Deluge, a portable sequencer, synthesizer and sampler
github.com
github.com
Like most users who drop that kind of money on outboard, all I really wanted here was the 8x16 Sequencer/Sampler for controlling my CV and MIDI synths and drum machines, at maybe a $500-600 pricepoint.
There are plenty of far cheaper 'grooveboxes' for DAW-less fun like the cheaper Roland TR range for those who want instant gratification, and even premium offerings like Teenage Engineering have. Still, I'm very glad this exists.
As a result I've cheaped out and when not using my beatstep to control the stuff via my DAW I have a Korg SQ64 but its a bit unintuitive flow-wise in terms of live jamming. I end up just using my TR-8S with the 2600 or 303 side-chained through it.
Analog 4, Analog Heat, Analog Rytm...
Ableton Push 3 allows you to send four CV signals using the footswitch jacks, and for roughly the same price as the Deluge I'd probably go for that given its value proposition: a full i3-1115G4 processor w/ 8GB of RAM and over 2 hours battery life, plus native audio interface.
(I'd love if there was a cheap digital version of patching using e.g. I2S and with 1 sample delay per node, but no such thing.. )
On the price/features criteria, I believe the Akai MPC One remains supreme. Others are superior in some areas, but as a versatile "do-it-all box" it is astonishing value for 700€.
Yes, a DAW has the same ability for less money (not including the computer one may already possess), but the ergonomics are a major part of what makes those Linux boxes feel like a music instrument.
That's what's special about the "audio" category though. People's brains turn off. The price of an iPhone 14 Max!
But maybe it lets you tap into those latent feelings, "What would it have been like if I had gone to Eastman?"
> premium offerings like Teenage Engineering have
They have like 4/30 non-audio products. Look at them, and feel the magic evaporate. I can only speak to their SFF PC case, it is notoriously bad. Of course their stuff is beautiful, but so are Braun watches, Hay furniture, etc. I am not sure what these product categories tap into emotionally that phones haven't figured out how to yet.
looks at my elektron gear sheepishly
Although saying that, I'd imagine I could get very easily into Eventide FX outboard if I let myself lol
I don't think the people behind Deluge BitTorrent Client will sue or even particularly mind that someone else uses the name. But it's a confusing thing for different programs to be named the same thing. For the sake of the users, more than anything, a different name should be considered. If no alternate name is possible, consider using the development team in junction with the program name. I.e., similar to how the Adobe suite works. They don't usually call it just "Illustrator", but instead "Adobe Illustrator".
In this case, it could be called "Synthstrom Deluge" instead.
As a further comment, the problem of naming things in a global namespace is an unsolvable problem. All you can do is try to be polite and avoid causing problems to yourself and others as much as possible, but in the end, lots of people will inevitably be disappointed. It's a case of minimizing discomfort rather than reaching a solution where everyone is happy.
It's a piece of hardware. This is the firmware for that device.
Nonetheless, the problem of naming things actually stands. Trademark law aside, imagine if you tried to make a program like a torrent client called "Volvo". Names exist in a global namespace, and things will collide, and that's bad for everyone involved.
Had I made the original hardware product, I would have named it the "Synthstrom Deluge" to avoid this problem.
From a human perspective they sometimes do, but that can lead to excellent comedy, like the computer-vs-cleaning device question when the term "VAX" used to come up. I'll take comedy over a very inhuman insistence on a global namespace.
Grooveboxes are essentially clip-launchers; they were basically incepted as a sort of sample-less Akai MPC utilising a built-in ROMpler and some basic Synthesis, some FX, and 'contemporary' presets to lure in people fiddling around in music stores - e.g. the MC-303 or to take it to its absurd conclusion, the DJ-XII.
The interactivity thereafter is about launching clips on the fly and fiddling with the resonance and cut-off for a lead sequence, and riding that master FX ping-pong delay like your life depended on it. The Dunning-Kruger DAW if you will.