I’ve been thinking about getting a new groovebox for a while now… Actually I didn’t know what they were called until I saw that first post on this community then it all clicked! (Thanks btw!!)
I’ve played around with an old kaossilator and it was pretty fun but I’d like something I can maybe put my own sounds in? If that’s generally a really exorbitantly priced feature then I can skip it.
Any suggestions on where I should get started?
Thanks in advance!!
Are there specific features you’re looking for, and what’s your budget?
While I personally am not a fan, a lot of people love the Elektron boxes. There are several in various price ranges and feature sets with a common workflow, and they all are fairly good at live jamming.
Pocket Operators by Teenage Engineering are about as affordable as you can get and also as portable, but they tend to be rather limited and fragile.
There are plenty of others I could suggest but I’m on mobile at the moment, so I won’t type too much yet.
I was thinking like $500 ish. I can go higher if it’s absolutely the best thing ever though.
These elektron boxes do look cool though!
In that price range, the biggest things I’d recommend would be the Roland MC-101, Novation Circuit Tracks or Rhythm or the Elektron Model:Cycles or Model:Samples. They tend to be fairly feature-complete even if they aren’t super in-depth. Some are more synth based and some more sample based. The Elektrons don’t have batteries, but the rest are.
If you can spend a little more, I would also consider the MPC One as a pretty powerful workstation setup. I’m personally not an MPC user as the workflow isn’t for me, but it’s powerful and many people swear by it.
Oh and as an alternative to the MPC, the Teenage Engineering OP-Z is pretty flexible and way more portable than the MPC.
I was looking at the OP-Z but I’m an android user so I feel like I might be a little bit limited on it’s features. However it totally looks like it’s 100% useable without a screen. Might be something I want to get my daughter who’s getting into all this stuff too.
Tons of options here though! Thank you! I’m definitely going to be up all night looking at these!
I’m pretty sure there is an Android app for the OP-Z, so you may still have access to those.
But yeah no problem. If you have questions about any of those, let me know and I’ll try to answer. I’ve at least used most of those at least once so I should be able to speak on them.
Oh yeah I just looked there is an app!
I’ll let you know about any questions I have when I start looking at those. I’m at work at the moment.
The OP-Z was designed to be used without a screen, though there is also an official Android app these days!
When I bought my first OP-Z the app only worked on iOS, so I just learned how to use it without the screen. There’s a lot of feedback to let you know where you are and what you’re doing. For example, when you turn the endless encoders the corresponding LED will blink when you reach the minimum or maximum values, and will also turn green when you’re at mid point. And even if you’re color blind, there’s additional feedback on the numbers.
These days, even with the app available, I still use it without a screen. I like that I can take it with me anywhere, and that I can start jamming without having to look at my phone.
My recommendation is, if possible, to try a few different boxes. Sometimes a piece of gear has all the features you’re looking for, but the workflow simply doesn’t click. I try to buy things used and if I’m not in a rush I wait for a good deal, so I can sell it later if it’s not something that works for me. Of course that takes months.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯