S
Beautiful sound, too many bugs
Good parts:
- Beautifully gritty lo-fi sound
- Automation recording for parameters
- Nice little features and effects for jamming
- Compact size
Minor issues:
- Uploading your own kit is done over a clumsy app. You must set the sample markers for parts using a coarse UI with no zoom, meaning that you will need to send the kit several times before you get it right.
- Having to select the part by rotating a knob is cumbersome.
- The synth part is underwhelming and atonal, but then again, this is the case with most compact drum machines.
Major issues:
- All pitch and decay settings are forgotten when powering off, meaning you have to retune your kit every time you turn on the device. The manual says you should allow some time for auto-save after stopping the sequencer, but this seems to have no effect. Not sure if it's a bug or a feature.
- The shift button sometimes gets stuck in "on" mode (in software) after releasing it.
- Using the shift for global effects occasionally hangs the device, forcing a restart (and another retuning).
Showstoppers:
- It does not properly sync to MIDI. Everytime I tried syncing it to my RME, it played 1-2 bars in a jittery fashion and then stopped.
Conclusion: All tests were done with the latest firmware. I could live with other bugs because of the sound, but if I can't even play the thing with other gear, I have no choice but to return it.
- Beautifully gritty lo-fi sound
- Automation recording for parameters
- Nice little features and effects for jamming
- Compact size
Minor issues:
- Uploading your own kit is done over a clumsy app. You must set the sample markers for parts using a coarse UI with no zoom, meaning that you will need to send the kit several times before you get it right.
- Having to select the part by rotating a knob is cumbersome.
- The synth part is underwhelming and atonal, but then again, this is the case with most compact drum machines.
Major issues:
- All pitch and decay settings are forgotten when powering off, meaning you have to retune your kit every time you turn on the device. The manual says you should allow some time for auto-save after stopping the sequencer, but this seems to have no effect. Not sure if it's a bug or a feature.
- The shift button sometimes gets stuck in "on" mode (in software) after releasing it.
- Using the shift for global effects occasionally hangs the device, forcing a restart (and another retuning).
Showstoppers:
- It does not properly sync to MIDI. Everytime I tried syncing it to my RME, it played 1-2 bars in a jittery fashion and then stopped.
Conclusion: All tests were done with the latest firmware. I could live with other bugs because of the sound, but if I can't even play the thing with other gear, I have no choice but to return it.
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