Novation Circuit - Should you buy it? - Review
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- Опубліковано 25 лют 2016
- Interested in buying the Circuit? You can use my Thomann code and support me in the process: thmn.to/thoprod/512775?offid=...
OR use Sweetwater: imp.i114863.net/0kgRJ
My review of the Novation Circuit. I wanted to make a more personal video this time. I hope you can forgive me and my daughter for the disturbances.
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Thomann: thmn.to/thoprod/512775?offid=...
Sweetwater: imp.i114863.net/0kgRJ
Perfect Circuit: bit.ly/circuittracksPC
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I'm so glad your daughter pressed a button and I could finally hear the built in speaker! :)
"yes, yes.... you will have a sandwich later". Holy shit, mate, I laughed so hard.
I just got mine today. You're a big reason why I finally decided to get one. I've been playing with it as non-stop as possible for the past couple of hours and I'm loving. So far it's my favorite piece of music gear I currently own. Thanks for the excellent videos.
+Stephen Karnes glad I could be of help mate. Keep rocking!!
Good review, thanks. And nice job keeping on focus when the little one showed up. Well done :)
Awesome review! I like how it was helpful and relaxed at the same time. Great work, man!
Thanks Ryan, glad I could be of service
All questions I've had about the circuit were answered in this video. Thank you very much!
Loved your video so much! I laughed so hard with how cool you handled the interruption from your daughter :D Good points also
Thanks mate! Glad you like the video, I will pass it along to my daughter. she needs to know how awsome her father is :-D
+BoBeats Lol
I don't have a Novation Circuit yet, but your point about inspiration and having that instant spark and positive feeling that rolls in to creativity, really rings true.
I love the way you are passionate about synths, but still manage to have a 'real-home'-lifestyle. I have the same passion and have little kids on my own. I think we found the true meaning of life ;-) Cheers!
Awesome take on the Circuit, I love the inspirational element to it, it never features (yet) in any of my tracks but it keeps my juices flowing away from the studio. I also use it in a therapeutic music group I run for mental health
+martin borrick thanks Martin! And great that you use it in your therapy work mate.
i got mine a month ago, i love it im really glad i got it the more i use it them more i find it does and always end up with something new and unique eerytime i create something
Cool! Glad you enjoy it mate
Nice review! Thank you for the overview. :)
+Nupfi - Катзеnmusic Thank you!
many thanks for this, really helped me understand this little gem, but looking forward to your review after the new firmware update.
You are so right! Need to update this review for sure! Thanks for pointing that out and I am glad you like it.
I'm new to your channel. Thank you for the decision-making aid.
+FIMKATUBE you are most welcome!!
DUDE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO!
Thanks man! Glad you like it! :)
The Circuit has attracted me for many months. I have rejected it completely, come back to it and so on. Today I ordered one.
Why? I prefer playing a pad synth to a keyboard. Novation Circuit has a liquid and aery sound pallette. I'm into deep house slightly more than lofi hip hop. It is battery powered. It has delicious coloured lights.
Not sure if my first comment showed up. The yt-comment section is horrible to work with. The way you play the Circuit is definitely different from a keyboard. I like to switch between the two working modes. Thank you for the feedback.
I love how you made your first videos. Maybe do it from the kitchen some time again. Put the synth almost in the sink. Haha.
Thank you for your honest review. I got the Circuit and it is great. It is limited, but it is indeed one of its strengths. It is easy to get a beat going. Also the 1.3 patch is awesome.
Thanks Frans-Paul! I am glad if it helped you in some way =)
Sure did!
I agree with your assessment. It is wonderful as an easy, portable, immediate, idea generator that goes with you. OR.. it plays really nicely with a larger set up too. It's a great little machine. I love mine.
+Matt Greer Love mine too! Thank you for your contributing your thoughts sir.
I bought the Circuit today. The Update 1.4 + the low price before the NAMM 2017 made it irresistible to me. Looking forward to dive in to your beginner friendly tutorials. 😃
Welcome to the Circuiteers! What did you pay for it if you dont mind me asking? I hope you will enjoy it!
280€ offline at Just Music store. It's not that cheap because we have a latent "price conspiracy" among the music stores in Germany. =D
its about the same price as in Sweden =) but a good price for sure
👍👍👍 AMAZING Review !!
Thanks mate!
Your review has helped me decide to buy a Circuit!
Yes you will have a sandwich later, I laughed so hard at this part! Respect for keeping your focus throughout lol
Thank you Paul :) I could have cut it out, but it is a bit funny.
+BoBeats no bro leave all those bits it makes it real and viewers realise your taking time out of your day/life which is appreciated!
Thanks Paul! Appreciate it.
Great review! I'm currently am on the fence because I want to purchase a straightforward easy to use sample based drum machine and I'm debating on whether or not to purchase the Novation circuit or the Korg electribe 2. I woud like make full-length songs on the unit but i would also like it to go indepth with my production. I'm leaning towards the electribe but in your opinion which one is better ?
I think that for what you want to do the Electribe 2 has the upper hand. You can definitely make full songs on the Circuit but it only has 2 synths 4 drum channels where the Electribe 2 has 16 which gives it a lot more flexibility when it comes to building a song. But the Circuit got an amazing synth editor so you can go real deep on the sounds if you want to!
Are you talking about a video on the Circuit showing this?
If you want to you can check out my Finder Drumming tutorial. It doesnt show how to load samples but it does show a lot of what you ask about. I will hopefully get time on my hands soon to do more structured videos on these functions, but I think the Finger Drumming Tutorial will show you some of it.
Thanks for the review. Very helpful. Do you know if it is possible to program a song in 3/4 or 6/8 time signatures?
Since you have pattern length from 1-16 steps per pattern it should be possible yes. I am just totally crap at doing those kind of calculations. But I know that others had done different time signatures. My best advice is to ask at Circuit Owners Forum over on Facebook. There are definitely people more knowledgeable about this over there.
Thanks so much!
FYI, I just downloaded the user manual and found the answer (on page 48). You're correct... it is possible to program any number of steps between 1 and 16. Here is the link in case others have the same question. us.novationmusic.com/circuit/circuit/support-downloads Thanks again!
Great review! :D
Thank you mate! :D
NMS Awesome Review, Thank you
Hey Bo if you could answer as soon as possible i would appreciate it, youre one of the people who know about Circuit best (to me) on here it seems so i just got mine yesterday afternoon from guitar center, the last one, paid full price, sweet.
However, it came with everything EXCEPT for the Ableton Code (No big deal right since i already have abelton lite, logic, garage band) but it didn't come with the bundle code.
I checked a few videos and the packaging seems different, did they update the boxes? Remove the need for the code? Or did someone just take that item out of the box because if so I'm going back tomorrow and getting my money back and i would hate to do that because it does work fine and seems really fun to tweak and stuff, i just don't want to actually NEED that stuff to have a good time so what do i do?
I am not exactly sure which bundle code you are referring to, but I suppose you should contact Novation and ask. Or join "Novation Circuit Owners Forum" on facebook and ask there (it's a group). I wish I had a better answer for you mate but I am not sure.
BoBeats okay well, let me ask a bit more specific then. What did your Circuit come with? Did you ever register it or enter the serial numbers and stuff or did you just take it out and that's the end of that? Because my box seems like it was missing the pamphlet when you open it.
Oh I think I got a key for Ableton and registration card (or did I use the serial number?) I can't really remember mate. This was way back in february. I am sorry that I can not help you :/
love this review, natural.xx
+Faye Clive thank you so much!!
But i think what every viewer of this video is interested in the most: did she get her sandwich later? :D
Nice video btw ;)
I think this thing will make a good campanion to my Mininova to jam to and to get me finally make some music again.
+darxkai She did, eventually, get her sandwich. But what she really wanted was left over cake from her birthday party. Glad you liked it!
have you tried this with eurorack gear before wonder how it would work via midi or midi cv converter?
I know that some people do this. I have seen it so try UA-cam searching for Circuit and Modular and see if you can find someone.
I love my Circuit! So much so, I’m getting a second one.
I just brought this thing, I'm having trouble recording Circuit's builtin sounds into Cubase 8.
How can u do that with Circuit and Cubase?
You need a soundcard in between the Circuit and the computer. Do you have that?
Hi, yeah I figured it out :)
Great! Now we can look forward to some awsome recordings!
Bo, I own one of these and the newest firmware rocks, but is still has a major flaw/limitation IMHO. I Don’t know if you have any contacts at Novation, but what this device really needs is an expanded way to chain patterns... something like this: Hold down Shift and then tap the pattern order (with the ability to add duplicates)... So in pattern chaining mode you could (for synth one, for example) do the following: Shift+1, Shift+2, Shift+2, Shift+3 ...and the pattern chain for synth one would be 1, 2, 2, 3... get it? (By 1, 2, 2, 3...I mean the pattern Blocks 1, 2, 2, 3 of course) Allowing people to do this would make the circuit(s) capable of complete songs. Of course, something like Shift+Clear+(any pattern block in a given instrument) would be needed to clear the pattern chain memory for that instrument.
Heck, they could even use that 6 level brightness trick to indicate how many duplicates/loops a single pattern block has before it will go to the next cell. The added advantage is that they could have chains over 6 patterns long (and no just ones in order). It would still be limited to only 6 unique patterns per instrument, but by having better/longer chaining, that limitation would not be nearly as arduous.
Also by using Shift Novation can keep the original chaining programming methodology so as to not lose any functionality.
Anyway, what do you think? (or does this unit have some new advanced chaining that I somehow missed in the new firmware?)
best review I have seen
Thank you sir!
LOL :) what a rude comment Elek.
BoBeats at the end of the day you didn't have to show anything on here. a lot of people take these reviews and demos forgranted because they are common practice thanks to people like you. for me these product reviews are extremely helpful and give me the confidence to know I am buying what I need and that way it means I don't waste my money.
Do you have any recommendations for something that works like the Circuit but with a bit.. well, more?
I had a maschine, but I didn't like the whole workflow with depending on my computer and all that. Maschine is great, but I would like something that doesn't require DAWs or such to run. If the Ableton Push would work without a computer then that would be the ultimate thing for me I think.
Thats a hard question! In the same price range? My answer is: no. If you are willing to spend more I think you should look at the elektron lineup as well as the MPC lineup. Granted, they are not at all similar to the workflow of a Circuit and quite expensive. The Electribes are perhaps a bit more reasonably priced, but I do not recommend them because I have heard so much negative things about them. But perhaps you could check them out as well? I hope this helps! Thank you for your question.
BoBeats Thanks for answering! Yeah I guess that I could maybe find something to chain the Circuit with if I would get one. Or maybe just a 2nd Circuit down the road, but that adds upp to quite alot of money. Hopefully a Circuit pops up on the used-market or something :)
A used circuit would be alot of bang for the buck! :D
Indeed! But the used-instruments market here in Sweden has always been kinda dry :/
BoBeats Do you know if there's any iPad apps that comes with internal sounds and maybe a bit of oscillators or whatnots? early gen iPads can be found for rather cheap and I guess that could be a good way to get some more sounds and stuff to tinker with.
Please suggest: My music software exploration started from iOS when I got my iPad mini 2 as a gift and now I ended up with Ableton live Suite. I bought Akai Mpc MiniK 2 to learn keyboard on the go and explore more, but i didn't do enough justice on it so I sold that. Now after an year I m in verge of buying a hardware like this especially (Ableton Push 2 is too expensive for me) I m don't have any experience, I enjoy music and love to create as well like the videos I ve made (if you check my channel). Cheers
Look at Korg Volcas too but a Circuit sounds like it would help you. Maybe a launchpad pro?
Can it sequence external gear polyphonically?
Yes. Each of the two synth channels can send midi to external gear. And it does so polyphonically. I don't have any other gear with 6 poly so I have not tested if it sends 6 notes poly, but I see no reason why it should not. I have tested with the Minilogue and it is 4 note poly. Works good!
BoBeats thanks for the reply, that's pretty amazing for something this price
I really do not know what to choose, launchkey or circuit? help
Its like choosing between apples and a steak! Circuit is a synth/groovebox and the launchkey is a midi controller. So: do you want a midi controller or a synthesizer?
Should I buy this or the korg monologue? As a first synth
+Brandon Edelman if you plan on using a DAW I would get the Monologue. If u want to make music without a computer: circuit
Brandon Edelman monologue !
What about Circuit vs Electribe2? Seems like they appeal to the same niche.
Hm, I have not owned a Electribe 2 but I have tried it. They are quite different when it comes to workflow and the Electribes does involve more menu diving. On the other hand I think you could do more "advanced" stuff with the Electribes considering that there seem to be more controls (even if they are within menus). From reading about opinions on this topic I gather that the Circuit is far more intuitive, flexible and fast when it comes to live performance but has fewer functions.
it works with native products??
Yeah sure but its not a controller mate, its a synth =)
Very nice video...especially considering no edits.
It's like coffee talk with BoBeats!
I must say it was great that your daughter came in the room because if it were not for her I would have never known that the device had a speaker… Which for me is important since it makes the device a lot more of a pick up and play type device. Headphones are great, but when you've got a battery powered device, a speaker is a must in my opinion...to make it as you intimated; "An Inspiration Machine"*
*(c) Copyright 2017, All rights reserved.**
**(Just kidding about the copyright)
Thanks! One of my first reviews. I think it captures what I and the channel is somehow
Looks nice small and light
Love how it's portable?
So u charge it by USB?
And can i use this with a app
From my Ipad/ IPhone? I would like to twig around with sounds
Faders and so on, looks great and has built in speakers? I hope i can add my Dr Dre pills
For portable fun on the beach
It runs on batteries that you can exchange and also from wall power. You can use Lemur or Touch OSC change up the sounds but best is the Isotoniks Editor.
Thanks mate when u said battery exchanged
U mean buy new ones
Or you can recharge?
I was thinking this was Novation Launch Control XL Ableton Live Controller
Silly me
I think they are called AA batteries. You need 6 of them. No this is a stand alone synth/groovebox =)
well said mr
Thank you sir
Can this work on windows ?
It is a stand alone synth but you can connect it to load samples/change the synth sounds using a mac or a pc
reminds me of a small ableton push
yes they are similar in shape. But very different devices all together
my school got sent some and this looks exactly like it but works in an entirely different way
So no pc or Mac needed
Are you on the toilet? See the tp roll behind you. Either way, the acoustics are phenomenal
(4 drum sounds)
Wew lad