lemon just purchased. thanks for review. i used to have a gr-1 granualar synth which cost £800. at half the price the lemondrop is well worth the cost and appears to be much easier and more fun to use. looking forward to it arriving on my doorstep :)
I definitely will get a Lemondrop. Looks so awesome, and I have been looking for something that can do granular for a while! I'm also a bit of a fan of 1010music, I do love the bluebox.
yea, that's unfortunate. Compared to Fred's Lab buzzzy! or the Korg NTS-1 the price is a bit much. I really need to buy more lottery tickets it seems ;-)
Personally, I'd probably go for the Lemon Drop, but just because I already have a couple of wavetable synths. They both sound great, though, and the size! I actually really like the tiny footprint.
The granular actually gave me a little bit of GAS, missing some of those sounds in my setup today, and this is way more accessible than the GR-1. Nice review as always, tåpp nåtsch
What a time to be alive... Just yesterday I was impressed with that small pocket sized pad control, seems that it would be a great combo with these 2 units 😁
Before stating my preference can I just commend you on your production of this video. As ever absolutely superb and wonderfully detailed. I think Lemon Drop for me, purely on the soundscapes it can produce. Yes, £300 may seem a lot for such a small synth, but the effects and sounds it can create in my mind are worth the price. An informative review. Thanks Bo.
Lemondrop baby!!!🍋 Granular is my jam. Great review Bo, this format, the editing, truly so polished, fantastic video I really enjoyed it and tons of value packed in here. I like the form factor and everything of these. Do I need them, no, but putting granular into hardware at this price and easy to use UI, I really like this 🤗
Curious how would you compare the Fireball to the Microfreak as a first time synth. I like that this nanobox synth includes built-in fx and is also an 8 voice machine. They are about the same price as well. Appreciate your expert feedback. PS I am also loving the lemon drop lol
@@NoirEtBlancVie Hey, appreciate the expert feedback. Citrus lol. The more I listen to it the more excited I get. It sounds so massive and shimmery and well, just glorious. Wish I could afford both.
Another great demonstration video, Bo, always love your take on new instruments. I’m a huge fan of granular Synthesis, but apart from the Tasty Chips GR1 - yeah, too rich for my blood at about $2,499US - there haven’t been many hardware granular synths to choose from. At $399US for a brand new one, I may take the plunge. I’ve been streamlining my studio for space and workflow, but looks as if this little beauty will fit anywhere.
Great comparison video! They both sound very polished. I guess I am more the wavetable guy, so the Fireball? But seriously 1010? 450 EUR??? You can get a Polyend Tracker for that money which offers a Granular AND a wavetable synth. At 199 EUR this would be kind of a good deal.
Polyend tracker’s “granular” is shit bro, not even real granular. 1 grain granular is just a sampler. If you want a budget granular I’d waitlist for plinky tbh. IMO the only true hardware granular synths out atm are the tasty chips GR-1 and the microgranny (really Lo-Fi and budget).
@@Frozirra Thats right, it's only one grain but you have the sequencer with loads of possibilities with it. For granular I use the Clouds module atm. Works fine for most purposes.
I’d like to see a comparison of Lemon and black box for granular. I know there is overlap, but not sure how much overlap since granular is a smaller feature of the black box.
So could I sample from a vinyl record into lemon drop then use the output to feed into my pedal board? I actually really like my micro Korg but not sure if that could be a keyboard controller for lemondrop
@@zoiksandmorezoiks2719 The microKorg has a standard MIDI out, should work fine, the adaptor is included with the Lemondrop, you'd just need a standard 5 pin MIDI cable. As far as sampling vinyl, the Lemondrop can only process input audio in real time, you would have to pre-record your samples and drop them onto the micro SD card. Finally, running the output of the Lemondrop to your pedal board shouldn't pose any problems, I've been processing line level synths through pedals for almost three decades without any issues, only thing, you may need to turn the synth volume down a bit to avoid clipping, unless that's what you want, lol!
I am in favor of using a power bank for portability over batteries. Batteries may leak, I can't leave them in the device anymore since I'm suspicious of the build quality of batteries nowadays.
Since 1010 music has a history of offering multiple types of firmware to change the functionality of their devices (like the 1010 Bitbox Mk2) and since the fireball and lemon drop are identical in hardware except for their color, I wonder if you buy one, if they will (in the future) allow you to switch The device FW with the SD card so in effect, you get two different devices on one hardware platform..
Lemondrop is a no-brainer if you want hardware granular synthesis and aren’t willing to up your budget to GR-1 level, or if you’re size-constrained in the studio. My Tracker has made me curious about granular synthesis, so I may well get a lemondrop. Fireball is fine, but there’s a lot of wavetable options, so not so compelling.
My Poly Beebo can cover what the Lemondrop can do, and a little bit more. But, I love exploring granular synthesis so I'd probably get a Lemondrop some day as a dedicated granular synth.
These are absolutely adorable. But for that price you can buy an iPad (US$329 for 10” 64GB base model) and have money left over to buy several great music apps like Tardigrade (granular), NanoStudio (wavetable / VA / samples / sequencer / DAW), Mononoke (weird Lyra-8-like) … No hardware knobs or buttons, but the screen is much bigger and higher resolution, it’s got way more storage, and obviously you can install zillions more music apps most of which cost under $20. So I really don’t see the value in one of these, sadly.
I would have to agree with you. These things like they're geared towards someone that REALLY just wants something as specific as one of these and has deep pockets. $400 a piece... Geez...
You see.. an iPad is a DAW and if you are seen using one LIVE, it undermines your legitimity as an artist. People might think that maybe all the sounds come from it. 400 dollar colorful little boxes are the legit option.
@@TRUEiMPROrecords I think your comment is sarcastic? Many artists I know use their laptops with Ableton Live. Ableton live is made to be played Live. There are people who choose to go without a DAW, but gear would have to replace it anyways.
@@TRUEiMPROrecords So, you spray-paint the iPad yellow and glue some little knobs along the bezel... Or even better, use an iPod Touch so the size is closer to the real thing.
The lemondrop seems interesting, but the price tag for sucha small unit .. is a bit steep I think. I already have an Argon8, so there is no need for the Fireball to me.
I guess if you need a small synth it could be useful. I don’t get why they are two separate devices though. I like the Lemmon the most since I already own a wave table synth
That Lemon Drop sounds amazing ! I feel like they could get around the battery issue by just making a power bank that clips on the back . It could even be made as part of like an otter-box type thing for travel . Now I just have to figure out where to scrape up $400+change :P
Actually ok with the price on the Lemondrop, sounds super interesting as an FX unit alone. Fireball isn’t bad, just surprisingly not that unique sounding? Curious to see where these go in the future
watched you for years and somehow only now realized I hadn't subbed/rung the bell yet! my bad...and see you're about to eclipse 100k. Here's crazy idea for you to celebrate -- a compilation of 100k patches from your library of reviews! Rapid fire/ couple secs each, like an hour of nothing but rapid patch changes from the plethora of synths you've looked at (yeah I know, way too much work, ha) cheers
Such a big sounds from that small boxes, incredible! Just one thing that I immediately thought of - no possibility of stereo expansion. I would love to use that synths in pair with some stereo enhancment and saturation pedals.
I would wish for future versions of those synths a USB Device connectivity, so that you can plug in a USB keyboard (I think of Qunexus or other tiny things). Since both are little computers (Raspberrys ?) that should be easily possible, even on the current hardware, if the USB port is internally not detached. We could then connect via an OTG connection or something like that.
The lemondrop sounds much more interesting to me. Not just another analog sounding synth but something a bit different. I am now wondering whether I can get similar sounds out of my bitbox micro with the granular mode.
As someone who loves to go "sample hunting" with my Zoom H1N paired with contact mics, my Soma Ether, or just it's own stereo mics (or use a mic splitter cable for multiple since it has a stereo mic in), the Lemondrop is hard to resist as it would let me do so much strange stuff with those samples
They are cute!since very short I have the bitbox micro module and it can do some granular stuff along regular sample playing. It is a good alternative to the yellow one if you’re into eurorack.
Granular on the Bitbox Micro is painfully unplayable without a lot of tedious work. This Lemondrop live input is a complete game changer. I can't wait to get mine.
I'll be purchasing a lemon drop later in the year for sure. But i really dont know why they dont add battery options to their devices. Part of the reason why i sold my blackbox was because of a lack of battery, its portable but then you need to power it with something separate which really kills its form factor tbh. I dont have much experience with granular so this looks like a good entry point. I'm happy to see it cheaper than blackbox and bluebox.
Ahhh I'm super torn, I really want one to pair with my Polyend Tracker as a chord/poly synth on the move, lemondrop is more unique but I do love a wavetable
Very interesting. Thanks for the video. But as I understand it, it doesn't offer anything you can't do with a free synthesizer software like Surge Synthesizer. Yes, it's a nice toy for vacation and travel, but I wonder if a good phone app wouldn't serve the same purpose?
Absolutely not comparable to craftsynth which isnt even polyphonic. Argon 8 sports 8 voices with some additional features like stereo oscillator spread, wavemods and cross modulation. It also has a full sequencer and arp. So like I say in the vid: Fireball is similar but less feature packed. One thing it does allow for tho is more modulation than argon8 which has an 8 mod slot limit.
They are $500 Cdn - which is not cheap for a synth module. What would give them more value as they are the exact same case (minus colour) is if there was a software component that would allow you to modify and add samples etc.on a computer then allow you to upload either the WaveTable synth or the granular synth. That way you could have either synth for the price of one. To me, that would be valuable.
Yeah the Lemon thing cool but $400? For just 200 more one could have a Polyend Tracker... Which is like the Lemon+Black Box, all in one box for $450 less... Sorry but what is it that I'm missing here there makes the 1010 worth that much more?
One other missed opportunity that might be addressable with a firmware update is number of envelopes and LFOs. I am not sure which parameters are modulation targets, but hopefully effects parameters are targets. I guess we can't expect everything in a small package. Besides battery power, I would like to see power from a non-USB external supply. MIDI over USB would be useful, too. As for pluses, they units are small and cute, sound great based on the videos that dropped today, and appear to be good pairings for the BlackBox and BlueBox. I wonder if there will be Eurorack module versions?
Sorry, but an 8-Voice Wavetable Synth for 399 is hilarious. The only reason I would get this over a wavestate was if my studio has the size of a closet or if this was the only way to hide it from my wife...
@@wendigo2442 vst in a box has to do with offloading cpu usage along with several other factors like latency for recording. Vst is fine, but after layers start adding up it’s not as efficient.
Love these! I might go for the Lemondrop 1st. But Bo, where do I find that awesome Stylophone Gen R-8 T-shirt? I have the synth but would buy the shirt immediately!
Lemon would be my pick. Not sure if I heard correctly but it sounded like there was an additional oscillator besides the granular sampler. One of the very last sounds was very brass like and I wonder if the attack portion utilized that second oscillator or whether it had the initial transient preserved using the parameter you mentioned. I'm most interested in how this could be used with a wind controller and although it's not a typical module for that application, if I could get a breathy attack like from a flute or horn and have that trail into the granular voice... well I think that would be cool. But sure is pricey.. particularly without battery operation... and no master volume.. and there's no USB MIDI or audio... though I prefer DIN/equivalent if I have to choose. Excellent demonstration! Cheers!
I really like the lemondrop… I imagine live voice input and use it as 4 voice harmonizer and granulize at same time 😀😀😀 At the same price target there’s sonic ware elz1 and it has more a more stuff !!!
Great video. These two are enticing, I really like the small form factor. But the price in europe is outrageous. Also 7:37 Don Henley wants to know your location :-)
pricing is in a similar ball park to korg modwave, wavestate and opsix also argon 8 BUT .. no keyboard, only 2 controls - build quality/size looks similar to volcas and elektron model cycles. if price was 200 .. different story. maybe it's nearest synth is the microfreak?
Price difference is about 150-300 dollar depending on your location. Compared to Argon8m, keyboard version and Modwave. Like I suggest in the vid the Argon8m is probably a better buy than the fireball if you want wavetable. Microfreak is a good comparison I recon, tho not polyphonic from what I know? Or did they add this in later updates? I remember it being paraphonic with limited articulation
There are so many synth reviews on youtube these days. Funny though, when I want to get the real deal, I think 'I wonder if Bo has done a review of this'. And Lemondrop? more like jawdrop... sounds amazing.
Nice little boxes for on the road. However, there is something to say about having a menu system to traverse through compared to older synths with dedicated knobs and sliders and switches for all settings. Traversing through menu's takes time, and it can get you out of a creative flow. Rather than having all inputs under hand and within reach to easily change them on the fly to find and tweak the desired sound to fit your creative vision of what you wish to express. Than again, I am but an amateur musician with no real professional music education. So I might be completely wrong here.
I have been pondering the same thing since they demoed these boxes. The real question is to what extent does one need to mod on the fly and does the XY as well as 2 mod control buttons suffice for realtime or live processing. I have come to the conclusion that it all depends on the style of music and rig setup. Does the GUI interface make playing and feedback more responsive or does the lack of hardware controls inhibit creativity.... I personally appreciate the form factor and GUI of the nanoboxes and don't mind the "menu diving" if its well designed and friendly enough to navigate to the key parameters. The contender being the Arturia MicroFreak which has many controls and a small feedback screen which is great for sound design and live performance but requires external FX and connectivity for a complete road worthy sound. They are both currently the same price.
I'm curious what the main differences are between the Lemondrop and the granular sample engine in the Blackbox? Maybe it's polyphony and the layering of oscillators but as far as the granular options they look pretty similar.
I keep meaning to buy a field recorder whenever I go back home to record cicadas but I never do they have solved it for me 😂💸 How does it compare to tasty chips? I am quite attracted to it's portability..
I have the Tasty Chips, it looks like you can do what the Lemondrop does with it, but not vice versa. The Tasty Chips has a left to right slider where you can manually move the grain scanning bar across the sample, which is endlessly satisfying. It also lets you use up to 4 samples at once. If you just want to play grains with keys like a synth, the Nanobox looks great, I'll probably buy one to try. You can get a similar sound with Native Instruments Pharlight by dropping in custom samples (the presets are great though).
@@Eli_B3000 Cool yeah the tasty chips seems much more on what I want to do and I know me I would want 4 samples for sure!! Better start saving then!! I also have my eye on the cheaper microgranny which I know it is slightly different but also granular.
Great video as ever, Bo, and these two devices look class. How would you compare the Lemon to the Digitakt? Worth considering the former if you already have the latter?
@@BoBeats Sorry, I'm quite new to all this. I was thinking it's sample-based, like the Digitakt, so I was thinking they were broadly similar, but I'm obviously mistaken.
Keystep pro, Blackbox, Bluebox, Lemondrop, Fireball, and Razzamatazz (or whatever they're calling it) = complete system...compact with no interconnection issues...would be very nice to play....but that's a lot of money.
The lemondrop does seem pretty awesome. Does it have a sequencer? How did you play it on the bus without a midi controller? Or do you need a midi controller?
very amazing those tiny little devices - but experimenting with sounds through tons of menus an submenus is so boring. Does a universal user interface with nobs and buttons, sliders, display and so on exist on the market? That would be very nice. Thanks for the video.
Hej Bo, kan man koppla en Arturia MicroKey (USB midi only) till Lemon enheten? Borde vara bra om du kunde inkludera Connectivity i dina tester. Tack för en underbar kanal 👍🇸🇪
These look awesome, but I’d love to know what they can do either individually or combined compared to Arturia’s Pigments when combined with a good controller…
I was ambivalent about both of these - cute, but pretty basic looking. But I may be sold on the Lemondrop. I don’t have a granular synth outside my modular, and the price, size and feature set are right.
are you a Lemons or Fireball kind of person?
They look like the same hardware, can you switch between the firmware?
@@SynthSoundscapes no I asked about this and you can’t.
@@BoBeats Great minds think alike! Thanks for asking =).
lemon just purchased. thanks for review. i used to have a gr-1 granualar synth which cost £800. at half the price the lemondrop is well worth the cost and appears to be much easier and more fun to use. looking forward to it arriving on my doorstep :)
@@markashley6859 can you tell me a bit about your GR-1 experience? Since I don’t have one I am super curious!
I definitely will get a Lemondrop. Looks so awesome, and I have been looking for something that can do granular for a while! I'm also a bit of a fan of 1010music, I do love the bluebox.
Great demonstration!
First I thought 'why not both?', but then you mentioned the price and I was like 'oh, in that case I'll take the green one...'
🤣. Yep.
yea, that's unfortunate. Compared to Fred's Lab buzzzy! or the Korg NTS-1 the price is a bit much. I really need to buy more lottery tickets it seems ;-)
lol
😂😂😂
Personally, I'd probably go for the Lemon Drop, but just because I already have a couple of wavetable synths. They both sound great, though, and the size! I actually really like the tiny footprint.
Both look great. A drum machine/sampler with a few extra sequencing channels in this format would also be killer.
Arrived
The granular actually gave me a little bit of GAS, missing some of those sounds in my setup today, and this is way more accessible than the GR-1. Nice review as always, tåpp nåtsch
Interesting... I was looking at the GR-1..... and not sure really now lol
the first video that actually really fully explains the difference of the two nanoboxes! Thanks!!! ❤️
You’re welcome!! Glad you found it useful
Love them both! Ironically just purchased a Blackbox the other day. Thanks for the video!
Thanks BO. As always, a profound and helpful review! Love your channel.
What a time to be alive... Just yesterday I was impressed with that small pocket sized pad control, seems that it would be a great combo with these 2 units 😁
Offgrid midi controller... Remember now 😅
I'm getting sucked in these tiny setups universe more then I like to admit 🌌😁
Just bought a Blackbox, looks like 1010 will be getting some more of my love and money!
Although the Blackbox already contains a granular engine, so some overlap here.
Before stating my preference can I just commend you on your production of this video. As ever absolutely superb and wonderfully detailed. I think Lemon Drop for me, purely on the soundscapes it can produce. Yes, £300 may seem a lot for such a small synth, but the effects and sounds it can create in my mind are worth the price. An informative review. Thanks Bo.
I do not have a purely granular synth in my arsenal, so Lemondrop is on my radar.
Lemondrop baby!!!🍋 Granular is my jam. Great review Bo, this format, the editing, truly so polished, fantastic video I really enjoyed it and tons of value packed in here.
I like the form factor and everything of these. Do I need them, no, but putting granular into hardware at this price and easy to use UI, I really like this 🤗
♥️♥️♥️♥️
Curious how would you compare the Fireball to the Microfreak as a first time synth. I like that this nanobox synth includes built-in fx and is also an 8 voice machine. They are about the same price as well. Appreciate your expert feedback.
PS I am also loving the lemon drop lol
Actually now that I've listened further, I'm tending more towards the Lemondrop...hmmn
@@verdielg Some of the sounds I heard from Lemondrop really impress. Plus, I like citrus…so, heavy bias towards granular and lemons 😅
@@NoirEtBlancVie Hey, appreciate the expert feedback. Citrus lol. The more I listen to it the more excited I get. It sounds so massive and shimmery and well, just glorious. Wish I could afford both.
Another great demonstration video, Bo, always love your take on new instruments. I’m a huge fan of granular Synthesis, but apart from the Tasty Chips GR1 - yeah, too rich for my blood at about $2,499US - there haven’t been many hardware granular synths to choose from. At $399US for a brand new one, I may take the plunge. I’ve been streamlining my studio for space and workflow, but looks as if this little beauty will fit anywhere.
Great comparison video! They both sound very polished. I guess I am more the wavetable guy, so the Fireball? But seriously 1010? 450 EUR??? You can get a Polyend Tracker for that money which offers a Granular AND a wavetable synth. At 199 EUR this would be kind of a good deal.
Polyend tracker’s “granular” is shit bro, not even real granular. 1 grain granular is just a sampler.
If you want a budget granular I’d waitlist for plinky tbh.
IMO the only true hardware granular synths out atm are the tasty chips GR-1 and the microgranny (really Lo-Fi and budget).
@@Frozirra Thats right, it's only one grain but you have the sequencer with loads of possibilities with it. For granular I use the Clouds module atm. Works fine for most purposes.
@@suga4all idk to each his own I suppose, but the tracker can’t flume nearly as good
A pair or rather almost 3x CraftSynths 2.0 instead for this price? ;)
And both granular AND wavetable on the Poly are garbage. What a deal!
Lemondrop get's my vote it's just different to whats out there at that price range...a lot of fun.
I’d like to see a comparison of Lemon and black box for granular. I know there is overlap, but not sure how much overlap since granular is a smaller feature of the black box.
same!
So could I sample from a vinyl record into lemon drop then use the output to feed into my pedal board? I actually really like my micro Korg but not sure if that could be a keyboard controller for lemondrop
@@zoiksandmorezoiks2719 The microKorg has a standard MIDI out, should work fine, the adaptor is included with the Lemondrop, you'd just need a standard 5 pin MIDI cable. As far as sampling vinyl, the Lemondrop can only process input audio in real time, you would have to pre-record your samples and drop them onto the micro SD card. Finally, running the output of the Lemondrop to your pedal board shouldn't pose any problems, I've been processing line level synths through pedals for almost three decades without any issues, only thing, you may need to turn the synth volume down a bit to avoid clipping, unless that's what you want, lol!
@@kvnvk8947 that’s really helpful thanks! will have a think..seems lovely bit of kit but serious price tag too.
I am in favor of using a power bank for portability over batteries. Batteries may leak, I can't leave them in the device anymore since I'm suspicious of the build quality of batteries nowadays.
Almost lost a Volca that way.
Since 1010 music has a history of offering multiple types of firmware to change the functionality of their devices (like the 1010 Bitbox Mk2) and since the fireball and lemon drop are identical in hardware except for their color, I wonder if you buy one, if they will (in the future) allow you to switch The device FW with the SD card so in effect, you get two different devices on one hardware platform..
Lemondrop is a no-brainer if you want hardware granular synthesis and aren’t willing to up your budget to GR-1 level, or if you’re size-constrained in the studio. My Tracker has made me curious about granular synthesis, so I may well get a lemondrop. Fireball is fine, but there’s a lot of wavetable options, so not so compelling.
Lemon drop is deffinitly on my wishlist, especially to pair with my microfreak and habit of "sample hunting" with my H1N and Soma Ether
1010 is doing it again! He is really breaking out of the eurorack market and I am loving the ideas he is coming up with.
My Poly Beebo can cover what the Lemondrop can do, and a little bit more. But, I love exploring granular synthesis so I'd probably get a Lemondrop some day as a dedicated granular synth.
Thanks for posting Bo. I find both to be very fun looking , however I think I’m gravitating towards Lemon Drop a bit more than Fireball.
Amazing sounding video, Bo! My cat was like "whoh"... I would go with Fireball first.
These are absolutely adorable. But for that price you can buy an iPad (US$329 for 10” 64GB base model) and have money left over to buy several great music apps like Tardigrade (granular), NanoStudio (wavetable / VA / samples / sequencer / DAW), Mononoke (weird Lyra-8-like) … No hardware knobs or buttons, but the screen is much bigger and higher resolution, it’s got way more storage, and obviously you can install zillions more music apps most of which cost under $20. So I really don’t see the value in one of these, sadly.
I would have to agree with you. These things like they're geared towards someone that REALLY just wants something as specific as one of these and has deep pockets.
$400 a piece... Geez...
You see.. an iPad is a DAW and if you are seen using one LIVE, it undermines your legitimity as an artist. People might think that maybe all the sounds come from it. 400 dollar colorful little boxes are the legit option.
@@TRUEiMPROrecords I think your comment is sarcastic? Many artists I know use their laptops with Ableton Live. Ableton live is made to be played Live. There are people who choose to go without a DAW, but gear would have to replace it anyways.
@@TRUEiMPROrecords So, you spray-paint the iPad yellow and glue some little knobs along the bezel... Or even better, use an iPod Touch so the size is closer to the real thing.
iPad apps faze out and don’t work with new iOS. A piece of hardware lasts indefinitely if you treat it well.
The lemondrop seems interesting, but the price tag for sucha small unit .. is a bit steep I think. I already have an Argon8, so there is no need for the Fireball to me.
They sound petty good. I see these as great addition to a current setup
Exciting devices. It’s great to see 1010 coming out with these one off specialized devices.
I guess if you need a small synth it could be useful. I don’t get why they are two separate devices though.
I like the Lemmon the most since I already own a wave table synth
Cos that's two separate purchases from one compulsive spender 🤐🤭
@@kalimaa999 green drum synth confirmed 😋
‘Cause $
Love it, but I think I'm going to wait for the $150 Behringer copy.
thats a 2020 meme right there, gotto move on buddy
@@BoBeats Maybe I'm serous.
Hahaaha
Or Korg to expand the NTS-x range. I think you're spot on about the pricepoint. Slightly more than an NTS-1 seems about right.
Lol😂
That Lemon Drop sounds amazing ! I feel like they could get around the battery issue by just making a power bank that clips on the back . It could even be made as part of like an otter-box type thing for travel . Now I just have to figure out where to scrape up $400+change :P
Actually ok with the price on the Lemondrop, sounds super interesting as an FX unit alone. Fireball isn’t bad, just surprisingly not that unique sounding? Curious to see where these go in the future
watched you for years and somehow only now realized I hadn't subbed/rung the bell yet! my bad...and see you're about to eclipse 100k. Here's crazy idea for you to celebrate -- a compilation of 100k patches from your library of reviews! Rapid fire/ couple secs each, like an hour of nothing but rapid patch changes from the plethora of synths you've looked at (yeah I know, way too much work, ha) cheers
The quality of the video is nice and vibrant
What about a third orange one with both specs 😅 Sweet demo for sure, nice little devices.
Such a big sounds from that small boxes, incredible! Just one thing that I immediately thought of - no possibility of stereo expansion. I would love to use that synths in pair with some stereo enhancment and saturation pedals.
The output is stereo. All you need is a TRS minijack split to two TS big mono jacks
I love the lemondrop. Thanks for this review
I would wish for future versions of those synths a USB Device connectivity, so that you can plug in a USB keyboard (I think of Qunexus or other tiny things). Since both are little computers (Raspberrys ?) that should be easily possible, even on the current hardware, if the USB port is internally not detached. We could then connect via an OTG connection or something like that.
The lemondrop sounds much more interesting to me. Not just another analog sounding synth but something a bit different. I am now wondering whether I can get similar sounds out of my bitbox micro with the granular mode.
I have not tried the micro but totally agree: Lemondrop feels fresh! Like a lemonade on a hot summer day 😅😅😅
As someone who loves to go "sample hunting" with my Zoom H1N paired with contact mics, my Soma Ether, or just it's own stereo mics (or use a mic splitter cable for multiple since it has a stereo mic in), the Lemondrop is hard to resist as it would let me do so much strange stuff with those samples
Not sure if plugging the red Fireball usb cable to the Lemondrop is legal, but great demo regardless!
When I get my Lemondrop, I plan on dropping some additive waveforms into it from my Korg DSS-1...should be interesting!
They are cute!since very short I have the bitbox micro module and it can do some granular stuff along regular sample playing. It is a good alternative to the yellow one if you’re into eurorack.
Granular on the Bitbox Micro is painfully unplayable without a lot of tedious work. This Lemondrop live input is a complete game changer. I can't wait to get mine.
okay i now realise why i should add a synth to my setup! really cool!
Great video Bo best on TH-cam so far.
I’m really digging the little yellow beast!
I'll be purchasing a lemon drop later in the year for sure. But i really dont know why they dont add battery options to their devices. Part of the reason why i sold my blackbox was because of a lack of battery, its portable but then you need to power it with something separate which really kills its form factor tbh. I dont have much experience with granular so this looks like a good entry point. I'm happy to see it cheaper than blackbox and bluebox.
I wonder what the Fireball would be like running through the Lemondrop??
Hmm… Blackbox already has granular in it (presumably similar codebase) so Fireball looks like a better partner to it.
Ahhh I'm super torn, I really want one to pair with my Polyend Tracker as a chord/poly synth on the move, lemondrop is more unique but I do love a wavetable
Lemondrop reminds me of Grain in Reason. I’d def pickup a Lemondrop as it’s more unique hardware-wise.
I actually just bought it online,... the fact that it can take FX in, and process...ts a bonus and must have.
I wish they would release a more affordable version of blue box. Small mixers with built in effects are almost unheard of.
Totally agree. Or make the blue box a class compliant audio device. Then the price would be justified in my opinion.
Very cool! If I didn’t already pretty much have these in Ableton Suite, they would definitely peak my interest!
Very interesting. Thanks for the video.
But as I understand it, it doesn't offer anything you can't do with a free synthesizer software like Surge Synthesizer. Yes, it's a nice toy for vacation and travel, but I wonder if a good phone app wouldn't serve the same purpose?
These nano synths are pretty cool. Never heard of them before.
They just got announced today, so that is likely why. 😁
I need this as a eurorack module!
I thought these were pretty cool till I learned the price! Was totally expecting them to be closer to Korg NTS-1 territory.
I like the idea of these tiny synths but the price they are asking hmm! Be interesting to open them up and see what's inside.
What do you think could be inside? The cheapest compute module (e.g. something like a raspberry pi) that can get the job done and a DAC
Ooh the lemondrop is exciting, love that sound
Actually, the more I think about, the more I reckon it would be amazing to pack it full of samples vocals for some sort of mad vocal synth
I think Fireball is more equivalent to a Modular Craft, not the Argon8. Wavetable mini-synth. LemonDrop is a unique little synth. Will buy that one
Absolutely not comparable to craftsynth which isnt even polyphonic.
Argon 8 sports 8 voices with some additional features like stereo oscillator spread, wavemods and cross modulation. It also has a full sequencer and arp.
So like I say in the vid: Fireball is similar but less feature packed. One thing it does allow for tho is more modulation than argon8 which has an 8 mod slot limit.
Great review, Bo! I love this form factor... (much less "vybe-I" this year, is that a deliberate choice?)
gotto get some more vybe-i in there!!
26:21 almost “Jupiters” by Four Tet 🤩😉
They are $500 Cdn - which is not cheap for a synth module. What would give them more value as they are the exact same case (minus colour) is if there was a software component that would allow you to modify and add samples etc.on a computer then allow you to upload either the WaveTable synth or the granular synth. That way you could have either synth for the price of one. To me, that would be valuable.
Yeah the Lemon thing cool but $400? For just 200 more one could have a Polyend Tracker... Which is like the Lemon+Black Box, all in one box for $450 less... Sorry but what is it that I'm missing here there makes the 1010 worth that much more?
in México?
One other missed opportunity that might be addressable with a firmware update is number of envelopes and LFOs. I am not sure which parameters are modulation targets, but hopefully effects parameters are targets. I guess we can't expect everything in a small package. Besides battery power, I would like to see power from a non-USB external supply. MIDI over USB would be useful, too. As for pluses, they units are small and cute, sound great based on the videos that dropped today, and appear to be good pairings for the BlackBox and BlueBox. I wonder if there will be Eurorack module versions?
Definitely a lemondrop kinda guy here. I can see a great combination with a keystep pro and a microfreak .
Same, another Microfreak owner who loves to sample weird things with my Zoom H1N + contact mics and my Soma Ether, the Lemondrop looks *perfect*
Sorry, but an 8-Voice Wavetable Synth for 399 is hilarious. The only reason I would get this over a wavestate was if my studio has the size of a closet or if this was the only way to hide it from my wife...
Love the hide it from my wife... Fantastic 😂
No u don’t get it bro when u put the vst in the box it sounds warm and lush and pad and
@@wendigo2442 vst in a box has to do with offloading cpu usage along with several other factors like latency for recording. Vst is fine, but after layers start adding up it’s not as efficient.
I actually want a lemondrop for that reason (wife won’t notice)
the wavestate isn't a wavetable synth
Love these! I might go for the Lemondrop 1st. But Bo, where do I find that awesome Stylophone Gen R-8 T-shirt? I have the synth but would buy the shirt immediately!
Great video
Cute boxes!
Is it me or is the "nanobox" text sloping down?
Wouldn’t micro granny and micro freak both be less money?
Microfreak is a good alternative absolutely. But microgranny isnt close to the Lemondrop for granular synthesis
Lemon would be my pick. Not sure if I heard correctly but it sounded like there was an additional oscillator besides the granular sampler. One of the very last sounds was very brass like and I wonder if the attack portion utilized that second oscillator or whether it had the initial transient preserved using the parameter you mentioned. I'm most interested in how this could be used with a wind controller and although it's not a typical module for that application, if I could get a breathy attack like from a flute or horn and have that trail into the granular voice... well I think that would be cool. But sure is pricey.. particularly without battery operation... and no master volume.. and there's no USB MIDI or audio... though I prefer DIN/equivalent if I have to choose. Excellent demonstration! Cheers!
Yeah its 2x granular or wavetable + 1 standard ”VA” oscillator for each of the synths
I really like the lemondrop… I imagine live voice input and use it as 4 voice harmonizer and granulize at same time 😀😀😀
At the same price target there’s sonic ware elz1 and it has more a more stuff !!!
Great video. These two are enticing, I really like the small form factor. But the price in europe is outrageous. Also 7:37 Don Henley wants to know your location
:-)
It look like you know what your doin using the wave tables, I wonder where to learn that knowledge ?
The Lemondrop seems very rad. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for a used one.
pricing is in a similar ball park to korg modwave, wavestate and opsix also argon 8
BUT .. no keyboard, only 2 controls - build quality/size looks similar to volcas and elektron model cycles.
if price was 200 .. different story.
maybe it's nearest synth is the microfreak?
Price difference is about 150-300 dollar depending on your location. Compared to Argon8m, keyboard version and Modwave. Like I suggest in the vid the Argon8m is probably a better buy than the fireball if you want wavetable.
Microfreak is a good comparison I recon, tho not polyphonic from what I know? Or did they add this in later updates? I remember it being paraphonic with limited articulation
Can't decide between Microfreak or the Nano Fireball... I'm looking for a compact poly synth for lush pads and sounds...
I liked both. I think it would be a great set up: both run by a keystep pro. If I had to pick it would be the lemon.
Reviewing the Fireball while having a Microfreak on a picture on the wall... wavetable loop!
Great video. These look exactly like the kind of weird gaming handheld I'd see in Toys R' Us and beg my parents to buy.
It's deffinitly a funny thought to consider as an adult, but heck, those little bright boxes of sound too look very fun
The Monk patch for the Lemondrop sounded absolutely stunning. I might have to sell some gear and buy it...
There are so many synth reviews on youtube these days. Funny though, when I want to get the real deal, I think 'I wonder if Bo has done a review of this'. And Lemondrop? more like jawdrop... sounds amazing.
Glad that you checked out the vid! Still a big fan of the Lemon. Fireball not so much :-)
Great video as always Bo
Thank you!
Nice little boxes for on the road. However, there is something to say about having a menu system to traverse through compared to older synths with dedicated knobs and sliders and switches for all settings.
Traversing through menu's takes time, and it can get you out of a creative flow. Rather than having all inputs under hand and within reach to easily change them on the fly to find and tweak the desired sound to fit your creative vision of what you wish to express.
Than again, I am but an amateur musician with no real professional music education. So I might be completely wrong here.
I have been pondering the same thing since they demoed these boxes. The real question is to what extent does one need to mod on the fly and does the XY as well as 2 mod control buttons suffice for realtime or live processing. I have come to the conclusion that it all depends on the style of music and rig setup. Does the GUI interface make playing and feedback more responsive or does the lack of hardware controls inhibit creativity....
I personally appreciate the form factor and GUI of the nanoboxes and don't mind the "menu diving" if its well designed and friendly enough to navigate to the key parameters. The contender being the Arturia MicroFreak which has many controls and a small feedback screen which is great for sound design and live performance but requires external FX and connectivity for a complete road worthy sound. They are both currently the same price.
I'm curious what the main differences are between the Lemondrop and the granular sample engine in the Blackbox? Maybe it's polyphony and the layering of oscillators but as far as the granular options they look pretty similar.
Trust me, the Lemondrop sounds huge. I love the Saw and Sine waves that are always there as a 3rd oscillator. I love mine.
I keep meaning to buy a field recorder whenever I go back home to record cicadas but I never do they have solved it for me 😂💸
How does it compare to tasty chips? I am quite attracted to it's portability..
I have the Tasty Chips, it looks like you can do what the Lemondrop does with it, but not vice versa. The Tasty Chips has a left to right slider where you can manually move the grain scanning bar across the sample, which is endlessly satisfying. It also lets you use up to 4 samples at once. If you just want to play grains with keys like a synth, the Nanobox looks great, I'll probably buy one to try. You can get a similar sound with Native Instruments Pharlight by dropping in custom samples (the presets are great though).
@@Eli_B3000 Cool yeah the tasty chips seems much more on what I want to do and I know me I would want 4 samples for sure!!
Better start saving then!!
I also have my eye on the cheaper microgranny which I know it is slightly different but also granular.
Holy crap!!! Lemondrop is like a GR1 that fits in my pocket!!!! So good.
Great video as ever, Bo, and these two devices look class. How would you compare the Lemon to the Digitakt? Worth considering the former if you already have the latter?
Since the lemon is a synth it pairs well with the Digitakt!
@@BoBeats Sorry, I'm quite new to all this. I was thinking it's sample-based, like the Digitakt, so I was thinking they were broadly similar, but I'm obviously mistaken.
Thanks for the video! I definitively will fo for the lemondrop. Let's hope they arrive soon in Europe 🤞.
Thanks for watching!
Keystep pro, Blackbox, Bluebox, Lemondrop, Fireball, and Razzamatazz (or whatever they're calling it) = complete system...compact with no interconnection issues...would be very nice to play....but that's a lot of money.
The lemondrop does seem pretty awesome. Does it have a sequencer? How did you play it on the bus without a midi controller? Or do you need a midi controller?
Theres a small keyboard (should have shown this better) and theres a basic sequencer (see the ”similarities” section)
@@BoBeats very cool, this might make it onto my GAS list for an ever shrinking backpack setup. And, oops seems I missed that part! Thanks, Bo.
Oh… no internal battery. So what’s the perk of the small size? Desk space?
very amazing those tiny little devices - but experimenting with sounds through tons of menus an submenus is so boring. Does a universal user interface with nobs and buttons, sliders, display and so on exist on the market? That would be very nice. Thanks for the video.
The Lemondrop does sound bloody good. The Fireball doesn't really grab me though.
Hej Bo, kan man koppla en Arturia MicroKey (USB midi only) till Lemon enheten? Borde vara bra om du kunde inkludera Connectivity i dina tester. Tack för en underbar kanal 👍🇸🇪
These look awesome, but I’d love to know what they can do either individually or combined compared to Arturia’s Pigments when combined with a good controller…
I was ambivalent about both of these - cute, but pretty basic looking. But I may be sold on the Lemondrop. I don’t have a granular synth outside my modular, and the price, size and feature set are right.
Most excellent! Thank you!! 🙏💙