I almost pre ordered on the original fundraiser back in the day but decided against as no line inputs for sampling direct to machine.
The guy at tasty messaged me back to say this would be implemented at a later date.
3 years later…?..it does look awfully sexy in black though
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Just tested with Hapax. Looping MIDI CC data indeed works via USB. Seems to work very well actually, just plug and play once defining the MIDI output port on Hapax.
Toggling ‘Send Precision CC’ for 14-bit does not work quite as well so far. It does convert the CC data into NPRN, which shows as 4x different MIDI CCs in Hapax’s MIDI monitor. But all of the knobs and sliders seem to share the same NPRN messages. The result is that any knob or slider that gets touched during recording sends and receives the same NPRN numbers/data, rather than a separate MIDI CC per knob and slider.
Not sure if this is a Hapax thing, maybe NPRN would work better with a computer. The manual does mention it needs a host-to-host connection, so that could be why it’s not working as expected.
The standard mode does work very well though.
They ended up implementing it via USB audio. A class compliant audio interface can be connected to one of the USB ports. Not always the smoothest depending on the audio interface tbh, but it does work for sampling direct or live granular processing.
And since the GR-1 is a USB audio host, it can receive audio directly from Elektron machines or other instruments that have USB audio. It just doesn’t send USB audio back, similar to what you can do connecting it to a computer, tablet, or phone.
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That sounds awesome!
Could you check If it is transmiting on midi din as Well?
I know the manual seems to state that it doesnt, but it would be great to try do that We know for sure
Confirmed the MIDI din does not send any data. Appears to be Thru only. Wonder if they could implement it in a future update though.
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That’s good, then it’s official at least. Thanks a lot for checking!
It feels like it goes in line with the lack of analog inputs as well, they keep it in the USB domain.
Still waiting for the new SD card from Tasty Chips.
But in the meantime i’ve been trying to sample from the Digitakt via USB.
Everything connects fine but i can’t get a decent level into the GR-1. Volume of sampled material is really low & sounds dull.
Any thoughts or ideas?
Cheers!
Edit: a quick look at the manual & i’m able to to incrrease the patch volume by pressing shift & turning FX-2. Obvious when you look properly at the panel. But still the recording level from the Digitakt via USB is low even with the GR-1’s Record level set to maximum.
Edit PT2. This thing is quirky but amazing
When using samples recorded via the Digitakt the GR-1’s processing power gets maxed out really quickly/easily. Lots of glitches & dropouts on just a single preset. This doesn’t seem to happen with the factory presets.
Anyone else have this problem?
For those of you who own it, would you say it’s a good happy accident machine? Is it fun to play around with samples without any clear objective and learning the instrument this way? Say a Microcosm where you can control what happens, but it still gives you something interesting to start from. Or does it require a more methodical approach like an OT?
Imho it’s not an happy accident machine.
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I tend to only get dropouts with really long files (talking minute+ long) or maxing out the voice or grain settings at certain Grain stealing threshold settings. Might be worth exploring what settings the presets use and then checking what settings a new patch has.
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I think there’s enough there where it would depend on the user. I think I’d be more inclined to declare it as a happy accident machine if live granular processing were easier.
I tend to use it in a more purposeful way, but I wouldn’t say it’s as methodical as OT either. I do think it is fun though. Loading a random sample and messing around with the granular parameters and mangling and shaping a sample into something else is quite fun. It certainly helps that most of the performance parameters are right there on the panel. While it has a ton of a menu options, that’s mostly for sample/patch/instrument setup. Besides loading samples, one could be off to the races without ever touching the menu pages.
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I installed the new SD card that Tasty Chips sent but the same problems persist.
In response to my email they mention the latest version of the program they always use to flash them turns out to be “seriously buggy”
So I’ll need to install another SD card.
It’s unfortunate, as their response to my emails has been incredibly quick.
I think it is. Primarily because of the big slider that allows you to scrub through your sample. So if you put in a sample that’s maybe 10 seconds and has a lot going on in it and you set a short spread and scrub through while also playing with a controller I’ve had lots of delightful surprises. Which I assume is the same thing has a happy accident. 
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