blackbox 1.9 feedback

[pnyboer]

I just loaded the 193 firmware on blackbox. I think I found a bug.

Actions:

1. Loaded a preset with some sequences.
2. Selected a sequence, pressed INFO
3. Tapped KEYS and switched to MIDI

Results
All notes disappeared from the sequence. This is visually apparent in both the INFO view and in the main sequence view (the tiny sequence view).
(Interestingly, if I play the sequence, it still plays. I can start and stop it by tapping on the sequence, though there is no small blue playhead. So this seems to be a largely visual problem. )

Expected
All notes would stay as is, but the sequence would now be a MIDI type rather than KEYS type.

Other
Then I tapped MIDI to switch back to KEYS, hoping to find my notes. All notes were (still) gone.
In PSET, I then tried to re-load my preset to restore my notes. The "Load" button was grayed out. I expected I'd be able to re-load since the preset had changed.
I had to load a different preset, then load my preset to restore my sequence.

[lerugray]

Heads up, I just updated to 1.9 and after powering the unit off once, now it refuses to turn on, tried multiple cords and power sources, seems like the unit is now dead, fairly frustrated, help would be appreciated.

[fruitnut]

For me it was an issue with both the bin files, thou renamed in the same folder on the sd-card. After moving the old firmware it worked. But I could start up to a black screen during the issue so it was not completely dead. Perhaps it's something else.

[Georges]

this also happens if you copy or unzip the file from an ipad or iphone onto the card, no clue why but so it is

[Manthos]

Updated to 1.9 a few days ago. Works like a charm so far. Such an amazing update!

[engelen]

Amazing update, love the lfo ! And additional modulation destinations.

But being able to set quantise start for clips is gone. Its just default at 1 bar. And no place to adjust like in earlier versions.

Also my midi controller still doesn't work over usb...

Also modulation over midi for the delay and reverb please

Keep up the good work!

[maxman]

which exact midi controller do you use?

[engelen]

I use a Yaeltex midi controller.

[xinkiex]

I think there is a bug, if I program SEQ, with empty pads, then start play, and record something on the PADs, the sound disappears, I cant even load anything from the library. After reboot it works again.

[lerugray]

One weird bug I noticed now with it working, Midi can record below C1 but then trying to edit notes below c1 on the grid it refuses to and shoves your notes above c1 regardless of what you inputted, would be great if this could be fixed.

[Lonzo5]

I had some reservations about the new interface, but I must say that this update has grown on me. I haven't run into any bugs other than the known ones mentioned in the original post, but I did have a couple of suggestions:
1.) Numerical MIDI CC assignment. MIDI Learn is great, but sometimes having a fixed CC number is nice, especially when you might be building a patch for multiple control surfaces and don't happen to be near the one that will be used for that encoder.
2.) MIDI note control for recording sequences. The pad control is excellent, but one thing I wanted to do is to load a whole chain of drum patterns into my DAW and have the BB record each one, then move on to record the next SEQ pad without my having to start and stop them one by one.

[Biglove]

I agree Numerical MIDI CC assignment & MIDI note control for recording sequences would be appreciated!

[davidshanesmith]

OMG its like you read my mind!
this is awesome. thank you.

[fitzgibbon]

This is an excellent update. Going through my 'back catalogue' and turning trash into nuggets of gold...seems like there is nothing an LFO and advanced granular cant fix!

[xinkiex]

Anyone faced when sometimes PAD with recorded sample just stop working? Like the blue (length) line of the PAD indicates like it is 0.01sec sample and it is not audible, and doesn't matter what I have on the PAD. If I will go and change mode to GRANULAR and back to SAMPLE - PAD start to work normally. Or I need to reboot the unit.

I would like to add that there is very strange behavior on the PAD number 1, sometimes it is just stop working.

I just bought BB after reading about 1.9.3 so I flashed it just outside of the box. After some tests I decided to downgrade to stable 1.7f and faced same problem. Now I'm back to 1.9.3, problem still happening.

I will try to record a video of this bug.

[audiosampling]

FILTER ACTION : I can't remember if this behaved like this before 1.9, but now, the FILTER knob doesn't make smooth sweeps. From 0% to slightly downwards, you directly hear the LPF kicking in (with a cutoff frequency that is too low). I think opting for a higher cutoff frequency when engaging the LPF, would make it sound so much smoother.

[pieter3d]

Yeah, this bothered me too. Especially when you assign an LFO to the cutoff and then have to tweak it so that it doesn't go through zero, otherwise you get that all the time. In prior firmware this wasn't an issue because the filter wasn't resonant.

[Steve]

Thanks for reporting this.

[audiosampling]

It is not because resonance is dialled in, that it should be actually present on the 0% setting. The 0% setting may actually turn the resonance to zero as well, with a zone around 0% (like +/-10%) that is used to gradually dial the resonance to its actual setting...

[pieter3d]

Awesome update! The filter resonance, LFO per voice and EQ are a huge deal to me. I'll have to get used to the new layout for a bit, but it seems much more logical. The MIDI only pads are also very nice. I don't have anything to test that with at the moment (my other gear with MIDI in is at the practice space), but it's something I missed a lot in previous firmware. Of course there are still some bugs, but I'm sure you'll solve those issues.

[mineral]

Wooow this update is huge when the bugs and glitches are sorted out. The most exciting feature for me is the midi only sequences. I've been waiting for this for so long. It was just stupid to occupy a pad with a sample which never gets heard, just because the external midi sequences need it. The split between the sequencer and the sampler is necessary in my opinion. Thank you very much!

[Fo00odm]

Dear team,

Thank you for your effort, it is being greatly appreciated!

I though have a few difficulties triggering sequences on Blackbox from Arturia beatsteppro via midi, namely:

1) blackbox seems to switch state of the sequence on "Note on" command only (on to off and vice versa).
2) Arturia has "gate mode" for pads where pad stays lit between "note on" and "note off" commands, which are triggered by two independant interactions with the device.

These two together create a following mess:

On first beatsteppro pad hit:
-Pad gets lit
-"Note on" command is sent to Blackbox
-Sequence toggles on.

On second beatsteppro pad hit:
-Pad gets unlit
-"Note off" command is sent to Blackbox.... which does nothing.

On third beatsteppro pad hit:
-Pad gets lit
-"Note on" command is sent to Blackbox
-Sequence toggles off.

As a result, there's no correlation between state of pad LED and sequence state, as pad LED can be lit each way.

Could i ask for a "gate seq trig mode", where both "note on" and " note off" commands trigger change of sequence state (on to off and vice versa) ?

Sorry for a slight offtop, if it is one.

[pnyboer]

I put this in the regular blackbox forum, but this probably belongs here:

I just loaded the 193 firmware on blackbox. I think I found a bug.

Actions:

1. Loaded a preset with some sequences.
2. Selected a sequence, pressed INFO
3. Tapped KEYS and switched to MIDI

Results
All notes disappeared from the sequence. This is visually apparent in both the INFO view and in the main sequence view (the tiny sequence view).
(Interestingly, if I play the sequence, it still plays. I can start and stop it by tapping on the sequence, though there is no small blue playhead. So this seems to be a largely visual problem. )

Expected
All notes would stay as is, but the sequence would now be a MIDI type rather than KEYS type.

Other
Then I tapped MIDI to switch back to KEYS, hoping to find my notes. All notes were (still) gone.
In PSET, I then tried to re-load my preset to restore my notes. The "Load" button was grayed out. I expected I'd be able to re-load since the preset had changed.
I had to load a different preset, then load my preset to restore my sequence.