Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
I built myself gadget in hardware (sort of)
The idea with having some equipment in a case plus powerbanks etc isn‘t new for me. I started it beginning of this year. Then i moved the stuff into a bigger magma case which was…uhm…too big for my taste. Just recently i stumbled over this awesome (and very powerful) 1010 mixer, which allowed me to move back to the smaller case and put more stuff in i ever had in a case. 8 powerbanks is a little annoying but thanks to USB noise it‘s necessary. But at least it runs quite long on battery this way.
For home/desktop use i made a“multicore“ USB cable, each having it‘s own small 5v adapter in a switchable power strip
oh, depending on my mood it‘s easy to switch the S-1 (or even the Tooro) for T-8. That‘s the gadget part 🤓
Comments
it looks amazing and now I want one…
Holy powerbanks Batman lol, that’s cool man
I want to build some custom flight case style boxes for my gear
Thanks. It was quite challenging to hide (almost) all cables and i had to buy a lot of new ones with angled plugs 🙄
Super jealous of the Hypnosis. Been wanting one for years now.
I’m planning on getting the myself the new 404 soon and have been thinking of pairing it with either the 101 or TR6S. How do you like them? The FM engine in the TR6s is super tempting to me because I’ve heard people make some really wild stuff with it.
Also doesn’t it take SD cards? So theoretically you could load samples onto an SD from the iPad and transfer samplers that way right?
Sorry for the questions you just happen to have 2 of the main synths I’ve been looking at lol I had a 707 and loved it.
That's really cool mate. 😎
If you had> @HotStrange said:
If you had a 707 then u know already that roland can be a bit special at times 😂 Some stuff is just not really logical and dark grey print on black surface is simply a crime. They learned though, readability on S-1 is improved. The TR6 is (way) easier to use but has one big flaw imo: patterns and drumsets are stored seperately so you need to take care when you want to use the same set in another pattern. Always better to copy the set before. Which can lead to some clutter in the (128) memory. And the 101 is SO packed with features (afair nothing is missing from 707 except less channels obviously), of course it can be a little tough to remember everything. But both do sound great and i tried but there are no real alternatives with that size (and great roland sound) and battery powered. I‘m missing velocity on the pads though. Running on powerbank, the 101 runs“forever“ while the 6s is more hungry. And yes, you can use SD cards (with samples) on both machnines.
The hypnosis is very nice. it‘s also great for“dirty up“ everything. I always wanted to have the big one as well. This one is the small brother, only availabe as DIY set (very easy to assemble). Much cheaper but unfortunately only mono (but combined with some stereo i.e. reverb from the mixer helps a lot). But has the advantage of CV and gate inputs for each effect! With gate signals you can switch on/off the effects seperately which is great fun. And it uses USB for electricity unlike the big one (wallwart). Which made it possible to use it in the case
Nice! 💪🏽
I’ve been flirting with that Bluebox. How do you like it? Pros/Cons?
Impressive chord management. You’ve inspired me to make better use of my space for sure. Bravo!
Thanks! The mixer is a blast, no regrets. For my case project i had the behringer flow 8 before. Which is also nice but noticeably bigger, less channels and i did not like that you rely on phone/ipad to fully use it.
pros for the bluebox
cons
1.you cant access the micro SD card via USB (yet?)
2.similar to TE stuff, not all minijacks will fit. You need slim ones (but easy to find on amazon)
3.display can get quite warm but according to 1010 this shouldnt be an issue.Time will tell i guess.
4. you can store your projects but you can‘t copy them (there is no“save as“ option) on the device. But you can create a template at least.
5. it‘s by far the most hungry (battery) gear in my setup. But with a 10k pb still like 5-7h
6. the two fx only cover reverb and delay
Wow. Amazing.
Wow, that’s very inspiring and really cool…nice work
Thanks for your comments, appreciate it 👍 I‘m happy that my „travel“ came to a very satisfying end now.
Btw, thats the evolution over one year. It all started with a wish for a small portable but powerful setup. That“portable“ thing is long gone though 😂 But that‘s why i bought the KOII now.
And last an inside pic and size comparison bigger vs smaller case.
Thanks! They look nice side by side which kinda makes me want both now 🤣 but those 2 vs 1 Syntakt is not an easy choice.
I played with a 101 in store and it actually seemed a bit more tailored to live jamming compared to the 707. Both are a PITA lol but the 707 is very much more designed to be a “hub” of your setup while also being a groovebox. The 101 felt more like just a groovebox, which makes me like it more honestly. I’m glad they added the ability to edit the synth patches more deeply though and looping over usb with the iPad sounds like a blast.
That sucks the Hypnosis is only mono. I didn’t even know they had 2 versions out now. Didn’t they recently re-release it? Is that the mono version?
@Crabman great work . How do you fix your battening - is it fixed to the foam or have you cut foam away to fix to case ? velcro , glue ?
would be great if you could cross post to here * to keep these case studios linked via
1 thread for future searchers
I‘m eyeballing the Syntakt for quite some time now 👀 I had a model cycles (well, and a lot of other elektron machines over the years…) and like the fm machines etc. Problem with syntakt is, it doesn‘t run on powerbank and even with a myvolts converter cable, i think it needs a LOT of juice. There are multiple reports that it gets very warm, i don‘t think it‘s a good idea to bury it in a case like this. And both rolands together still gives me more flexibility (and THAT roland sound which i like). And are very lightweight compared to syntakt. Also, there is something about elrktron workflow that doesn‘t gel with me 100%. I do like p-locking stuff etc but the results on this machines were often very „mechanical“ and less organic.
There was a „less noisy“ (who did even ask for that? 😂) revision of the original hypnosis and then nothing for a long time. Now you can buy this“remix“ version only at dreadbox for less than half the price (199€).
Mono only is a pity but if i had the choice, i definitely would go mono but instead having all this cv/gate inputs again. It makes it less of a „typical“ effect but more a playable instrument. I bought the small SQ-1 sequencer only for this purpose! you can go wild pretty easy but if you hold back yourself, the chorus/flanger and delay still sounds great. The spring reverb was mono in the original as well
You know what this reminds me off is this old app (not sure if it's even still around, I think it was called Tabletop if I'm not mistaken) where you could set down instruments and such in a modular fashion.
Thanks ! Not sure what“battening“ means. The dictionary doesn‘t give me a meaningful translation 🤔 Unlike my first cases, i did not use much foam this time. It‘s mainly some wood to push up the stuff behind the roland machines (and have space for midi thru box and cables) and quite a lot of self-adhesive rubber..ehm…stuff. I did glue the small wooden parts together and fixed them with double sided tape (the stronger version) into the case. The machines are tight enough together (with some of this rubber stuff between) they stay in position mostly alone. As you can see, this is the maximum you can do with a case like this, not much space left 😂
Tabletop, hah. Sure i remember that. From retronyms. Which means it was never an absolutely polished/finished app 😉
LOL! Facts 💯! But for what it was, it was a nice app. A good predecessor to Gadget if you will. Your set-up is obviously more polished than any Retronym app, that's for certain.
Man that SQ-1 is such a huge studio tool for so cheap. I’ve had one for years and have used it in so many ways. The CV control is definitely very cool. I love effects that go above and beyond like that.
Regarding the Syntakt, I’ve heard the same. Did you sell the cycles? I know they can be powered with less. I had a Digitakt and Digitone combo and loved them both so I assume I’ll like the Syntakt as well. I wish I hadn’t sold the other 2 but it allowed me to try some other gear so I can really complain. I guess the combo of the 2 Roland’s can get in the vicinity and do a lot more besides but I’m actually a fan of the Elektron workflow and how weird they can get.
Too many decisions these days 😂
i was kinda obsessed with this project, if only most of my life would be so focussed and well organised like this case 😂
I can definitely relate, lol. Been obsessed with an OP-1 for years, and finally took the plunge on the Field. F--k the bills, lol. (Okay, so I financed through Zzounds so I can pay my bills, lol.)
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tabletop/id436080882
The field is quite interesting! I‘m happy that i never really looked into it‘s features etc otherwise i would probably do something dumb. JUST after i finished the case i stumbled over Cuckoos walkthrough of the tiny TE mixer and started to think, with this mixer i could use even more (or bigger) equipment in my case 😂 But i hate supertiny oled displays and it doesn‘t have para EQs, that quickly eliminated my thoughts.
@HotStrange
I was EXACTLY in the same boat. Had both Digis and it was a great couple,no doubt. Can‘t remember why exactly but there was something else (expensive i guess) i wanted to have so i let them go. I sold the cycles mainly because of that shitty display and cause the sum of the 6 tracks could get muddy (especially in the bass range) pretty easy and there was no way to counter this when using it „on the go“. Yes, with a 5k powerbank it can easy run 7-8h which was great
One more thing i love about the Rolands: faders! especially on the drummer it‘s a lot of fun to go nuts with it in a jam session
Nice setup.
But nobody asked you what your "Gadget" cost?
well, a bit more than the korg software, thats for sure 😉 It‘s an expensive hobby, i know…
I haven't played with this app in forever, and it's still available? 😗🎶 Just...gonna download that for later. (I'm totally not sleeping tonight, lol.)
Yeah, that mixer is pretty neat, but not for everyone for sure. Definitely not for me, but neither do I fault others who may like it/need it.
Thanks for the detailed response 🙏🏽. Just the type of info I was looking for. It’s between Bluebox, TX-6 and believe it or not, Rodecaster Pro 2 for my next mixer/interface.
I had to LOL at all those power banks, but otherwise that's REALLY nice. How much does it weigh?
I did something similar for some Elektron boxes years ago, and made my own case out of wood. Looked beautiful, weight a ton 😂 Your's looks great though, that's very well done and I love that kind of set up.
True that! I bought the Minilab3 over anything else in its range recently just because it also had faders. Mapping them to all 4 mix busses in koala is a blast!
The more i think about it the harder the decision seems lol. I was totally sold on the Syntakt but some of the videos on YouTube of people using the 101/tr6s together are fantastic. And they both can get pretty weird and gnarly. Also if i buy used it may end up being cheaper than a Syntakt 😂 this is still a few months away so no rush for me or anything but it definitely complicates things lol
I’ve been very tempted by OP1 Mk1 and MK2 since they’ve been out but I can’t bring myself to take the plunge yet. I’m sure I’d love it, but afraid I’d still have buyers remorse from sticker shock.
It’s still up there on top of my list of current GAS obsessions, along with Push 3, Iridium and Gotharman’s Little Deformer 3. So many great options in that price range!