H/W sequencers?

Nolanger

Do they still make hardware midi sequencers to control a synth? What is the best/cheapest one to get? Or is a secondhand one the only option?

splitrmx

The MPC series is probably the most popular one currently in production. I use an MPC1000, it's a good midi sequencer, the midi clock is a lot more precise than Logic 8.

Sequentix have started production on their latest sequencer, the Cirklon: http://www.sequentix.com/cirklon.htm
Sequentix's previous sequencer, the P3, was supposedly amazing although I never used one myself. A friend had one and he loved it. The Cirklon is being made in limited numbers though, you'd need to ask to get on the waiting list, it's also not cheap, in the 1300 Euro range.

As for second hand stuff, the Yamaha RM1x is supposed to be pretty decent.

Polygon_window

Genoqs Sequencers
Doepfer Maq 16
Analogue solutions europa
Analogue solutions Oberkorn
Doerpfer dark time
Schittmacher

The cirklon is circa 1500 euro with shipping, there was a waiting list but as of now there are units available
All of the above are quality, personally id go Schitmacher or cirlklom, the genoqs stuff is great but i think there are none left only on special order!

splitrmx

Genoqs have declared bankruptcy in Germany so I doubt they're making any more of them.

krd

There's the Roland groove boxes

But there's also the weird small label boxes. There's a forum - which I can't remember the name of just on these boxes. If I had the money and space, I'd buy loads of them. They're like robots - they're a little bit alive. They're a pain in the ass to integrate into a DAW.

Polygon_window

splitrmx wrote: »

Genoqs have declared bankruptcy in Germany so I doubt they're making any more of them.

no if you ask nicely and wait you can get one, however, your shelling out a lot of dosh for a somewhat supported item if anything happens and needs a fix but they also say they have people who can fix them, you will probably have to pay the costs though! Best sequencers out there though!!

splitrmx

Polygon_window wrote: »

no if you ask nicely and wait you can get one, however, your shelling out a lot of dosh for a somewhat supported item if anything happens and needs a fix but they also say they have people who can fix them, you will probably have to pay the costs though! Best sequencers out there though!!

They're pretty good but I wouldn't call them the best sequencers out there. The main problem with the Genoqs is that its timing is off, which for a sequencer is pretty bad news as the one thing you want it to be is in time! In master mode its midi clock isn't in time with the midi notes it sends, and in slave mode its midi notes is even more out of time with whatever master clock its receiving.

The OS also has quite a few bugs and there's been no official OS release or bug fixes since 2009.

Nolanger

krd wrote: »

There's the Roland groove boxes
[/I]

I have the MC303. If anyone here can tell me how to get it to play a Roland keyboard synth it would save me from having to buy a 'proper' sequencer?

splitrmx

Nolanger wrote: »

I have the MC303. If anyone here can tell me how to get it to play a Roland keyboard synth it would save me from having to buy a 'proper' sequencer?

http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/MC-303_OM.pdf

Polygon_window

splitrmx wrote: »

They're pretty good but I wouldn't call them the best sequencers out there. The main problem with the Genoqs is that its timing is off, which for a sequencer is pretty bad news as the one thing you want it to be is in time! In master mode its midi clock isn't in time with the midi notes it sends, and in slave mode its midi notes is even more out of time with whatever master clock its receiving.

The OS also has quite a few bugs and there's been no official OS release or bug fixes since 2009.

Rubbish the timing is as tight as you'll get
For a midi sequencer, I got an octopus and
It's class, nothing touches it and I've used
Many of the ones I listed, the schittmacher
Is very good too!!

splitrmx

Polygon_window wrote: »

Rubbish the timing is as tight as you'll get
For a midi sequencer, I got an octopus and
It's class, nothing touches it and I've used
Many of the ones I listed, the schittmacher
Is very good too!!

I also own an Octopus also and have done extensive testing and worked with guys to test some OS upgrades they did a few years ago. The latest OS isn't as bad as 1.4 but its midi clock signal is currently always 518 samples (when measuring in 44.1khz) behind its midi notes.

Compare this to an Akai MPC 1000 doing the same thing, the Akai's midi clock is only 124 samples behind the midi notes, which isn't really noticeable, but the Octopus' lag can be heard quite easily. This is all documented by a few people in the Yahoo mailing list. Some guys there have been trying to write their own OS versions (as the OS is open source) but the midi clock lag hasn't been fixed yet unfortunately. You can read more about it on the Genoqs forum here: http://www.genoqs.com/index.php?option=com_joomlaboard&Itemid=59&func=view&id=1013&catid=5

It's a good sequencer but timing wise the MPC 1000 is better.

If you're not slaving any midi clock devices to the Octopus, or not using it as a midi slave then you probably won't notice any timing problems as all its own notes are in time with each other, it's just its notes and midi clock together is has problems with which is a shame.

Polygon_window

splitrmx wrote: »

I also own an Octopus also and have done extensive testing and worked with guys to test some OS upgrades they did a few years ago. The latest OS isn't as bad as 1.4 but its midi clock signal is currently always 518 samples (when measuring in 44.1khz) behind its midi notes.

Compare this to an Akai MPC 1000 doing the same thing, the Akai's midi clock is only 124 samples behind the midi notes, which isn't really noticeable, but the Octopus' lag can be heard quite easily. This is all documented by a few people in the Yahoo mailing list. Some guys there have been trying to write their own OS versions (as the OS is open source) but the midi clock lag hasn't been fixed yet unfortunately. You can read more about it on the Genoqs forum here: http://www.genoqs.com/index.php?option=com_joomlaboard&Itemid=59&func=view&id=1013&catid=5

It's a good sequencer but timing wise the MPC 1000 is better.

If you're not slaving any midi clock devices to the Octopus, or not using it as a midi slave then you probably won't notice any timing problems as all its own notes are in time with each other, it's just its notes and midi clock together is has problems with which is a shame.

hmm fair enough, i don't use it in such a way so i didn't notice, still the best around in my humble opinion!!!!!