Don’t you wish

[Dolores]

So as I’m trying to do a little project on the black box, I’ve realized several different aspects about this device I didn’t expect.

in a lot of ways I see the functionality of the unit, as a sampler, it’s next to king.

But I wish in a lot of ways it was a much better sequencer, midi operative , midi tool shed etc

it would be very cool if blackbox got a high res make over and went into detail with the midi editor and sequencer itself.

being unable to select more than one note at a time is like living between two limestone walls.

no generative or basic preset features for loop defaults etc within the sequencer, might be confusing to somebody who doesn’t own a calculator.



For a creative like myself that possibly doesn’t understand how complex each midi transaction can be. it’s almost unbearable to edit sequences in the blackbox or even execute imported sequences. because mainly you just don’t have any control over anything but the note itself and chance yes but , I don’t think lfo per voice was a good solution because of the processing power and the ability or lack there of to even play two complex pads at a time simultaneously. Parameter locks are definitely a must in future firmware for the sequencer function, better visualization of note information and sub menus for each individual note would be optimal.

like I said on Bluebox thread, it would be great to map encoders on the device to multiple parameters and also “ touch/hold(1s) + enable encoder “ would allow much more intuitive performance options and studio workflows.

One thing I thought might be powerful on blackbox is Nudge ..

I have never tried to use the unit to actually dj like a traditional deck A+B

but the ability to nudge loops or tracks would let this unit rival a lot of other DJ software and obviously the new Roland which enables some sort of DJ function as well.

not that I give a shit about djs or that dumb lifestyle, I just like mixing shit up.

I hope in future updates that I can play a multi instruments side by side another one ? It seems like the box just clacks tf out when I try to play two multi sampled instruments side by side using the internal sequencer(forget any chord progression on high Q). Which is kind of crazy tbh, I would hope I could fill half or atleast use 25% of the internal cpu with 4-8 pads of multi engines. I mean this thing does cost as much as an expensive ass minimac

but that’s definitely not the case as I’ve seen within multiple projects , it never had the processing power to handle more than 12 pads of project for me ..

I think I’m just asking too much but in this day and age. A product ages well if if can adapt. I’m worried the blackbox will only offer very limited functionality based on its hardware limitations. Who knows

I hope the blackbox gets updated again?

maybe I’m just a Bluebox fan, I dunno. We’ll see how this year goes for the firmware!

thanks again everyone cheers’

j

[Georges]

The blackbox is a sampler and anything ancillary that goes with it (loops, songwriting, processing, rudimentary mixing, etc.). However, its main job is not being a MIDI sequencer with the necessary fiddly interface. There are other devices for this task: if portability is a concern, Retrokits will be coming up with a portable MIDI sequencer, similar price range than bluebox, which might probably fit your needs more adequately.

[Dolores]

Yes the rk008 will be a nice companion for the blackbox. I also like the Blokas MidiHub to pair with everything and Maybe I just need a second black box to get the versatility for my personal workflow.

Cheers

[duncandisorderly]

you might also look at the polyend tracker- I have accumulated dozens of h/w sequencers since the doepfer maq, the 202/303 & right through the notron, schaltwerk, zeit, p3, cirklon... when I got the polyend, I was like "ah, finally." it's limited, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. makes you think about arrangements. at the same time, the nuances... the fill functions.... plays nice with the bb.

[Painting Silence]

Totally agree with the above. The Blackbox is a great sketchpad to fastly get rudimentary projects to work but going into detail it just isn't flexible enough (individual outputs lack their dedicated FX, there's only a master eq not one per sample, the midi sequencer is fiddly, there is no way to go fluently from one pattern to another, and ultimately the processing power limits it's great sampling capabilities) so the way I see it, get another Blackbox to extend the single one or use it as a sketchpad and then move on to other devices as production advances. But the Blackbox is still second to none in terms of portability and it's UI is actually kinda brilliant once you figured it out for your use case.