Yeah! I know the last project took a lot of space on the channel but I had a lot of fun :) I have a few cool things lined up for the channel though. We are back to the usual stuff! Thanks
Did I hear that right? You never messed around with a circuit before?! Man my og circuit was what got me into playing hardware jams. Got me away from my phone and computers. It's actually imo the perfect thing for someone who never really did anything like that before. I was a multi instrumentalist who never really ever sequenced a synth or whatever before the circuit. Now I have all sorts of stuff and I dont use it as much, but I mean it still has some uses. It makes an interesting sequencer in general
Same here: I stumbled onto an OG Circuit, never having used a Groovebox before. 2 weeks later, I had a dozen tracks on it and loved making music away from my computer / DAW so much, I dropped hundreds of dollars into more advanced Grooveboxes and might buy more. It literally changed the way I approached music creation now. Haven't had this much fun since learning the Guitar as a Teenager.
Why can't these modern samplers have a decent amount ram or disc streaming. I don't understand why they are always so limited. Even the MPC which I love I'm always checking the memory. Your bog standard iPhone can handle samples better the these boxes.
What I don't get is why even have built in sampling at all, just make it a simple Midi Controller and the price would be so much cheaper. Your PC or Laptop is gunna negate all the latency issues from having the device store samples -- just let Reason or Ableton handle the samples....
@@mana_beast_beats1114 These devices already exist in the MPC Studio mk2 or Maschine Mikro mk3 which are both $269. There's a certain level of creativity that comes from being forced to think outside of the box when you're faced with hardware limitations. The whole point of a groove box is to get away from a computer anyways.
I feel like everyone is waiting for that one piece of gear that's going to do it all or do everything for them its like.. a piece of gear is what it is and it's all about the musician or producer to take it and find what you werent really supposed to do with it. Theres always soooo much more you can do with an instrument when you get rid of the idea of what it's supposed to do you can find what it's really capable of
Great review -- thank you. The odd quantization on the Circuit Tracks was the reason I sold it and got an MPC One (based on your review). I couldn't be happier with the MPC.
Thank you for this great review. Especially about the grid feature. I don't understand why companies still not really care about quantization which I think it would be the first mission when we talk about the "rhythm". Trust me it's so obvious you're playing something different what the device playedback. It's nonsense. Please Nova do an update for this. By the way what you guys suggesting standalone or not groovebox/d.m whit really unquantised grid?
Sometimes i wonder why the hell companies limit their devices. I mean samples only mono and stuff like that. Dont get me wrong i like limitations but it is a device made in 20/21 and it should not be the problem when it comes to the technical side. Take a phone and apps for 20 bucks and you can do more?!? hope my english isn‘t that bad :/ nice video as always 👍
It’s an interesting device but compared to an MPC One it’s just overpriced. If Novation combined the features of the Tracks and the Rhythm in one device , for the same price, that would probably be fair: 2 basic synth tracks (for which you need the components editor), limited polyphony, no display to show patch or sample names, no display of macro values (a real pain if you want to recreate a dialled in sound) , dreadful sample saving time… As the circuits are now, they are really only worth half the price.
The guy who designed original Oliver left Novation...I think if he had been around the mk 2s may have been a bit more of a leap forward as 33 sample time was the total on og ...I realise that you get that per track now....but I'm a little disappointed as love the workflow...
@@AccurateBeats hey even though it had problems, those problems didn’t stop anybody from enjoying the Roland SP 404 (sx or a), and the Circuit Rhythm is cheaper than the SP ($579 CAD for the Circuit Rhythm vs $750 CAD for the SP 404 a)
Interesting! The microstep quantizing problem is the exact same problem I had with the model samples. However no matter the tempo, I never have that problem with the mc101, unquantized is always accurate for some reason; probably a trick with polyphony that Roland figured out and nailed it. Now I'm spoiled by the mc101 sequencer I think... If only it handled samples better
I think they will, CALC said something like "the FX we have at the moment" which might point to the fact that we're going to have more updates and Tracks already got updated with double the storage sampling capability. We might see some cool updates for Rhythm in the future.
@@yovngra that's the performance fxs if you watch the Anderson's video one of the developers is there and he definitely said more performance fx will be coming...just not different reverb n delay 😉🙌
I recommend Gabe Miller's review for some more in-depth info from a experienced Circuit user. Acurate's and Gabe's reviews together showed me the real power of this thing.
Oh circuits are the most fun 😹 would love this, own 2 og circuits n kaoss DJ great fun! However having Force n MPC I doubt I will get this.....but if you ever want to sell it Accurate 😉🙌
Yupp! It IS a lot of fun to use! I think it’s a great product for previous circuits users that doesn’t have a bunch of samplers. For a sample heavy workflow though… There are options :) Thanks for watching Inky, I always appreciate your support!
Can you record unquantized fingerdrumming via the resample feature like you can on a 404? I’ve waited for info on this thing for so long hoping it would be a good replacement for a 404 for live beat playback but it’s just another drum machine. Cool little box for someone starting out tho
It might not be truly unquantized, strictly speaking, but it's still pretty damn close. If each step is a 1/8 note, then each microstep is a 1/48 note, or 48hz at 60bpm, right? Wouldn't that be audible as a pitch, rather than as individual notes? Am I missing something?
You might be right but the little demo thing I did with the sequencer set to 1/8 notes in 90bpm speaks for itself in my book. The notes I play and the notes that gets recorded aren’t the same and then I don’t really feel That I can trust it for live recording. I’m odd like that, I know… I just couldn’t skip over that in the video 😜 A big problem? Nah, not really
@@AccurateBeats This move shows integrity and I found it very helpful. Live recording beats is something a monophonic unit needs to master 100% to have a place. A dealbreaker for many I’m sure. There are heaps of useless influencers clapping their hands for anything.
@@AccurateBeats I think might be right, too. There could be any number of things in the circuitry or code that could change things. We could talk about the math and theory all we want, but at the end of the day, we just have to trust our own ears.
Mono samples, no polyphony (even on midi out) and the same old effects. They build one good machine in two parts, and skipped out important bits on each so you'd want both at a higher profit margin.
Thnx a lot, since this "microstep quantization" really puts me off... ouch, since it is almost an ideal machine for me on paper.....😢 Could you name me alternatives..... Having done a lot with synths and such, but wanting more experience in a "direct-sampling/resampling/unquantized sequencing instrument" thats fun and direct to use. [at first, for beats/rhythmic textures, secondly, able to make (monophonic) melodies would be great...] Thnx a lot again!
Before I put the new update on mine the sampling saving time used to save straight away but now it takes a few seconds ...how much gbs or ram does the rhythm have ? I can find it anywhere I know most mpcs have 2 gb to 4
I really wanted to like this and the Tracks but couldnt get into it. Im an Elektron user and found myself more furstrated even though it theoretically is great. Not sure why, I struggled to remember how to do things so it didnt feel natural. Again, Im an Elektron user so maybe Im just used to their workflow. I had to sell my Tracks cuz it never urged me to use it much.
I love the rhythm but it's not easy getting the drums to sound the way I want from the unit I need to run my tracks into a multitrack and add eq compression ect I wish I could do it straight on the unit but it's really fun and addictive to use I'm about to upgrade to an mpc but will never get rid of the circuit rhythm
I was waiting for this one before buying an MPC one. Guess I’ll have to go with the MPC. The quantized microsteps and the monophonic playback for key mode is kind of a bummer for me. Thx Accurate
Whoa the MPC blows this outta the water by far. You can't compare a Circuit to an MPC especially after seeing what Circuit MkII turned out to be. Just If you're not familiar the MPC workflow don't give up right away. It pays off when you figure it out and all the tools you get.
@@Hhyperspace I come from Ableton and my computer doesnt stop crashing even tho i ve changed the ram and the motherboard, that's why i m looking into standalone samplers. Since I got my new PC doing beats has become stressing lol
@@philippeedwards5813 That definitely doesn't sound exciting especially the part that it's your New PC. I feel your pain. Not to get into it to much but I would guess it's a driver issue or maybe the ram not installed the right order. Anyways Goodluck and I'm sure a new MPC would turn that frown upside down.
i love the rhythm its fun easy to use and does everything u would need a basic sampler to do the only thing that bothers me is the mono sound if it was stereo it would have made it the perfect sampler for me nothing else with it really bothers me well an eq would be nice either for seprete tracks or a master eq ..i can see them adding master eq to grid effects same with time strech you can actully do time strech technotix does a video on it but it doent quite record the way u want it to. because of micro steps. and chords aint really a problem as u can make chord progressions using diffrent tracks for diffrent notes then u can resample it its defo the best sampler in the price range but i think the new ko2 has more to offer but it has its issues and its not as fun
I am so glad I found your channel. Very helpful. I would like to ask your opinion for someone that is just starting out and wanting to experiment with making sounds and music, not necessarily professionally but seeing if I might like it. do you have any thoughts on what to start with? I was looking at the new roland aira t-8, j-6 and e-4 series but someone said this novation would be better. It seems a bit complicated. I am interested in more electro minimal techno kind of sound. Thank you.
this machine lowkey samples like the PO-33 (monophonic, chromatic, autochops & chopping w knobs) i agree, novation is likely to do include unquantized in future firmware updates
Thank for watching :) Right, there are limitations with this one that really affects the overall usefulness of it… But I stuck to my words: it’s cool for what it is
Thanks for your review. Saw your Instagram post about it and came here to watch. Now I’m kind of underwhelmed…. 8 sample tracks but no chords!?! What !?! Why!?? Maybe a used Korg Electribe Sample could be more interesting… for similar money…
The electribe is definitely more powerful than this for the same money, but it’s a quirky machine. I loved mine but there’s some frustrating things that were never fixed. Chief among them trying to play chords results in a popping sound some of the time. It doesn’t have true poly mode just 4 note paraphony but that’s still pretty useful.
@@chaoticnewt5902 yeah, maybe I wasn’t clear enough on the fact that the workflow is pretty straight forward. The electribe isn’t as easy to understand and thereby less fun (to me). But sure… The functionality is there :)
That’s a valid point! But the overall workflow is also a big thing and I honestly think that the Rhythm is easier to use, overall. Underwhelmed doesn’t seem crazy. I’m impressed by some things about the Rhythm but again… Not a powerhouse
@@chaoticnewt5902 Good to know. There must be a reason why these Electribes never caught on the way the early 2000s Electribes did. I'll continue to ignore it then :)
Thanks! I loved making this video and get back to my “normal” content :) Yeah, there are a few stuff missing here that I’d love to see. Maybe a future update will enhance it? Who knows 😛
@@Gainn agreed, it would make it an ideal drum machine/sequencer combo to sequence and sample something like a desktop synth. Would be a very powerful and small setup. Hopefully they'll add polyphonic midi down the line, as that I assume is a software only limitation.
Looks like a nead little piece of gear, but nothing to special. And i got 4 samplers already..so no need for this one. By the way, there's quite a few good options, when you looking for a small groovebox/sampler and you don't want to spend too much money.
That’s right! There are a few smaller devices around nowadays that really makes music making approachable for a lot of people. I love that! We haven’t seen the perfect piece of gear just yet though.
Point of order at around 9:58. If the Circuit Rhythm is anything like the Circuit Tracks, you can play and record notes off-grid. It's shift+rec to toggle grid quantise on the OG Circuit, Circuit Tracks and, I'm assuming, Circuit Rhythm.
@@p.ii.5104 No. He is talking about the unquantized mode all along. Many machines handle unquantized mode with ratchets. His beef is that you can still hear it at those particular resolutions. I'm sure he didn't forget to turn on the unquantized mode.
@@p.ii.5104 Yes. Basically, it can do all of the traditional things a sampler can do, except for time-stretching. But you could record a loop and use the super fast slicing to map it out to 16 steps then play around with the tempo of the sequence and that would be an easy workaround. It would be interesting to see how it ends up sounding.
You can say that about a lot of instruments. Each Circuit is super powerful and only costs 400 bucks!!! Of course they don't want one to offer too many functions of the other. Give this awesome company with creative accessible products and constant customer-responsive software updates a break!
@@TROGULAR10000 I do not like that approach at all, I rather buy one that has it all built in for $800. I would love to see that dawless hardware that has all the knobs that you want and need and the synth sounds you need and a super easy plug and play with other synths without any real knowledge and menu diving, they guys who deliver a lot easier plug and play solutions and integrations will win, if its easy for me to add gear use to the products I will buy it tomorrow even if it will cost me $5000. I need that perfect hub that you can bring with you and create full songs like with the Mv1 and add more synths and gear to it that syncs in a very easy way when I need more and new sounds.
@@magnuseriksson8081 Yes, there is a lot of room for new and more powerful all-in-one standalone DAWS. My guess is we'll see more of these machines in the years to come. Problem is for designers everyone's got their own version of what the ideal one might be. I would love one that combines a fully-weighted full-size splittable keyboard, a sampler very much like the Circuit Rhythm (although with time stretching and better unquantized mode), a analog synths exactly like the Circuit Monostation, a basic polysynth like the Volca Keys, and a rompler like the Yamaha reface CP and reface organ. In a nice roadworthy case and with some connectivity to my eurorack. I would instantly pay 5000 dollars for that.
@@AccurateBeats The CR $400 is decent for what you get but I would def recommend someone spend a little more for the Force. If you find a used one for ~$700 it's well worth it especially with the updates coming soon; it just keeps getting better!
the whole point of this product line is to do away with the display. They have done really cool things with the pads. You can read tempo and even words on them.
Glad to see you reviewing this. As far as samplers go have you used the digitakt or have any thoughts on it? I know there are a ton of videos out there on it but I haven’t found a lot of hip hop centric ones.
so this guantize vs unquantize thing, did you manage to confirm what their intention was. The OG got quantization off as an update as far as I remember
It's the whole point of the Circuit line. The pads give you numerical readout of tempo and words. You could extend this no-screen paradigm to a much more powerful sampler and I hope someone does it one day.
Is it only monophonic per channel? or the entire machine is monophonic? I need to be able to play say a drumbeat on ch1 and tap out some samples in time with it on channel 2 Is it capable of that, or can only play one sample at a time?
It occured to me that you are one of the few people on RU-vid who used both the Elektron Model:Samples and the Circuit Rhythm. What's your take on comparison between the two?
Oh, that's a good question. They are pretty similar in functionality but I'd absolutely say that the Circuit Rhythm is the superior one. The pads are way better, the sequencer is more fun and since you're able to record samples it's way more powerful in a production environment. Model: Samples is a worse version of the Digitakt in my book and I actually don't even have mine setup anymore... Circuit Rhythm all the way!
It def looks fun for noodling. But for something called Rhythm, the poor unquantizing will quickly get annoying. Also these old fx will generate generic sounding music up the yin yang. Something Novation painfully demonstrates on their channel.
The one feature I was really hoping for was an ADSR for each sample. A bit disappointed with what the Rhythm is at the moment. That said, Novation are a proactive company, so we'll see what they do in the future. Great to see you looking so well Mr Beats.
The SD card doesn't increase sample time, rather, it increases storage, so that you can access, create, and save thousands of Projects, synth patches, and samples on the Cirucit Rhythm.
@@NovationTV Can I put stems into circuit tracks? Say each one is 2 bar loop. I guess 33 seconds / 8*2bar would be just one full loop. Can I load new loop instantaneously? One song would take 500-1Gb in such config? would it be possible?
I see the sampling issues are the same as the Roland MV-1. I was told by a Roland rep to use smaller samples. Because it takes so long to edit sample start and end points .on long samples . I was like um. I don’t have to do that on my Roland mv8000 or 404. I sent it back 😂😂😂
