Wait what? I updated my Circuit tracks as the 2.o update made huge advantageous steps forward. Time to do thr same for my Rhythm - thanks for highlighting this !
Excellent analysis! 👍 That's exactly what I use my Rhythm for: Drum machine, sketchpad, and quick backing tracks to go with my Modx. Eventhough I also own the Polyend Tracker and an MPC One (yes, I know, GAS), I would never sell the Rhythm, because its simply the best if it comes to these tasks!
Very nice. And informative. Thanks. I've been struggling with the Rhythm for a while, thinking of selling it. But videos like this help me want to try harder.
Amateur here. No space anywhere in my flat, so battery is a must. I came from OP-Z which was great but not aergonomic and I was afraid of the button break. Switched to PO KO. Much better though limited than OPZ. And finally this. Perfect for home jams. I use POKO as a field sketchpad and this as finalizer. Hate working on PC so this right up my alley. 80% of the time I get the sound I want out of my samples, the other times i surprised just by adjusting the parametres and trying the samples in current track all over again. + I got it on sweet sale.
I use mine as a drm machine. Loaded it up with a ton of sample banks so I can mix and match drums to tailor exactly the kit I need. Normally, I only use seven tracks so I can use the last one to trigger an outboard bass synth. Probably totally the wrong way to use a sampler, but having not enough drum tracks was my main gripe with the OG Circuit which I used mainly as a sequencer for outboard gear with an integrated four-track drum machine. :)
Your videos always make me smile, as you are one of my favorite gear reviewers 🙏🏻 I appreciate that you can see that the grass is always greener, despite a product’s limitations. You have a way of seeing something that can fit in some scenarios if not others. I’m currently looking for an inexpensive, portable synth/groovebox to pair with my Chase Bliss pedals and have been exploring many options. Microfreak seems like the best contender for control and customizable patches as I’m no longer interested in sampling, but I found myself here anyway to cover my bases.
I'm pretty sure that the Rhythm has about the same pitch range as the Digitakt. The Rhythm can go higher than the Digitakt and the Digitakt can go lower than the Rhythm. But the Rhythm only has a narrow range if you're in slice mode. But word to the sequencer resolution. Even if you've got the pattern running at double speed, it's still about half the resolution as the Digitakt running at normal speed. But overall I really like this thing.
I traded the Korg electribe 2 sampler for the Circuit Rhythm and don't regret it at all for two big reasons: no menu diving and pretty much every variable can be manipulated via MIDI CC. My favourite budget sampler is still the SP303 but this one comes in a close second. If was polyphonic and had a bit more sampling time then I would rank it as best mid-range sampler.
Also worth consideration: the six ratchet spaces between steps may not be sufficient at lower tempos like hip hop, which is accurate beat's specialty but if you're "dealing" in higher tempos like 100 or higher it will work fine ;-)
I have the Rhythm as well as the MPC One. I love my One, but it has taken me 6 months to finally start "getting" it. There is still times where I will get stuck because of a problem that frustrates me and brings a session to a halt. The Rhythm workflow removes a lot of that from the equation and the limitations actually make it a better idea generator at times. If you have the Tracks you can route it into the rhythm and resample inside as well. A really nice item.
A little off topic but what camera and lens do you use? Really nice dof and great color. I can tell you spend time on color correction and details and it shows.
@@K.KILLORAN thank you so much! I’m using a Sony A7sIII and a 50mm 1.2 GM for the talking head, and for the b roll I switch between that and a 20mm 1.8. Thanks for noticing the extra effort😅
It's a great little sampler it's fun and addictive I just put mine down but in ten minutes all proberly pick it back up again and bass out another pattern to a beat I'm working on
Hi there, great video. I have just gotten a Novation circuit rhythm groovebox sampler. Its a great product and it's also portable and also runs on batteries. Yes it also has connection to outlet to recharge the batteries or use it while connected to a power outlet. My concern with this product is that if i want to use it with just the headphones, it is too low of volume even if the volume knob is all the way up. My hearing is not all that great. I have a hearing loss since birth. Still can hear a little bit through the headphones. but no issues when using the headphones on other devices such as my audio interface, and iphone. Its just that the Novation circuit rhythm device has low volume power. unless i connect the Novation Circuit rhythm to an amp or audio interface and connect my headphones on the audio interface and i'd be fine. But there times when i want to hear the sounds coming out of the circuit rhythm since it doesnt have speakers. The circuit rhythm has outputs 1/4 ts jacks on the rear of the unit. I have and still use it to this day a Digi 003 rack mount audio interface by digidesign. Still works for me. Only issue I have wth the digi 003 is that it now makes this static noise when i turn the buttons up or down. What cables should i use to connect the outputs of the circuit rhythm to an amp source in order to hear the sounds of the circuit rhythm? should I connect it to my audio interface? please let me know. Thank you.
I love your videos mate obrigado! Wondering how would sound if I plug a guitar or bass straight to the input and sample what i play and manipulate if after...That could be possible and sound decent on the Circuit Rhytm brou? I just want to change my usual "looper pedals" workflow and Im considering this one. Any words would be much apreciated, cheers!
It’s so easy to turn out fire beats with the rhythm. I’m not much of a sampling junkie, so the sampling limitation don’t bother me at all. The rhythm is just fun and intuitive.
Korg Electribe 2 Sampler also would be a BEAST if you could stream from SD and also have the option of turning of quantisation (although you can set it to 32ppqn or use the great groove templates).
It was clarly aimed at me, I have one, I've used it twice thus far, [I have too much gear and she doesn't stop me 😀] I have no clue what I'm dong with it ... I'll get there... eventually, good video as usual fella 👍
I bought both the Circuit Tracks and Rhythm, but never really managed to get much joy from the latter. Sample saving is painfully slow and the lack of polyphony and time stretch really make it a severely crippled device. As a backing track device for live or practice the Tracks is much better, with its 2 synth tracks and polyphony. The sequencer and user interface in both devices are absolutely great, but I really feel like Novation missed an opportunity here. The Tracks lacks sampling to be really competitive as a general purpose groove box, and the Rhythm lacks in the sampling department. Both devices are also hampered by the lack of stem or midi export. Sold my Rhythm. Keeping my Tracks (did my first live gig with it). Deluge going through customs ATM ;-)
If anything is worth gas its the circuit rhythm its fun it does everything a sampler should and the workflow is great. 3 40 a sample time per pack is pretty good if u ask me im used to old samplers with 12 secs all in . So having nearly four minutes of sample time is more than enough for a few tracks ...and u can have 32 packs ...i do like this sampler its my favourite bit of gear i have i use it more then anything else its not an mpc but its still great
The lack of polyphony is really the dealbreaker for me. It‘s ok on the PO-33 considering the price, but at the Circuit Rhythm price tag, nope, not for me. I’m hoping they add it in a new iteration!
The last 2 years educated gas was the take 5 poly synth which I recommend over the sub25 why because it fits my style of music. Moog tends to be a live player synth or band synth the take 5 is a everything synth and fits in mix without taking over the whole track like moog
I'm trying to decide which of these types of boxes to get, in this price range. I'm also looking at the Elektron Models Cycles. It starts to get overwhelming. I need something quick to learn, that sounds decent, for making drums. Thanks!
Yes limitations but what you get for the price is amazing. It certainly is the best sample-based drum and bass machine ever built at an incredible price. It's true about not enough micro-steps but to be fair it only affects slower tempos like hip hop and the oldest trick in the book for a workaround is to double the machine's tempo and pretend two bars are just one and tap your beat in. Of course then your maximum actual sequence length is only four bars, but that's good enough for me. I hope updates allow you to steal voices from adjacent tracks for chords but then with a four note chord you only have 4 more tracks for drum and bass, which you could stretch to 6 if you liberate the jazzer in you and boldly leave out the root and the fifth. Mmm. sounding better all the time. Hope they do it. An amazing future product would be some sort of high-end circuit to be 16 tracks wide, with more micro steps and sample time as well as time stretching and loads of onboard samples including vintage keys. It would be about as wide as the Octatrack or MPC Live and it would rock. Plus the keyboard view would put two octaves horizontally and display up to four octaves when you max it out on the four rows and you'd have sixteen encoders up top giving you a possibility of two ADSRs. How cool would that be for true dawless maniacs? I think people would pay 1000 euros in a hurry for that and it would send Roland and Akai scratching their heads. EDIT: steal adjacent voices or record on several tracks at once from the keyboard view, whichever is easier from an engineering standpoint since the voice is taken up anyway.
"double the machine's tempo and pretend two bars are just one [...] then your maximum actual sequence length is only four bars" - if you increase the pattern lengths to 32 steps per pattern, and consider each pattern to be a bar (so still 8 bars per track), then you'll have 8 steps per beat, which is 48 micro steps per beat. That should be enough to do detailed rachets and hip-hop rhythms at slow tempos, no?
@@PhrygianPhrog I think you mean 12 steps per beat given the default is 6 but yes, I've tried that, but then it spreads the single bar to two screens and I already find it a bit hard to work with only one bar displayed at a time, so half a bar is more difficult. But yes, a totally valid workaround for doubling the resolution but you have to get seriously used to it visually
@@nebula0697 Ah ok, so you're treating each 16 step pattern as two bars (4 beats in each bar, each beat getting 2 steps to play with)? I will try this actually, good idea. The way I usually work is to have the 16 steps as one bar, so there are four sixteenth notes for each beat. Then each of those sixteenth notes has 6 sub-steps, which I think are called "sextuplets", making a total of 4 x 6 = 24 sextuplets within each beat, which is quite a lot. And if doubled to 32 steps for the bar, then that's 48 per beat, which is very granular, but as you say, difficult to manage on two screens. The next iteration of the Circuit should have 32 pads.
Unless I'm mistaken you can definitely achieve polyphony by going to the drum pads modes. That should record on adjacent tracks simultaneously. But if you wanted chords you'd have to set the note for each pad/track in the other view.
@@2dtommy293 The drum pad view is a feature. A typical use would be for instance to set up a bass, snare, open hat, and closed hat on four tracks then press record and hammer in a beat. You'll have only one instrument per track. If you set up the same melodic instrument on each track you could tune each differently and then from that same drum pad screen you could play a chord or two. You could go back and change the note on the tracks then record a different chord. But you could use the drum pad screen in funner ways. You could have three tracks for drums and the remaining five tracks for a sampled chord each and do some jamming. You could dedicate a track to a bassline running in the background (programmed in the other view). You could have a bank of chord samples and use sample flip to change them as needed, but that means you'd have to leave the drum pad view. One thing you could do is sample a bunch of triads and sixth and seventh chords to be sequenced on one track and then use another one or two tracks to add seventh, nine, or 11ths as single color notes. That'd be like three tracks for building chords then you'd still have a couple of tracks free for a bass line some drums and a melody. It could be a fun thing to do but it ain't polyphony on a single track.
@@nebula0697 hmmm i have been making poly stuff using multiple tracks on my rhythm since i got it a couple months ago but i never thought about how the drum pad view could make it easier for me - thats dope! good lookin out im gonna try this today!
@@2dtommy293 actually i just thought that with 8 different notes you could play a bunch of chords, like all the diatonic chords in any key but then you wouldn't have all the voicings flexibility and progressions might sound odd but maybe in a good way. By the way if you use a single chord sample and play it in different keys using the keyboard you get that parallel non-diatonic harmony that you heard in old house. which is because they were doing exactly that on old MPCs. So you might write a hit in a DeeeLite style or something. Makes me want to buy the Circuit lol. think i will!
I do like faces of both new Circuits! What beats me is mono sample on either. Polyphony, resampling is cool to have, but take 4 tracks to just kick, snare, L/R hats is a waste of tracks on either. I like get my hands on next Super Circuit for a pocket Ableton Push replica :)
You could in theory use just two tracks to do that by sample flipping and parameter locking… as long as you don’t want to play all four samples at once of course. Thought it worth mentioning as sample flip does expand both Circuits considerably. To explain, sample flip allows a different sample per step. I am not suggesting that resolves your issue but it may be something for others to think about.
I used the Tracks and Rhythm together for quite a while, but ultimately sold my Rhythm when I got an SP. I do miss the grid fx and the novation components software is great. I also have the OG circuit and will definitely be checking the next iteration of the circuit they release (which I hope is a Circuit Pro, combining the tracks, rhythm, missing og features [ex. Nudge] and general improvements). Given the space saving they managed between the OG and the new line, I bet they could make something in the sp-404 to digitakt price range that is feature laden and without a huge footprint. Plus those pads and knobs are just soooooo good.
Another interesting idea would be a "dedicated effects box" + midi sequencer variation. The components software lets you macro very deep macros assigned to the knobs for a particular synth preset and I'd love the sequencing aspect of the circuit workflow across more devices and the ability to send out more than just basic midi cc (think twisting a knob to increase cutoff and decrease resonance with the same twist). The grid fx are fairly basic, though flexible and this theoretic device would be a great third device as a multi-fx audio bus on top of a sequencer. The idea of applying effects to only particular tracks (like the how it's done with delay/reverb now) is very nice.....
@@AgonalRhythm yes and yes! Would love both a circuit pro and a kaosspad style circuit fx👍🏼 also, the feel of the pads is absolutely killer. Thanks for commenting my friend! See you soon!
A Circuit Pro would be amazing but it's an interface puzzle. I think a good call for it would be for a sampling keyboard instrument like nord wave 2 that integrates a circuit sequencer and workflow. Imagine some keyboard workstation arranger that works as fast as circuits,. Only Novation could do it
Do you have any synths that your kid really likes to play with? I am looking for something to play with my 2 year old daughter and to make some cool music with.
My 2 year old really likes the Deluge, the OP-1, the sp404 and the Rhythm. If the thing has buttons that light up and makes noise, they’re gonna love it! I think if you don’t want to worry a out the thing breaking, any of the circuits are a great buy, especially the OG since it has built in speakers and you can find it cheap second hand. Hope that helps! Have a great family time making music!
Ah, but there is a trick to time stretch with the Circuit Rhythm, this person Techtronix has a trick involving the micro step function. So the Circuit Rhythm is a versatile device with some tricks up it’s sleeve
I think you’ve nailed it. I owned a Circuit Tracks and it really came into its own when I took it on holiday. In the end I decided it’s best role amongst all my gear would be a drum machine. (I’ll switch to the Rhythm as I can’t stand the synth engine in the Tracks)
The only interface / feature set I've resonated with of any sampler is the Deluge. My brain does not click with any of the MPC, SP or Maschine interfaces. I know the Deluge is more than double the price, but I would rather save up for what works then settle for a lack of features and meh interface. Now, if I were to create my ideal product.... I think it would be the button interface of the Deluge with the ability to plug it into either a computer or tablet and then use the screen of that device to do the sample editing. Insert song spoof here..."dont want no short short screens".
Way way way too complicated, like the MPC one, so I returned it! Nothing like the days of the ensoniq ASR-10 where you loaded your sound from disk and the machine asks you, what midi channel do you want to send your sound to? Doesn't get any easier than that, but unfortunately, they want ridiculous, outrageous prices for a ASR-10 these days. I wanna kick myself in the butt everyday for ever selling the one that I use to have....
Can I ask what you ended up getting in the end? I just got this, but a bit complex to get my head around. Thinking of returning it, but options are slim at this point.
I feel like Rhythm and Tracks should have been one device without the tracks. Tracks is useful, but it is has redundant implementation: if it runs midi tracks, why do I need an internal synth engine? I always prefer sampler with external synth(s). They probably meant that people would buy both of them, but that is already 800 euros, better off getting Deluge, Octatrack, MC707, Digitact or even just Polyend Tracker for that money. Also the name "Rhythm" implies it is meant for beats, but decent sampler is much more than that, can be even a granular synth. The 16 step loops are also discouranging, I know you can chain them, but seems like it is meant for just simple loops, why not get couple of Volcas at that point? Can I sequence external gear with Circuit Rhythm?
![[Eng Sub] Novation Circuit Rhythm standalone groove box sampler](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1SLD0B18pQU/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video. Worth mentioning there’s been a decent update to the Rhythm now , which does include a basic time stretching feature 👍
Wait what? I updated my Circuit tracks as the 2.o update made huge advantageous steps forward. Time to do thr same for my Rhythm - thanks for highlighting this !
8 months later and what I’ve learned, this is what I should’ve started on instead of the MPC live.
Excellent analysis! 👍 That's exactly what I use my Rhythm for: Drum machine, sketchpad, and quick backing tracks to go with my Modx. Eventhough I also own the Polyend Tracker and an MPC One (yes, I know, GAS), I would never sell the Rhythm, because its simply the best if it comes to these tasks!
It’s so cool that you listen to your viewers. I appreciate that! 🤟🏽😎 Keep them coming!
Very nice. And informative. Thanks. I've been struggling with the Rhythm for a while, thinking of selling it. But videos like this help me want to try harder.
Amateur here. No space anywhere in my flat, so battery is a must. I came from OP-Z which was great but not aergonomic and I was afraid of the button break. Switched to PO KO. Much better though limited than OPZ. And finally this. Perfect for home jams. I use POKO as a field sketchpad and this as finalizer. Hate working on PC so this right up my alley. 80% of the time I get the sound I want out of my samples, the other times i surprised just by adjusting the parametres and trying the samples in current track all over again. + I got it on sweet sale.
IpadOS is calling you 😂
I use mine as a drm machine. Loaded it up with a ton of sample banks so I can mix and match drums to tailor exactly the kit I need. Normally, I only use seven tracks so I can use the last one to trigger an outboard bass synth. Probably totally the wrong way to use a sampler, but having not enough drum tracks was my main gripe with the OG Circuit which I used mainly as a sequencer for outboard gear with an integrated four-track drum machine. :)
Your videos always make me smile, as you are one of my favorite gear reviewers 🙏🏻
I appreciate that you can see that the grass is always greener, despite a product’s limitations. You have a way of seeing something that can fit in some scenarios if not others.
I’m currently looking for an inexpensive, portable synth/groovebox to pair with my Chase Bliss pedals and have been exploring many options. Microfreak seems like the best contender for control and customizable patches as I’m no longer interested in sampling, but I found myself here anyway to cover my bases.
I'm pretty sure that the Rhythm has about the same pitch range as the Digitakt. The Rhythm can go higher than the Digitakt and the Digitakt can go lower than the Rhythm. But the Rhythm only has a narrow range if you're in slice mode. But word to the sequencer resolution. Even if you've got the pattern running at double speed, it's still about half the resolution as the Digitakt running at normal speed. But overall I really like this thing.
Just bought a Circuit Rhythm and found your channel. Fingers crossed now for more content on it!
I traded the Korg electribe 2 sampler for the Circuit Rhythm and don't regret it at all for two big reasons: no menu diving and pretty much every variable can be manipulated via MIDI CC. My favourite budget sampler is still the SP303 but this one comes in a close second. If was polyphonic and had a bit more sampling time then I would rank it as best mid-range sampler.
No menu diving is what kept me away from samplers until I discovered the Rhythm 😊
The electribe 2 is one of the worse samplers I've ever used so anything is an upgrade after that 😂
i for one love the electribe 2
@@SonicVibe You don't mean the ESX with the tubes do you? I could understand that, If you mean the newer one then I totally disagree 😂
@@tomfurstyfield build quality and size where better after ko2 fader gate and Yamaha SEQTRAK key gate
Also worth consideration: the six ratchet spaces between steps may not be sufficient at lower tempos like hip hop, which is accurate beat's specialty but if you're "dealing" in higher tempos like 100 or higher it will work fine ;-)
I have the Rhythm as well as the MPC One. I love my One, but it has taken me 6 months to finally start "getting" it. There is still times where I will get stuck because of a problem that frustrates me and brings a session to a halt. The Rhythm workflow removes a lot of that from the equation and the limitations actually make it a better idea generator at times. If you have the Tracks you can route it into the rhythm and resample inside as well. A really nice item.
Exactly, few devices out there can match the streamlined workflow and fast results you get on it👍🏼 thanks for watching and commenting my friend!
A little off topic but what camera and lens do you use? Really nice dof and great color. I can tell you spend time on color correction and details and it shows.
@@K.KILLORAN thank you so much! I’m using a Sony A7sIII and a 50mm 1.2 GM for the talking head, and for the b roll I switch between that and a 20mm 1.8. Thanks for noticing the extra effort😅
It's a great little sampler it's fun and addictive I just put mine down but in ten minutes all proberly pick it back up again and bass out another pattern to a beat I'm working on
32 seconds is great for me
Absolutely doable! The digitakt is about the same and I love it👍🏼 thanks for stopping by!
Ryhm vs model samples vs digitakt Go!!!!
Nice review on the pro’s and con’s. I’m curious - How does it sound? Is it thin? Neutral? Coloured in any way?
Hi there, great video. I have just gotten a Novation circuit rhythm groovebox sampler. Its a great product and it's also portable and also runs on batteries. Yes it also has connection to outlet to recharge the batteries or use it while connected to a power outlet.
My concern with this product is that if i want to use it with just the headphones, it is too low of volume even if the volume knob is all the way up. My hearing is not all that great. I have a hearing loss since birth. Still can hear a little bit through the headphones. but no issues when using the headphones on other devices such as my audio interface, and iphone. Its just that the Novation circuit rhythm device has low volume power. unless i connect the Novation Circuit rhythm to an amp or audio interface and connect my headphones on the audio interface and i'd be fine. But there times when i want to hear the sounds coming out of the circuit rhythm since it doesnt have speakers. The circuit rhythm has outputs 1/4 ts jacks on the rear of the unit.
I have and still use it to this day a Digi 003 rack mount audio interface by digidesign. Still works for me. Only issue I have wth the digi 003 is that it now makes this static noise when i turn the buttons up or down.
What cables should i use to connect the outputs of the circuit rhythm to an amp source in order to hear the sounds of the circuit rhythm? should I connect it to my audio interface?
please let me know. Thank you.
Great review! Thanks for the low down. Keep up the great work!
great video i got one of these i think it’s great for a beginner like me
I love your videos mate obrigado! Wondering how would sound if I plug a guitar or bass straight to the input and sample what i play and manipulate if after...That could be possible and sound decent on the Circuit Rhytm brou? I just want to change my usual "looper pedals" workflow and Im considering this one. Any words would be much apreciated, cheers!
Useful vid. Thank you 😊
Thank you for stopping by!
Great video mate! Trying to tame my GAS but the Circuit Rhythm looks great :)
I adore my Novation Circuit Rhythm, beats albums literally fall out of it, its soooo much fun 😊
It’s so easy to turn out fire beats with the rhythm. I’m not much of a sampling junkie, so the sampling limitation don’t bother me at all. The rhythm is just fun and intuitive.
Korg Electribe 2 Sampler also would be a BEAST if you could stream from SD and also have the option of turning of quantisation (although you can set it to 32ppqn or use the great groove templates).
love the electribe 2
Great video! Are you going to do the SP 404 MKII?
I’d love to but the thing is impossible to get a hold of😢 hopefully sometime this year I’ll be able to snag one!
It was clarly aimed at me, I have one, I've used it twice thus far, [I have too much gear and she doesn't stop me 😀] I have no clue what I'm dong with it ... I'll get there... eventually, good video as usual fella 👍
I really like the Circuit Rhythm 🖤🎧
I bought both the Circuit Tracks and Rhythm, but never really managed to get much joy from the latter. Sample saving is painfully slow and the lack of polyphony and time stretch really make it a severely crippled device. As a backing track device for live or practice the Tracks is much better, with its 2 synth tracks and polyphony.
The sequencer and user interface in both devices are absolutely great, but I really feel like Novation missed an opportunity here. The Tracks lacks sampling to be really competitive as a general purpose groove box, and the Rhythm lacks in the sampling department. Both devices are also hampered by the lack of stem or midi export.
Sold my Rhythm. Keeping my Tracks (did my first live gig with it).
Deluge going through customs ATM ;-)
If anything is worth gas its the circuit rhythm its fun it does everything a sampler should and the workflow is great. 3 40 a sample time per pack is pretty good if u ask me im used to old samplers with 12 secs all in . So having nearly four minutes of sample time is more than enough for a few tracks ...and u can have 32 packs ...i do like this sampler its my favourite bit of gear i have i use it more then anything else its not an mpc but its still great
The lack of polyphony is really the dealbreaker for me. It‘s ok on the PO-33 considering the price, but at the Circuit Rhythm price tag, nope, not for me. I’m hoping they add it in a new iteration!
The last 2 years educated gas was the take 5 poly synth which I recommend over the sub25 why because it fits my style of music. Moog tends to be a live player synth or band synth the take 5 is a everything synth and fits in mix without taking over the whole track like moog
I'm trying to decide which of these types of boxes to get, in this price range. I'm also looking at the Elektron Models Cycles. It starts to get overwhelming. I need something quick to learn, that sounds decent, for making drums. Thanks!
This guy's good and the U.S. version of BoBeats .
I have the rhythm and sp404 mkii. Love the mkii, but the circuit rhythm isn't going anywhere with sequencer and the way it integrates into my setup
Yes limitations but what you get for the price is amazing. It certainly is the best sample-based drum and bass machine ever built at an incredible price. It's true about not enough micro-steps but to be fair it only affects slower tempos like hip hop and the oldest trick in the book for a workaround is to double the machine's tempo and pretend two bars are just one and tap your beat in. Of course then your maximum actual sequence length is only four bars, but that's good enough for me. I hope updates allow you to steal voices from adjacent tracks for chords but then with a four note chord you only have 4 more tracks for drum and bass, which you could stretch to 6 if you liberate the jazzer in you and boldly leave out the root and the fifth. Mmm. sounding better all the time. Hope they do it. An amazing future product would be some sort of high-end circuit to be 16 tracks wide, with more micro steps and sample time as well as time stretching and loads of onboard samples including vintage keys. It would be about as wide as the Octatrack or MPC Live and it would rock. Plus the keyboard view would put two octaves horizontally and display up to four octaves when you max it out on the four rows and you'd have sixteen encoders up top giving you a possibility of two ADSRs. How cool would that be for true dawless maniacs? I think people would pay 1000 euros in a hurry for that and it would send Roland and Akai scratching their heads. EDIT: steal adjacent voices or record on several tracks at once from the keyboard view, whichever is easier from an engineering standpoint since the voice is taken up anyway.
"double the machine's tempo and pretend two bars are just one [...] then your maximum actual sequence length is only four bars" - if you increase the pattern lengths to 32 steps per pattern, and consider each pattern to be a bar (so still 8 bars per track), then you'll have 8 steps per beat, which is 48 micro steps per beat. That should be enough to do detailed rachets and hip-hop rhythms at slow tempos, no?
@@PhrygianPhrog I think you mean 12 steps per beat given the default is 6 but yes, I've tried that, but then it spreads the single bar to two screens and I already find it a bit hard to work with only one bar displayed at a time, so half a bar is more difficult. But yes, a totally valid workaround for doubling the resolution but you have to get seriously used to it visually
@@nebula0697 Ah ok, so you're treating each 16 step pattern as two bars (4 beats in each bar, each beat getting 2 steps to play with)? I will try this actually, good idea. The way I usually work is to have the 16 steps as one bar, so there are four sixteenth notes for each beat. Then each of those sixteenth notes has 6 sub-steps, which I think are called "sextuplets", making a total of 4 x 6 = 24 sextuplets within each beat, which is quite a lot. And if doubled to 32 steps for the bar, then that's 48 per beat, which is very granular, but as you say, difficult to manage on two screens. The next iteration of the Circuit should have 32 pads.
Unless I'm mistaken you can definitely achieve polyphony by going to the drum pads modes. That should record on adjacent tracks simultaneously. But if you wanted chords you'd have to set the note for each pad/track in the other view.
This is a rhythm feature?
@@2dtommy293 The drum pad view is a feature. A typical use would be for instance to set up a bass, snare, open hat, and closed hat on four tracks then press record and hammer in a beat. You'll have only one instrument per track. If you set up the same melodic instrument on each track you could tune each differently and then from that same drum pad screen you could play a chord or two. You could go back and change the note on the tracks then record a different chord. But you could use the drum pad screen in funner ways. You could have three tracks for drums and the remaining five tracks for a sampled chord each and do some jamming. You could dedicate a track to a bassline running in the background (programmed in the other view). You could have a bank of chord samples and use sample flip to change them as needed, but that means you'd have to leave the drum pad view. One thing you could do is sample a bunch of triads and sixth and seventh chords to be sequenced on one track and then use another one or two tracks to add seventh, nine, or 11ths as single color notes. That'd be like three tracks for building chords then you'd still have a couple of tracks free for a bass line some drums and a melody. It could be a fun thing to do but it ain't polyphony on a single track.
@@nebula0697 hmmm i have been making poly stuff using multiple tracks on my rhythm since i got it a couple months ago but i never thought about how the drum pad view could make it easier for me - thats dope! good lookin out im gonna try this today!
@@2dtommy293 actually i just thought that with 8 different notes you could play a bunch of chords, like all the diatonic chords in any key but then you wouldn't have all the voicings flexibility and progressions might sound odd but maybe in a good way. By the way if you use a single chord sample and play it in different keys using the keyboard you get that parallel non-diatonic harmony that you heard in old house. which is because they were doing exactly that on old MPCs. So you might write a hit in a DeeeLite style or something. Makes me want to buy the Circuit lol. think i will!
I do like faces of both new Circuits! What beats me is mono sample on either. Polyphony, resampling is cool to have, but take 4 tracks to just kick, snare, L/R hats is a waste of tracks on either. I like get my hands on next Super Circuit for a pocket Ableton Push replica :)
You could in theory use just two tracks to do that by sample flipping and parameter locking… as long as you don’t want to play all four samples at once of course. Thought it worth mentioning as sample flip does expand both Circuits considerably. To explain, sample flip allows a different sample per step. I am not suggesting that resolves your issue but it may be something for others to think about.
Top video as usual 😎
I used the Tracks and Rhythm together for quite a while, but ultimately sold my Rhythm when I got an SP.
I do miss the grid fx and the novation components software is great.
I also have the OG circuit and will definitely be checking the next iteration of the circuit they release (which I hope is a Circuit Pro, combining the tracks, rhythm, missing og features [ex. Nudge] and general improvements). Given the space saving they managed between the OG and the new line, I bet they could make something in the sp-404 to digitakt price range that is feature laden and without a huge footprint. Plus those pads and knobs are just soooooo good.
Another interesting idea would be a "dedicated effects box" + midi sequencer variation. The components software lets you macro very deep macros assigned to the knobs for a particular synth preset and I'd love the sequencing aspect of the circuit workflow across more devices and the ability to send out more than just basic midi cc (think twisting a knob to increase cutoff and decrease resonance with the same twist).
The grid fx are fairly basic, though flexible and this theoretic device would be a great third device as a multi-fx audio bus on top of a sequencer. The idea of applying effects to only particular tracks (like the how it's done with delay/reverb now) is very nice.....
@@AgonalRhythm yes and yes! Would love both a circuit pro and a kaosspad style circuit fx👍🏼 also, the feel of the pads is absolutely killer. Thanks for commenting my friend! See you soon!
A Circuit Pro would be amazing but it's an interface puzzle. I think a good call for it would be for a sampling keyboard instrument like nord wave 2 that integrates a circuit sequencer and workflow. Imagine some keyboard workstation arranger that works as fast as circuits,. Only Novation could do it
+Best user face
-Aaa thank you
ThankZ. So what is ur top 5 portable gear Sir?
Showed up here looking for steps to do a factory reset without a computer. Anyone know?
As a newbie looking for a sampler should I go for a 404 mk2 over this?
Am I saying the circuit rhythm is better than the mpc?? No no no. But also yes! 😭😭 I need that line in every intro lol
🤣🤣 nice call back!🙌🏻
How many backing tracks can it store ? Like if i load them into it and use it for accompanying vocals?
Do you have any synths that your kid really likes to play with? I am looking for something to play with my 2 year old daughter and to make some cool music with.
My 2 year old really likes the Deluge, the OP-1, the sp404 and the Rhythm. If the thing has buttons that light up and makes noise, they’re gonna love it! I think if you don’t want to worry a out the thing breaking, any of the circuits are a great buy, especially the OG since it has built in speakers and you can find it cheap second hand. Hope that helps! Have a great family time making music!
Are you going to do the SP 404 MKII in this video?
Ah, but there is a trick to time stretch with the Circuit Rhythm, this person Techtronix has a trick involving the micro step function. So the Circuit Rhythm is a versatile device with some tricks up it’s sleeve
I'm thinking about this or sp 404mk 2
I think you’ve nailed it.
I owned a Circuit Tracks and it really came into its own when I took it on holiday.
In the end I decided it’s best role amongst all my gear would be a drum machine.
(I’ll switch to the Rhythm as I can’t stand the synth engine in the Tracks)
How does the sequencer work? Can it control my synth and sequence it?
The only interface / feature set I've resonated with of any sampler is the Deluge. My brain does not click with any of the MPC, SP or Maschine interfaces. I know the Deluge is more than double the price, but I would rather save up for what works then settle for a lack of features and meh interface. Now, if I were to create my ideal product.... I think it would be the button interface of the Deluge with the ability to plug it into either a computer or tablet and then use the screen of that device to do the sample editing. Insert song spoof here..."dont want no short short screens".
Way way way too complicated, like the MPC one, so I returned it! Nothing like the days of the ensoniq ASR-10 where you loaded your sound from disk and the machine asks you, what midi channel do you want to send your sound to? Doesn't get any easier than that, but unfortunately, they want ridiculous, outrageous prices for a ASR-10 these days. I wanna kick myself in the butt everyday for ever selling the one that I use to have....
Can I ask what you ended up getting in the end? I just got this, but a bit complex to get my head around. Thinking of returning it, but options are slim at this point.
@@ilikeitdark13
OOOOH! I finally figured out how to separate the sounds to different midi channels...so I ended up buying a mpc live
So the korg volca has higher polyphony 😅
Gave up on those babies due to awkward file management and wonky widows drivers
I feel like Rhythm and Tracks should have been one device without the tracks. Tracks is useful, but it is has redundant implementation: if it runs midi tracks, why do I need an internal synth engine? I always prefer sampler with external synth(s). They probably meant that people would buy both of them, but that is already 800 euros, better off getting Deluge, Octatrack, MC707, Digitact or even just Polyend Tracker for that money. Also the name "Rhythm" implies it is meant for beats, but decent sampler is much more than that, can be even a granular synth. The 16 step loops are also discouranging, I know you can chain them, but seems like it is meant for just simple loops, why not get couple of Volcas at that point?
Can I sequence external gear with Circuit Rhythm?
Not interesting