sequencer (Polybeat is my current favourite but there are no shortage of options). Something like the LP8 patch for Mozaic turns a Launchpad Mini into a really powerful step sequencer if you want a tactile setup.
Edit: at the risk of potentially stating the obvious considering where we are: Norns?
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pelang
343
I bought an SP 404 mk2 for most of your reasons. It’s effortless and quick to deal with sampling, handling, and resampling. no saving, turn it on and work with it. The screen is big enough for old eyes and has no deep menus.
I have been looking for some time for a eurorack solution but they are mostly monophonic or too small to allow an easy workflow.
And I guess I am one of few people which don’t work with any beats or drum samples…
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I’m there with you, I tend to treat the Octatrack as eight different tape machines with long samples rather than making beats. Lots of fun!
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JES
345
Thanks everyone!
@hermbot this is what I’m thinking of. Do you find you can do enough stuff without starting the sequencer? What do you do about BPM issues?
@pelang does SP404 have time stretch without pitch shift? And can samples be edited independently of a BPM?
Both: if you have work you’ve done in this way that you can share–even stuff in progress or sketches, I’d love to hear it.
@petesasqwax – I’d thought about Norns, but I think it would have to be a Norns and a grid at least to get any useful performance controls out of it. Am I wrong? What script or scripts would you recommend?
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pelang
346
yes, but after ~10% (pitch or time) it sounds more granular. Samples can loop in their own length. I do like this a lot as it creates polyrhythm. The lo-fi effects are great
Have you watched this review video ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXc48ApD-Kg
However, I started with a complete empty machine (no sounds and presets) as I like to find my own way to work with it. Most 404 videos are beat making oriented.
I do have the 404 for only a few days and still learning the functions… but here is recording from trying out different things using only the 404 and a Yamaha Reface CP mini piano
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JES
347
Thanks @pelang – sounds good!
Haha not much, to be honest. I guess I don’t really think of the samples in that way.
An example of what I like to do is load up some long samples and set the playback speed to zero on all of them. Then I’ll trigger everything but they don’t go anywhere because the speed is zero. Then I raise the speed on a channel until it sounds good, and repeat as needed. I treat them as 8 individual tape machines that I’m starting up with variable tape speed. Sometimes backwards, sometimes forward. I just do it by ear. It’s definitely more abstract and soundscapey than structured.
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Yes, I think Norns + some kind of control surface would be the option, but it could be a Launchpad Mini using Midi Grids (I use a pair of Mk 2s as my 128 grid-a-like) or an iOS device using TouchOSC. I’m not sure which script would be best for your use case but I’d maybe take a look at Cheat Codes 2 or oooooo to see how they fit with your needs
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