1010music Bluebox

The Lounge Other Gear
#404

It is! Everything follows the bluebox project tempo as long as everything is connected to it via midi. I daisy chain everything to it.

I got to say it can be a bit noisy, especially when I plug any instrument computer to receive usb midi… however, the recordings are super clean, and their levels are quite low but turning them way up they sound totally clean.

Lastly, I personally record the meat and potatoes of what I’m going to use, and leave the arrangement and editing to the daw. That may or not work for you. But you cannot for example start playback from anywhere but the first bar (AFAIK) and you can’t move recorded audio to start later. So you either plan your performance and record in one or several passes, or you do like me and record everything for a few bars (65 works for me) and then flesh that out in the computer.

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#405

My main issue is lack of transport controls: not being able to select where to start playback from (ie. only can start from the start), no setting loop points, and no punch in/out record.

I suspect this will come in an update at some point. I also would like to be able to split the outputs into 2 mono lanes (the input routing is fairly flexible). Otherwise it works great.

I’ve found the sync nice and tight slaved to my Cirklon (I have it running on the since removed 1.09 firmware where slave record sync was working - thanks @Chinchilla for sorting me out)

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#406

To start with:
A good takes feature, ideally with the ability to slice up and move/copy parts and bounce. Transport controls. Class compliant midi on the USB device port, not just the host port. Recording all mixes, and being able to choose the pick point (pre/post eq, etc) for recordings. Renaming outputs. Separating the recording level and the main output level. Being able to designate an input/output pair as a channel insert. Being able to mute a channel’s send to output 2/cue/fx1/fx2 without affecting the gain for that send/muting the send/muting the channel, via midi. EQ type selection via the menu. Log fader scale from midi. dB scale on the meters. RTA. Waveform display of parts. Screensaver. FX presets. Per-channel comp and gate.

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#407

(Also, to be clear — I’m also happy with it as it stands. It’s an awesome package. It could just be much, much, much more awesome.

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#408

I gotta say the Bluebox is a nice bit of kit! I am sure I’ll need it at some point but I haven’t need the manual yet at all. Very intuitive (as touch screen devices often are, I suppose lol).

#409

Q is it possible to half time the playback tracks on the bluebox?

#410

Just FYI, can confirm that Hosa YMP-233 Y Cable - 3.5mm TRS Male to Dual 1/4-inch TRS Female cables fit right next to each other on the Bluebox no problem. Haven’t tested them further but see no reason they shouldn’t get the job done.

Now I just need four more…

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#411

I guess not, ok but answer me this why would this product not be able to do loop recording or punch in recording… was there just not enough time to implement these things before the release or was this a hardline design decision?

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#412

well the black box does not have tap tempo at this stage.has been requested many times still missing, imagine those features you mention on Bluebox

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#413

so 1010 works in mysterious ways

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#414

I think the mixer part of the Bluebox always was the main attraction, and that the convenience of also recording that mix was considered a comfort feature, saving you the step to bring out a daw or Zoom to capture your sessions.

However, the want to mix and record in one box with features equalling each other, was probably somewhat underestimated. I know 1010 is listening, I think it comes down to what they want this product to be going forward. The more recording options they add, the more we’ll consider it a recording device as well and keep asking for stuff which might derail its focus.

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#415

IMG_6050
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Bluebox in the house!

Initial impressions: It’s real pretty! The colour is beautiful, more cyan than in the product photos. Not as small as I had feared, works well for me. Build quality, screen, encoders & buttons is all high quality. Took a little while to get around the interface, which isn’t super intuitive, but I got up and running pretty quickly.

It runs pretty hot, even warmer than the P12. Soundwise it sounds transparent and clean - the filters and effects sound good too! A spectral analyser in the EQ section would be useful. I hope they add some more effects down the line: saturation/drive, bitcrusher, maybe some different delay algos (tape echo, pitch shift). Presets for the effects would be useful also, especially the reverb which is just indecipherable to a schmuck such as myself.

I got it primarily as a mixer and effects processor for my Digitakt and P12. I think I’ll add a controller with plenty of knobs soon to take advantage of the midi learn functionality and assign fx send amounts, high & lowpass filters etc to them. Having those parameters on their own knob for live tweaking should be a lot of fun.

EDIT: quick reverb n delay test with the P12 (bass is also P12 but on its own channel w/o fx - this is partly why I got the bluebox in the first place!):

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#416
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#417

Thank you sharing! About 38 mins in and it’s great so far.

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#418

I see a lot of people saying they will pair the bluebox with a midi controller to add physical knobs and faders, but then why not just buy something like the Zoom Livetrack where everything is just in one box?

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#419

Size, weight and flexibility to name a few.

#420

I’ve got a Model 12 and I love it. But I don’t get to spend as much time as I’d like sitting at my desk in the studio — especially with the pandemic. I just ordered a BlueBox to plug that gap.

But depending how I like it, I could see it being much more convenient to replace the Model12 with a MIDI “docking station” for the BB and tote the BB around with me everywhere. I’d have faders in the studio, touchscreen when away, and wouldn’t need to shuffle a bunch of files and SD cards. Time will tell whether or not this is foolhardy :slight_smile:

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#421

A blubox plus a UC4 is still like half the size of an L-12

#422

Curious which one you’ll like more after a while.

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#423

After only a day or two I like the Model 12 much more. This is 100% because of how I make music and not due to build quality issues or anything. The Bluebox a solid, well designed box with a fantastic UI.

But I tend to build up songs in layers and don’t really know where I’m going with them until I get there. The Model 12 is great for this because I can jump to a bar, loop playback, and even punch in if I want.

But the Bluebox, as others have mentioned, lacks any sort of ability to playback or loop from anything but the start of a track. This turns out to be way more painful for me than I would have thought.

In a way, it’s is very Elektron-like. On Elektron gear, all patterns always play back from the beginning and if you’re tweaking something on page 4, it’s like “come on!” right?

But now imagine if instead of finishing up the last of just four bars, you’re trying to write the final four bars of a 2:30 song staring from the beginning each time. Ick!

I’ve tried a few different things, like recording smaller, pattern-like sections so starting from the “start” isn’t such an issue. But there’s no way to “chain” these on the Bluebox, so I hear everything together for the first time in my daw, and I find my transitions don’t work as well as I thought and I’m missing parts and… (and at this point, I should probably be using a blackbox instead but I want the EQ and mix stuff).

So I don’t know. It’s portable, but the Zoom R24 is a similar weight and only 2x as large (still 1/3 the size and a mere fraction of the weight of the Model 12). For the same price, the R24 can take a mic or guitar, runs off of batteries, has a ton of editing, trimming, and looping capabilities, physical controls, and throws in a junky drum machine :upside_down_face:

But both the build quality and UI of the R24 are a disaster, so I still hold out hope for the Bluebox. Lots of people are talking about looping and punch-in and I think that would solve 95% of my issues and is doable with firmware. But right now, the Bluebox is a very good mixer and a bad multitracker. So nothing is replacing my Model 12 at the moment.

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