Let's Compare Groove Boxes Under $500...One Catch, They Must Have A Song Mode

I have been on a quest lately. I must find the perfect sampler...well, at least for me. Furthermore, that sampler must have a song mode. Since I collected a ton of data, I figured I would share my in-depth analysis on low and mid-range groove boxes and maybe in a month or two, I'll unveil which sampler I bought and whether I love or hate it.

Shout out to @cameraconspiracies. Check out his channel if you like camera's...and dry humor.

No DAWless users were harmed in the making of this video.

Teenage Engineering OP-Z

Novation Circuit Tracks

Novation Circuit Rhythm

Yamaha Seqtrak

Polyend Play

Sonicware Smpltrek

Buy Me A Coffee

0:00 Intro
2:59 Let’s Compare
6:01 Song Mode
6:55 Sampling
7:44 Synths
9:00 Inputs
9:46 Connectivity
10:20 Final Results

[The_artist_called_The_Engineer]

Great video. I have an Mc101 (surprised it and the 707 weren’t part of the comparison)and it’s the backbone of my setup, I do use it with a Daw so tend to do my song construction there, however scene chaining comes very close to song mode. I got a woovebox this week so the MC101’s days might be numbered and I’d love to get a SeqTrak but I don’t think it gives me a whole lot over the mc101.

[damelos]

What a great comparison video. Very informative and interesting. Lovin' the SEQTRAK and Polyend Play

[ahorseman]

You've put that together in such an entertaining way. Was fun to watch! Thanks!

[FatalExit]

Your videos have definitely helped make me feel that the SeqTrak is a hell of a good purchase for its price range. As someone who has primarily been working in DAWs for music production and composing for half my life, I've only started to recently warm to the idea of spending a lot of time away from the workstation having fun with making music in a different way. I hope to order one in March and I hope you enjoy your own one!

[CodingPhase]

Great channel bro 👍 this is the reason why youtube is amazing you never know when you going to bump in to a gem

[CausticCatastrophe]

i have recently encountered this exact problem.I love my daw, just want something to sketch song ideas. amazing in 2024 how hard it is to get poly chromatic sample playback and sampling into an instrument. Amazing when they dont have a song mode, and amazing when the memory and screens are so limited.
Thanks for putting together this comparison, its a lot of work.

[jLLy]

This was a really good comparison video. A rare treasure these days <3

[all.day.day-dreamer]

I actually have 3 of these devices, the Seqtrak, EP133 KO2 and the Circuit Tracks. The Seqtrak is very fragile feeling and extremely lightweight, but very, very easy to pick up and start using. I love it. The $399 price point is a steal, all day long. The Novation Circuit can be bought for $200+ off eBay. A lot of this stuff gets bought and never used. I'm starting to move away from DAW to Dawless. My old setup was 4 x Akai Fires + FL and it was a very powerful live setup. I even accepted a gig a few years back where they paid me a stupid amount of money. I'm hoping for something even more powerful than the Seqtrak but with better storage options here in the near future.

[ijazzmunki]

Brilliant video - I think your jaded tone is fully justified! I love Elektron gear but sold my Digitakt and Digitone - I loved them and made a lot of music on them but I always ended up recording everything in Ableton! I’m now thinking of getting a small groove box as I do enjoy working DAW-less but the cheaper ones have too many shortcomings and the expenditures ones are just way too expensive!

[Tuvalu]

Thank you so much for compiling those extensive comparison tables, that's priceless!

[Mahenounet]

Hi ! Used to own an MC-101 and I really considered there was a song mode but maybe my definition is not correct. You can definitely store a long sequence of scenes (64 I think ?) which are themselves clips (16*16*16*16 then) combinations ; do you can definitely make a very long song.

[Dagovernment]

I love my lofi 12, it's restrictions forced me out of my comfort zone and I found tricks to get patterns longer, but it's still lacking when getting a song with a middle 8 going. That being said I wouldn't change it, I think that's the beauty of groovebox's, all these different approaches to input method are fascinating and viewing them as individual instruments with their own quirks and restrictions I think is productive

[jukkauh]

Song mode was a memory-saving mechanism for drum machines which originated with the Linn LM-1 in *1980*. While modern sequencers have multitrack punch in/out or arranger-style clips, groove boxes are STILL MIRED IN SONG MODE *45 years later*. Holy cow! Indeed one can argue that song mode has captured and defined the entire EDM and hip-hop aesthetic. You may think of song mode as an "advancement", but I think it's a rut that musicians cannot escape.

[echobenav]

Very helpful video, thanks for making! Ended up choosing a Seqtrak and love it. Perfect travel companion. After using it awhile with the app, you can use it pretty much stand alone. Works great with an MPK Mini or similar.

[MathHammer]

You live in Houghton? Do you teach at Michigan Tech or something? We visited there with our oldest and he got into the school but decided to go to University of Minnesota, Twin Cities instead. Now he is a Ph.D. student at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. We left MN in 2016 for the West Coast and a new role for me in Silicon Valley.

[synthsoniq]

Great video.  Thanks.  I have a Circuit Tracks and I love it.  It's super simple to use for quick grooves, but if you learn its in's and out's, it's actually a lot more powerful than it seems on the surface.  Just as an example, a single pad in a pattern can hold 16/32 steps, but you can pre-chain them before you hit record to have a pattern up 256 steps (32 steps x 8 connected pads).  Or you can use them in combos, for example a 16 step pattern, a 64 step pattern, and a 160 step pattern all on the same track.  Bringing live audio from external synths into the audio path and processing that audio through the effects and sidechain along with the internal sounds is also super useful.  I've heard good things about most of the products you went through, you probably can't go wrong with any of them, and a lot of it just comes down to personal preference.  Cool video!

[mrdavrosjipo]

korg esx1 is my favorite machine had lots but wont sell it ever. would love an updated esx1 not an elctribe 2 thay suck

[NathanChisholm]

I've got a Roland Sh 4D and a Polyend Play hooked up together and it's a blast...

[Xaverix]

Ableton Move is out, wonder how it compares

[RafaelRyvaa]

I have the opportunity to buy an Roland MC101 or Seqtrack, what you think it's worth more as a beginner who wants to chill and learn to make some beats?
The Roland mc101 looks more robust, but the Seqtrack built in mic, price and instruments sound Worth it too.