Sounds awesome! I want a copy of that sample please.
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Electra One with iPad would be my weapon of choice. In combination with AUM it would be hard to beat
I’ve tried most of them, and to me the OP-1field is the best of them for what you describe. It has limited connectivity only in physical MIDI, everything else it connects to like a champ, especially to mobile devices and computers. It also has Bluetooth LE and as far as I know is the only device that can connect to an iPhone directly with the lightning cable, without the need for the CCK. It’s quite expensive though and even if I don’t have a buyer’s remorse, it does make me think twice when taking it out of the house.
I would also recommend looking into the Elektron devices and using them with a power bank. It works quite well with songbird cables (Birdcord). I see you already mention the Syntakt, so you are good there.
You can’t beat the iPad as well. Logic Pro is coming out this Tuesday, so keep your eyes on that.
Deluge is cool, but I couldn’t vibe with the complicated shortcuts. Might be better with the new screen.
OG OP-1 is ok, but since having the field it can not compare. The audio output is too weak.
Unfortunately I can’t recommend the OP-Z because of the very real hardware issues it has. Insanely well thought out device though.
In my experience, even though I own several portable devices, I actually rarely travel with more than one + an iPad. I would recommend against something that is not capable of doing all the basic components of a track (a groovebox). If you have only a portable synth, you will end up only doing sound design when out and around. Cool if that is your vibe, then look into the Roland ones and what Dreadbox offers.
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The Fred’s Lab Töörö is a very interesting and wonderful sounding synth. It has a lot of power in a small box.
this.
for me it’s Circuit Tracks – it does MIDI keypad & MIDI controller jobs well.
also, iPad + Tracks is enough to play an (unintended) live set (and if it’s intended i prefer more gear).
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Not for six hours:
Previously on Elektronauts:
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lol god damnit
It was kind of a specific use case though. Not necessarily groovebox, and more dedicated controls than the usual portable synth. Bit more niche than “portable music box that I can take on the train”. More like “why isn’t there a new, flatter, smaller nord lead?”.
Hi Does any one know of an iPad editor for the synth engine on Circuit Tracks? Patch Base only works with OG Circuit.
synth engines of OG and Tracks are the same, so should work for both, unless PatchBase does not recognise Tracks for some reason (e.g. different product number)
I have tested and for whatever reason Patch Base won’t connect to Circuit Tracks
If only Apple would add Webmidi to IOS. We could just have Novation Components running natively in IOS. Or better still If Novation could write an IOS App! I’d pay for that app for sure.
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Liven boxes are the business for portability. For me, speaker, battery power, keys and knobs are all must haves.
Lately, I’ve been much more on the iOS and “fuck it and use my MacBook” end of the spectrum. Bunch of awesome synths on iOS. On the go, I pair my M8 with my iPhone, launch AUM, load a couple synths, and that’s it. Also dabbling in Drambo, but haven’t wrapped my head around it yet. Battery life is great and it’s hard to be more portable. Cons is everything is super crammed on an iPhone and no physical control.
Otherwise, I started using Logic on my Mac more, to create sample chains that I use on the M8. I also gased a lot for modular lately, so I started playing with VCV Rack. Solved my gas for the moment and made me realize modular is complicated 
I love it so far though. Now Looking for a nice midi controller, full of knobs, to midi map to it.
In terms of portable gear, the M8 is so good that I haven’t been tempted by much since I got mine honestly. Put myself on the waiting list for the micromonsta but that’s it.
Had Nord Micromodular but I think it might have been stolen. It’s small, but limited physical controls/UI. Needed a computer to full access to synthesis patching.
I saw your post on the Roland S-1 thread. It’s not multi timbral. It’s not wavetable. 
It does have oscillator chop and multiply. It seems to satisfy some people’s synthesis requirements. But there’s always someone who wants more, more, more for cheap. 
So, small rechargable, and 14+ onboard controls is winning over multi-timbrality and waveshaping power now?
I take what I can get! But yeah, ultra-portable wins. Especially with the built in effects, to make solo synth ambient compositions appealing.
I didn’t necessarily say I needed wavetable/waveshaping, just something capable of non-conventional wave types, or some kind of pre-filter stuff like FM. It’s nice to have some other timbres to play with beyond the usual saw, square etc.
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Akai MPC Live… mine has a 1tb ssd… ok, not the smallest but it is portable… and it’s a beast
Volcas… I’ve owned a lot of them… sold them to buy my Digitakt and Digitone… I miss the Volca Kick
Roland S-1 … built in battery and sounds amazing… tiny… already got a case for it so we’re married now
Electribe s2 or the blue one… battery powered, but underwhelming to use. Sold mine… never missed
Bastl Kastle… crazy portable and lots of fun… sold, but then bought another because I missed it.
Pocket operators: had a bunch… fun, but no
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Honestly, OP1 is exactly what you want for this. It seems at first that the connectivity or limitations are a problem, but the described activity (poking at on the couch) is PERFECT here. Especially if you play other instruments. I’ll use my op1f (previous decade the og1) as a sketchpad or a napkin drawing for ideas when I get back to my main gear - remember a melody, bassline or general groove, and translate that (which is pretty easy since you’ve already programmed it in once), and then design more appropriate sounds around the initial idea.
I sold an OG1 a year after I bought it thinking it didn’t do enough well enough, bought another one 6 months later and have had it for 8 years. Won’t make that mistake again.
It pairs WONDERFULLY with iOS devices off a single cable so you can have a bit more sound sources or a companion device if you want or need. It will power a Keystep 37 so you don’t need a power source for more keys. Oh, it’ll charge your phone too lol
The best part is if the track you’re working on is good to you straight out of the op1, just drag the tape files into a DAW for mixing and extra producing.
It is so small and light that there is no ‘commitment’ to taking it out jam like there would be with vast majority of other instruments short of an ukulele or harmonica. If I don’t like what I’ve made it probably didn’t take long to get the idea down anyway so no real loss if I just trash the loop haha
To top it off, from flipping the on switch and plugging in headphones to actually recording something on the tape is nearly instantaneous, you can be recording in 3 seconds, so no excuse on setup time either!
I pretty much don’t leave home without it, there is no reason not to.
*just to get ahead of haters, yes I know it is expensive and not worth it to you, but I have already whipped myself enough about this on three separate occasions and still love them both to death and but we can still fight if you want to <3
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Yeah good points. I’d love an OP-1F to replace my original. I haven’t looked into it much; it has a better reverb right?
Last time I tried to use mine with my ipad I couldn’t quite get it to work… maybe I’ll try again this weekend.
I was tempted to add links to all the threads for sofa, couch, bedside, cafe because of the portability criteria, but I refrained.
The old Yamaha QY workstations can be had crazy cheap and I’m pretty sure they do multi-timbral. Not much in the way of controls, and you’d have to dig General MIDI rompler sounds, but it’s an option. Would pair nicely with a M8 for some dungeon synth action.