I don’t think I would get it if it was my first groove box. But with Tempest, Analog Rytm, Machine Drum, Tanzbar 1 and Vermona DRM, plus some cheaper boxes, I have enough “warmth” and “roundness”. I needed something as a suplemental, layering stuff, zingy noisy FM, and that’s where this instrument, I think, will complement my other machines. Again, it is 4 operator, it is 100£ cheaper than Digitone, so If I am not crazy bout it, i will easily send it back.
1 Like
I quite agree with you, and I didn’t get it for usual drum sounds, but I wouldn’t have minded a bit more tweakability for HH and snare. This being said, used as a complement to another machine, it does its job all right - like you wrote.
What I like is its character: it has a sound of its own, and that’s something I find missing from many new machines.
I’m using it alongside a Norand Mono (another tricky pony) and find they complement each other quite well, the Mono sounding very analog and the BlastBeats covering FM territory. Both can go pretty wild with modulations/automations.
I’m loving mine but can’t work out if there’s a way to save more than 10 kits?
I’m also a bit puzzled by the saving aspect of this synth.
I think you need to change song to save new kits?
The manual says:
Press kit/patt and function at the same time to enter song mode. Both
kit/patt and function LEDS will light at the same time.
The 160 available songs are arranged in 10 folders/banks of 16 songs
To load a new song tap a top10 button to select a folder, Then tap a
bottom16 button to load a song.
1 song consists of:
16 patterns (up to 64 steps per pattern (arranged in 4 pages of 16 steps))
A chain of up to 256 pattern changes can be recorded per song.
Kits and songs are saved separately. The songs share the same kits
Afaict you can store hundreds of patterns but only ten shared kits. Seems odd. But it’s still a great, great unit.
1 Like
Indeed! Reading again the above-mentioned paragraph of the manual, it seems clear! For me that’s a serious bummer 
It’s an interesting limitation that might discipline you into creating your ten beautiful base drum kits, to deviate from thoughtfully with automation.
But yeah mostly just a bit irritating. Feels like exactly the kind of thing that gets remedied in firmware tho, they’re hardly big files and a folder system could be worked into the (hilarious) UI.
1 Like
Yes, sure. It’s true…
But I still hope Alex will address this 
Is there a secret club house or discord channel where all the cool blast beats kids hang out?
2 Likes
Probably somewhere in Minecraft, I’d say
1 Like
100 kits. Hold the kit button while pushing one of keys 1 to 10 to select the bank then 10 kits per bank
1 Like
Just, hurray!
In the meantime, I had come to terms with the fact that, given the complexity of the voices (well, synths voices at least), figuring out and handling 10 kits for live use was already a lot of work.
Just arrived! Only played 15 min but I’m in the honeymoon stage! This thing definitely has character!
1 Like
I’m a little confused, even with the volume fader down sometimes a sound still comes through. Muting mode worked but for some reason my synth two would not be affected by the volume slider. I wonder if it’s just something I’m missing.
Super cool machine!
Sometimes it seems like my synth faders don’t work or do anything. Sometimes they do! I can’t figure it out. Maybe it depends on the algorithm? The volume slider on synth 2 and 3 don’t do anything most of the time. Any ideas?
Hm, that’s strange 
Reading your posts on this forum, I assume you’re an experienced synthesist, familiar with FM, and know that only the carriers will output sound, right?
I read the manual and try to understand but I’m having trouble. I consider myself a very basic beginner 
I’m going to keep at it!
1 Like
If you look at the algorithm (1 to 5) mappings drawn above the faders, only the bottom operators (so-called carriers) actually produce sound. The other ones above (so-called modifiers) only modulate the sound. E.g. for algo 2, only operators 4 and 1 actually produce sound, so the volume faders of the other operators only allow you to set the amount of modulation of the carriers underneath, but not the level of the sound itself. For algo 3, only the operator 4 and 2 actually produce sound, for algo 5, all the operators output sound, etc.
I’ve only been using it for a couple of weeks but I really love this machine. I think it takes a little time to be comfortable with.
The synth voices, in particular, handle FM sounds very well (bells and organs, etc), but it really pays off to go into details with them. They yield very un-FMey sounds if you give yourself the time to configure them carefully.
The sound is very characteristic indeed, very crisp and digital, so it’s a good idea to pair it with a purely analog sounding machine (like the Analog Rytm or, in my case, the Norand Mono)
2 Likes