I’ve preordered a Dirtywave M8 which seems like an awesome piece of gear and it’s got me really excited at the prospect of using interesting dedicated hardware machines that I can take to the park or mess with on the sofa.
The obvious ones I’ve come across so far are:
- Korg Volca range
- Roland mini synths and aira compact ranges
- Teenage Engineering OP and POs
But these all seem a little uninteresting to me and just rehashed tiny versions of older gear and/or aimed at lo-fi producers.
Some less obvious ones that have my attention are:
- Monome Norns
- 1010music lemondrop, fireball & razzmatazz (not battery powered but easily powered by a USB powerbank)
- Bastl microgranny and kastl
- Korg NTS-1
- Korg Monotrons
- Audiothingies Micromonsta 2 (again not battery powered but can be via powerbank)
Are there any you know of that fit the bill?
Read the title and came in to say… “weeeeell you might be interested in a Dirtywave M8!!” then read the rest of your post :D
My .02 OP-Z it has a specific sound but it’s great for sketchign ideas and the sequencer is pretty fun and can be pretty chaotic.
Norns seeems like it could be portable, but you would need a midi keyboard, powerbank etc. It can be pretty limiting by itself.
NTS-1 seems like a must buy if anything to have as an FX box but I don’t have one.
Not mentioned but “fits the bill” of portable stuff is the Circuit Series. I have a Circuit Tracks and it doesn’t get as much use as the M8, but it’s pretty fun wiht the pads to come up with different loops and ideas
A pack of Kastl 1.5 + Kastl Drums might be fun to hook up together.