I considered rpi but it’s probably go with a teensy 4 or stm32 dev board. That M8 tracker is running on a teensy 4 apparently and it does 8 tracks or sample playback, I’m sure you could squeeze 8 tracks of audio recording/playback in there
I recall similar issue with the drivers with my K-mix.
I believe I fixed it installing asio4all on my PC…
anyways, the Bluebox is obviously on my radar because I need a portable recording solution without streaming all from the k-mix to ableton live.
Actually when I look around, a quick fix for that would be getting a computer powerful enough to be able to record all streamed channels from the K-mix without audio loss or overall lag…
Bluebox is actually 3 times cheaper than getting a computer with such specs.
And I would focus on the hardware and the sound instead, later editing tracks on the couch, 
Its funny because I sold the Blackbox because I would use it as a glorified recorder… like I would use the Bluebox.
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Why is there no power switch? I might be a buyer but… no chance will I unplug/replug that EXTREMELY tight USB port every time I turn it on or off, and obviously sticking it in a case with the cable still plugged in is a nonstarter. Features look great but that is weak sauce!
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I’m not a fan of this trend. The Typhon is like this too. It’s not debilitating, but just annoying. It is still pretty silly to not have a power switch. That bothered me on the Poly-Digit quite a bit as well.
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I just pull out the cord from the battery instead, whenever I use my Blackbox. If this is the only thing stopping you, there are other ways than unplugging the cord from the unit to get past this.
I personally wouldn’t let it stop me from getting a device that I already want. I just wish people didn’t omit power switches in general.
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Yeah, it’s a bad call, no denying that.
Been fantasising about a Livetrak 8.
But no more! This is the box pour moi!
USB inline switches are commonly available and pretty inexpensive:
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I got to say that I’ve been swithering about a multi-track recorder off and on for what feels like years now. Between the footprint of them if they’ve got more than cursory number of inputs and the general cost I’ve just never taken the plunge. This definitely addresses all those concerns and has some features I didn’t even stop to think I’d want - like the midi out for sync’ing new takes.
It seems the only downside was that because of their exisitng sampler this box couldn’t be called the 1010 Music Blackbox Recorder… I’ll get me coat.
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My review unit’s incoming now. If any of you got any specific questions or wonders about it, let me know. I believe it’ll be here at the end of the week and I’m going to use it for a few weeks before I post my review, so I got plenty of time to check out scenarios and answer questions if you got’em.
I’m going to primarily use it to -
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Multitrack stuff take by take from a stereo source, most likely the Deluge. The Deluge struggles (or I struggle with this at least
) to get that coherent sound from its mixes, so I’ll see what the Bluebox can add to this, if tracking a Deluge into the Bluebox opens it up enough to warrant such a workflow. -
Create two mixes from the same track, one on the SSL SiX and one on the Bluebox, partly to get an idea of the different workflows two such different mixers provide and also see what I’m missing out when I go digital - if anything, which would be quite an interesting fallout if that turned out to be the case.
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Multitrack one source with enough outs directly into the Bluebox, and record to all tracks at once and then mix the result. I’m currently trying to find a DSI Tempest for this purpose, since it has six stereo outs and that would’ve been just awesome.
And some miscellaneous stuff along the way too, I guess.
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I’d love to get an idea of exactly what the midi implementation lets you control. Also, whether it’s possible to mute and unmute individual sends from an input (to the three outputs) independently (also via midi), or if you only get mute per input and output and just levels for the sends.
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Seconded. MIDI implementation will, I think, be a crucial factor in whether this fits my workflow.
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All good. None of those would be use cases I’d go for myself, so great that you’re pointing it out. For me, tight synced recording would be enough, so I’ll go deeper on the other midi stuff and see what it can do there.
1010 is known for substantial firmware updates, and this is a review unit not ready for retail quite yet, so it’s one thing what it can do now and one thing what it’ll do in six months. A bit of a tricky situation for a review, since you want to give the instrument the credit it deserves, yet you can’t really assume it’ll do stuff in the future it doesn’t do now, even if a roadmap should suggest otherwise.
I want to know if it can emit a 2600Hz tone to fool old phone systems into giving free long distance calls.
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Clearly, the test signal generator needs to follow the Precise Tone Plan.
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Yeah, totally understand this. I’ve got one on order already on the basis of what I’ve seen so far, but I’m very interest to know if it’s going to do what I need out of the box or if it’s going to be a bit of luck-of-the-patch later on.
All I really want as an update, would be to have the Bluebox be able to double as an audio interface (triple ? with mixer and recorder ?)
Plus really waiting for early reviews as I might be best suited with my K-Mix even though it is less portable.
So far rocking a combo of mickxer on the couch and k-mix in the studio.
https://myvolts.com/product/42824/myVolts_mickXer_-5-way_Passive_Mixer_with_Noise_Filtering(Console_Black)
That 18$ mixer has no controls but is such a lifesaver when you need to hook up some devices for a quick jam on the coffee table…
Hopefully the Bluebox can become a go to reliable solution for mixing, recording and exporting tracks either as WAV or to a DAW.
I think they’ve said a few times that turning it into an interface isn’t on the roadmap right now. I could see them putting it in as a firmware update, but, like, a 2.0 kind of thing, not anything immediate. I’m a fan of the Rolls MX41b as a passive four to one stereo submixer — I may end up pairing one with my Bluebox sometimes.