Novation Circuit Rhythm Review: Worth the Hype?

My review of the Novation Circuit Rhythm, an old school sampler with a modern groovebox workflow. I show a bunch of the features like chromatic sample flipping, sample chopping, sampling synths, grid FX, and more.
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[GabeMillerMusic]

I filmed this before the device was announced, so I didn't know how it would be received. I know some of y'all were disappointed by it, and I was too when I read the spec sheet, but that disappointment went away once I used it nonstop for a couple of weeks. It's not for everyone, but I really like it.

[shapeshiftersmediagroup]

I'm late to the party but I ordered one today, sweet review dude. It helped convince me to get it. I still would love to see you review the Elektron Digitone!

[RonCavagnaro]

It's on my preorder. I have other samplers : deluge, octatrack, tracker. I'm totally excited to get the rhythm to be used as a drum machine type unit. I will be doing videos on it when I get mine!

[MGoolas]

Nice to see in the comments that people still considering the mpc 500. So many that really underestimate it

[crowfoot]

Rythm finally on the way. Will definitely be checking out more of your videos Gabe thanks.

[bluturtal]

Oh man, sold! Once I sell my old drum machine of course. Thanks for the detailed info. Very helpful.

[GaryRSpicer]

Definitely worth it. Especially with the 2.0 update, basically takes away the need to load grid effects. Lovely

[RoyWilding]

Not sold on this yet. I've been using the Tracks for a while now though and really like it. One annoyance though which I assume is common to both devices it that I wish empty patterns weren't coloured. An inactive pattern with data and blank pattern should be visibly delineated by making blank patterns the white pad colour or something.

[ho]

Came to this from Bo Beats. I am really considering it. I'm going through this playlist. Thanks for the work on this.

[UniversalHomeboy]

multi track over usb would be amazing as a feature. i'm sold on this device but that really needs to be added in a firmware update

[robertlee]

Great work on the vid. I see myself using this as a drum sequencer more than anything.

[dbrian]

These videos are great. Thanks for fleshing these things out in a clear and concise manner. I'm curious to see how well this plays with the Tracks. Really seems like you could have the Tracks act as the brain for a setup that includes the Rhythm and two synths if you wanted it to be.

[tooonyo]

just bought one of your pack for Rhythm : totally worth the money ❤️

[RichPLive]

The limitations VS the price point is a no brainer. They will develop this to a beast!! Can’t wait to get one

[Nothingspeshalwaysfresh]

Lol 222 seconds. I’m old as hell as we were stoked to get close to 30 seconds in the late 90’s.

Honestly I think the sample time is very generous as it forces you to select very particular sounds, effectively loading the most versatile and usable sounds you can instead of just dumping loads of samples on there.

[NhL]

Gabe: "it has just 222 secs of sample time ..."

Me, while in my early teens using an Ensoniq Mirage 8 bit 128kb sampler: "Wow ! That's more than 3 and a half minutes !!!"

[Hanoveur]

I sold my Circuit a week or so ago. So this looks to be about the same pain point I had.

The biggest problem for me is the friction of getting sounds onto it. It’s slow and really gets in the way of quick experimentation. Whereas every other groovebox lets me copy and paste directly onto the SD card which takes seconds instead of the many minutes it took me to make “packs” for the Circuit. The inability to write directly to the SD card from your computer just seems weird. I don’t want to sit around when I only have an hour to be creative.

I REALLY wanted to like it and the Circuit Rhythm. But sometimes I just wanted to noodle. I just didn’t want to have to put that much thought into it every time.

[MIXtofMusic]

Thanks for the video. Now I'm even more excited about it. 😊

[artofwebdesign]

Thanks. I think I 'm gonna get one. Like your comparison with Roland devices.

[sugaall]

Great video! For me, just looking at video reviews, it really looks like a super fun performance machine. It's a no brainer with the work flow and the ease of sound manipulation. I also see the limitations, with the limited sample time, the missing polyphony and timestretching. Its a real pity and I don't wanna justify it like a fan boy. I honestly don't like those decisions made by Novation. I just believe, that even despite its obvious limitations, its still a great and fun little box.