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Novation Circuit Tracks - Sonic LAB Review
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2024
- We've been fans of the original Novation Circuit here - Nick bought one for his live setup and we often recommend it for people wanting a simple computerless music creation instrument.
Check the deal at Adorama.com
bit.ly/circuit-tracks
The new Circuit Tracks, replaces the original Circuit and adds some new features and bakes in much of the Firmware updates that the original Circuit received. Indeed, we know there is also a roadmap for the new Tracks too.
Editor Nick takes a look at the new model.
#soniclab #novation #circuittracks
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00:00 Intro and new features
04:19 Longer samples
06:07 MIDI tracks
09:37 Firmware Gate and Probability
14:15 samples, click etc
17:35 Components editor
21:37 Scenes
23:45 Recording MIDI CCs
25:42 Sidechain
27:00 Synth presets
28:40 Conclusion
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![[Eng Sub] NOVATION CIRCUIT TRACKS standalone groovepad and midi controller](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YIpeM-0ak30/mqdefault.jpg)
You hit the nail on the head with the sample one shot, It made sense with 60s of sample and only 4 knobs with the OG circuit, but now with 3 minutes and 8 knobs (4 unused) all that extra time is not that usable. I've been asking for them to add at least a sample start parameter, but it would be great if they added release time too in another knob and made the samples respond to gate if you want. The great thing with the current way of working is that you can keep samples playing from one project to the next...
That jam after the intro was gorgeous, nice job.
thanks for the really great outro! great stuff!^^
Gosh Nick, you make everything sound amazing! Also, a great review, as always.
Love a Nick Batt review!! Thanks 😊
Thanks for this super complete review !
16:45 The second of the four active macro knobs in a drum track controls sample length/cut. If you don't want to sequence another sample to choke the preceding one, simply use the second macro knob to shorten the sample for that step.
is more a decay than a lenght tho, if the sample is long it ends up with a long tail
Great review as usual. It's a cool machine, very happy with it, but there are some ways it could be better as Nick mentioned (e.g. 8 microsteps instead of 6, better fx section). I have heard that Novation did a lot to improve the original circuit over the years with updates so hopefully that will continue with the Circuit Tracks.
Great review and a fantastic song
Looking forward to getting mine. Would there be any way to sequence an OP-1 with this? It only has USB midi input.
great video ! Thanks !
I'm wondering where to start in the hobby as a complete newbie ! (my only experience was dj-ing back in the days with some different devices (turntables-serato, cdj mk2, midi controler on traktor 2, and Ecler Nuo 2 and 5 as mixers)
It's Such a long time i have this little dream of making some of my own music, and maybe i'm the "so called" 40 years olf crisis, but i might wanna try to jump into it ...
Would the novation circuit tracks a good start ?
Or would the MC -101 a better (even if harder to dig into) (i'm not really afraid about it) options if i had to have only one Device ?
----
Also, if the late plan (if i'm doing fine and liking the experience) is to have a couple of machine later on : Would the combination of the Circuit tracks and the mc-101 a suffisant combination ?
Therefore, wich one you recommand to start between those two ?
Or any other cheaper option than the mc-101 to get along the novation CTracks ?
---
Last but not least, i've got the opportunities of having the MC 707 for the same price as a new MC-101, and even if i like to have a minimal footprint for those devices, i'm wondering if that mc 707 alone would do it instead of the mc 101 ?
---
Hope you'll read me !
Take care and keep the good content On !
Very useful !
Cheers from belgium !
The sample time is per pack, not per project. Very in depth presentation!
Thx for the review!
What's the glossy part above the USB port, 1:09? Nothing in the manual hints at anything there.
Thx for the video. Helped me a lot 😊👌
Im having the worst time getting circuit tracks to play from keystep keyboard out to mc101 and SE-01,I even bought Retrokits RK006,any help with routing and settings for Rk006 would be appreciated!,as mentioned at 8:24 or so......someone please help!!!!!!!
the outro is so cool!
Dear Firmware fairies: How about pitch-quantise for samples? Also, how about additional functions (e.g. bitcrusher) on the 4 macro knobs which are currently inactive on drum tracks? Also, please add mixer state to Scenes. Thanks muchly.
This confuses me. But I'll reply based on how I'm interpreting you.
As far as I'm aware, the synth patch macros can be assigned to any parameter (according to the decisions of the creator of a given patch); the labeling on the macros is just a way to have a sort of standard format to easily see which knobs do what on *most* patches. The drum track macros, however, are locked to pitch, decay, gain, and filter cutoff.
On my OG Circuit, there is no pitch quantize for samples; you have to manually tune with macro #1 and sequence it step by step for accurate pitch playback.
@@mikeexits Correct. I am requesting that a future firmware version makes use of the 4 macro knobs that don't have any current use in drum tracks. You are also correct that there was no pitch quantise on the OG circuit - but it would be a nice thing to have in a firmware update.
Yes to all of this! I would also add a non-piano key layout for the chromatic scale to be able to use it more easily as a pad controller for DAW drums
@@dinogoldie9716 Oh I see, I was confused because I'm so used to my Circuit; I forgot that the sample tracks aren't paired together on Circuit Tracks. I really can't wait to upgrade. But first, upgrading my Minilogue to Minilogue xd.
@@Enbyvalent That would be nice. I feel like they don't care much for DAW integration with the Circuit though, as useful as it is for that. They have a whole lineup of Launchpads made for DAWS so I'd think they'd invest little to no time on DAW-related features.
You reminded me to use my Circuit as a DAW controller again haha, thanks. It's really useful, especially considering all the different knob pages are whole new sets of MIDI CC slots, so it's something like 60 or 70 knobs total or something like that.
As much as I love my Arturia Minilab Mk ii, the knobs are very strange in how they respond. If I turn them very slowly, Ableton registers no MIDI data at all, until a certain threshold where it finally instantly jumps to that position.
I also can't use the 1st column of knobs for anything useful aside from browsing Analog Lab/V Collection. They don't even work like the other knobs; they only send like 2-3 possible values of data, I think. I also can't figure out how to change the color of the pads; I mean, it clearly has RGB capabilities based on the startup "animation." Why have them only ever light up red other than that?
Is it possible to record panning automation?
The Circuit always had 64 drum/sample slots. It's the preset slots that have doubled (from 64 to 128 per machine state).
Well spotted 👍
The 32 Sessions provided on Circuit have been expanded to 64 Projects for Circuit Tracks. We've also increased Patches from 64 to 128 per Project.
Yeah, Nick made a lot of errors in this video. Kinda surprised me honestly. He called the MC-101 the 707, which is a really small one. But he also said "input into the input" and overall I didn't really understand what he was trying to say during that segment about the "old school midi problem," kinda just left me confused.
He also said that the SD card slot can only load another 64 projects, but he left out the huge fact that it can actually store 32 or 64 (god damn it now I got them mixed up lol) entire sessions, at least from what I can tell. So it can load 32 (let's just go with 32 to be on the safe side) sessions, each of which contain 128 synth patches, 64 samples of up to 190 seconds in length, and 64 projects.
That's a lot of content on one little groovebox! You could do like a month's worth of unique concert setlists without plugging it into a computer and still have plenty of room to spare. It's insane.
@@mikeexits To clarify the "MIDI problem" which Nick addressed in his review. It's like this. At present, you can control external gear via the pads on the CT. However, if you have an external controller keyboard going into the CT, that will only control the CT and not any external gear. Nick was pointing out that you need some third-party gadget to combine MIDI-out/thru signals in order to controle external gear from a controller going through the CT. hth?
@@mikeexits it's not 32 or 64, is 31 lol (1 on the internal memory, 31 on the SD)
Thank you very much 👍🏼😎
Could I just record a juno 106 into it with pitch bends and modulations and then it will play it back to me so I can jam over it with another synth?
Nick made a great point about the current lack of Program Change capabilities. Maybe I'm wrong, but ironically all three of the "devices" pictured in the video; Novation Circuit Tracks, the KSP and Roland MC-101 are incapable of transmitting a user definable midi program change externally over the midi channel of your choice. "In todays day and age...", you'd think Midi Program Change messages would be basic "table stakes" to ante up to the bar. Nope, that type of capability is a thing of the past. All three vendors must be outsourcing their code development to the same lowball 3rd party developer. Anyone know of midi controller that does support "real-time" front panel midi Program Change messages? Such a feature would provide more value each of the products and flexibility to users. Caveat emptor.
Midi got slept on for a long time. These issues are the result.
The Circuit Tracks does send and receive program changes, but they are fixed.
@@cokomairena Glad to hear that at least Novation supports static Program Changes. Sadly, the Arturia developers have not provisioned even static Program Change capability in the KSP.
The KSP (like the NCT) includes a sequencer which also does not support Midi Channel MSB/LSB Bank Select or even simple Program Change messages. Many users want to be able to configure the sequencers to output midi Bank Select and PCs both manually via the user interface controls as well as programmatically within the sequence itself. For example the KSP includes a Control Track, which could support user defined BankMSB/LSB and PC for each channel and sequence within a Project. Thankfully software is something that can be improved and with "hope" maybe version 3.0 of the KSP might begin to support these essential well defined (albiet 'optional") MIDI capabilities.
Akai MPK 249
24:55 I agree the FX section seems a bit underdeveloped. Instead of presets and send amounts, I would have preferred the ability to set/automate delay/decay/feedback amounts on a per-step basis.
Great review Nick - why aren't you doing loads of gear reviews any more..??
Notable omissions from this review were the pattern settings page and the mutate function. You can set different playback directions and clock-syncs per pattern. You can also mutate patterns. Odd you didn't notice/mention this new set of features.
Honestly I've noticed SonicState never does a proper review of all functions. Even with a 32 minute video. What gives, SonicState?
Listening from 04:59, about 2 seconds later there's a click, where's that coming from?
That demo track is nice, got a Massive Attack vibe.
This looks perfect for taking into the woods, onto the beach or into space! I'm a big fan of the grooveboxes
I always thought the og circuit was cool, after watching this I really want one of these badly. I wonder if I can hook up my Roland drum kit to this
I am playing live shows with original Circuit, and its the only groovebox that really allows me to improvise during live for hours.
I am collecting money to get Circuit Tracks, because it will be awesome upgrade. They added features that I really need.
The only downside is that you cant transfer sets from original to new.
@A_ L_ M_ Longer patterns, audio in with possibility to add delay/reverb and sidechain compression, pattern playback options like on Mono Station, pattern view lock.
I also miss view where you can sequence snare and kick at the same time. Hoping that Novation might add it with firmware update.
You can set the samples to gated or alter the lengths.
Great video.thank you.
I love the og circuit, and i love seeing the new one being cool, my only concern is build quality tbh, wasnt really happy with the og with sticky buttons etc. Hope this one is sturdier.
Can the two synth tracks still be used to sequence external gear like the original Circuit giving this unit the ability to sequence 4 external instruments?
Yes , synth 1 is midi channel 1 and synth 2 is midi channel 2.
You can set them to be whatever you like as long as they don't clash or use ch16
10:11 Re SD card storage. You can store 32 machine states. Each machine state = 128 patches, 64 samples and 64 Projects (fka "Sessions"). These machine-states are Circuit packs compiled/edited in components then stored on the card in (imo) a weird proprietary way. You can't transfer individual patches/projects/samples on the fly; it's per-pack.
yep, the "weird proprietary" nature of online-enabled storage put me off of the previous 2 Circuits. moving on.
27:14 Yeh it is a bit frustrating that you can't "patch flip" between synth presets in a pattern. But with double the Session/Project slots, you can store variations of the same project but featuring different presets. I'm not at all tech-savvy but I'm guessing switching between digital synth presets would be fairly micro-controller/processor hungry. Think how complicated patches can get with the mod matrix 'n all that and then think how the Circuit's brain would cope flitting between multiple presets....
Yep, I think you've got that about right. But one per pattern might be doable
What happens when the battery won't charge anymore?
Really nice track Nick lovely
Can the Circuit Tracks be in charge of modulating the sounds of external synths? Like the Microkorg, which is to much menu-driven IMO. Would be a great midi controller to get rid of that lack of responsiveness in the micro.
Yes. The midi tracks can parameter automate assignable CCs
@@sonicstate oh wow, thanks for the response and the great review. As I thought - it may be the ideal instrument for me
I use OG Circuit w Microkorg & look fwd to integrating C: Tracks.
Together w Mass Station: Studio or Live Gold
You are still able to use Synth 1 and 2 for MIDI like with the OG Circuit. So you can connect now 4 external Synths.
yes
You prolly dont care but if you guys are stoned like me during the covid times then you can watch all the latest movies on InstaFlixxer. I've been streaming with my girlfriend for the last weeks xD
@Otto Maximus Yea, I've been watching on InstaFlixxer for since november myself :D
@@chump72 I just download everything for free :)
Fabulous track ❤️
Great review 👍
I'm astounded that so many standalone grooveboxes don't allow you to record pitchbend or modulation stuff from a keyboard. I've still got a device that allow you to do that & over 16 tracks, with built in sound engine and all manner of real time control. It's called the RM1X.
I suspect it has something to do with increasing the implementation to include cv & gate, where realtime modulation changes would be harder to implement.
When's the Novation circuit Rhythm (sampler) coming out? Surely it's "Summer" now?
I'm waiting for the Rhythm too
...I cant recording the patches.....why?
The Akai MPC line will play samples even if you hit stop but they solved the issue by simply hitting stop twice. Would be easy for novation to fix that at least.
But the circuit tracks doesn't have a stop button tho. I hope they add gate, but the thing that I like the most is chromatic pitch shifting.
@@cokomairena Could be a button combo. Like shift play or something.
Novation, if you are reading this...PLEASE bring back the Nudge-Feature.
How did you use it? For live performance?
@@cokomairena used nudge to more quickly get sequences right, if parts of it were in the right place and others not. For sloppy recordings of finger drms as well as sloppy recordings of melodies. I'd rather copy and past (move) just a few notes, and nudge the rest, instead of having to copy and paste all of them.
Novation addresses this, look for the hour long webinar video from Novation, there's a work around. It was a matter of "do we offer this, or keep this?" and nudge feature lost.
@@TechGently i know. Novation answered my request per E-Mail directly. Their response is, that the new feature of "setting start- and endpoint of patterns replaces the nudge". Which I find a weird answer because I don't see how using the start/endpoint helps in the workflow to correct sequences. The nudge helped me a lot.
Maybe 8 microsteps would be better than six but it's still very good and you are already able to do triplets/swing with 6. You can also play in off-grid (shift+rec) which I assume has the same resolution, except in realtime. How many microsteps do the elektron Model Cycles/Samples offer?
Are the MIDI tracks polyphonic?
That's right. The two MIDI tracks behave just like the Synth tracks, allowing you to sequence up to 6 notes per step.
Yes. Two polyphonic midi sequencers
@@foxholeartist Four if you count the synth tracks (they can also sequence external gear)
thx and nice song
My one form-factor gripe with the CT is that the master filter is now the same size/shape as the macro knobs - and all the buttons surrounding the pads are also square (as opposed to round buttons and slim oblongs spaced away from the pads).
Over time my large Maater filter knobs became 'wobbly'.. as I'm expecting my C Tracks to arrive Monday, I look forward to it being sturdier than the OG
Im sending away for one next week so getting info
You also forgot to mention that the Circuit Tracks now allows you to change MIDI/sync settings on the fly. With the OG Circuit, you could only change MIDI settings in a boot menu. This is useful if you've got more than two external synths hooked up and you want to switch between them. The Circuit Tracks also has a sync-out socket which the OG did not (for connecting to volcas 'n such).
You can Set truh as output 2
That internal battery is a dealbreaker for me. Even more stupid then most phone manufacturers... Had they gone for a standard cell like 18650 or AA and made a little hatch it would have been a whole other thing. But no, not even pondering sound hw with a battery that can't be bought "over disk" and replaced easily.
Yes, I know what you mean. I bought one, as I'll be mainly using it connected to the mains in a synth set-up, but it still niggles me that it has an inbuilt redundancy as far as battery use goes. That battery will fail in time, and the CT will lose half of its usefulness for most people.
@@jeffreybarton1297 More then half if that battery is used to keep things in memory.
So sad to see a company with such great record of product support follow this trend.
Yes....The Apple effect....built in redundancy.
I'll enjoy it while it lasts 🙂
Two days ago I saw a soldering iron that could replace that battery with a standard one ... you wanna fire that CT up again, you talk to me. 😏
Is the decksaver out yet?
Just a "Thank you Captain Obvious" but for some. When you hook up say a "microfreak" or any other external synth and create a cool groove with internal and external synths and save it. You would have to hook up those same external synths again, as it doesn't save those sounds in the project just the midi information.
Which Gear would you add to the
Circuit Tracks? I was thinking of DFAM or the Erebus v3.
So many options...
The big thing with the circuit is that it is so intuitive to use . You can make quite easy some complex rhythms even if they're just 16 steps long because of the probability settings. While it's sounds not that good I really love the sequencer and the possibility to control external gear with it . Anyway , nice in-depth review of it .
nice that it can be a stereo input for processing audio through it, I didn't know it could do that
"We can't record or sequence these (Scenes." Well actually you can chain them which is sorta "sequence"ing. My one criticism of Circuit Scenes is that, at present, they don't store mixer state. It would be enormously useful to be able to store mutes/solos in a Scene. Hopefully the firmware fairies will magic that up down the line.
If they change that it should be optional.
The pad "keyboard" has moved from the first two rows to the bottom two rows. This is a welcome change.
Thanks Nick. I won't be getting one. I'm finding in my approaching dotage that I have near zero tolerance for gear without a screen. I need direct confirmation of where I am and what I am affecting. Not some random set of colored lights which are difficult to discern if the one I'm looking at is actually brighter than its neighbor.
I love this and can't wait to get it. I'd like to correct Nick on one thing, which is that you *can* download a localized standalone application version of Components. So you don't need internet or to run it through a browser. If it were only web-based, I'd probably have gotten rid of my Circuit long ago to be honest.
The only things I don't like about Components in particular (based on my experience with the OG Circuit, which I've had for over a year now; I could be wrong and just have no idea how to do these things, so if anyone can correct me please do so):
1. You can't mix/match samples in between packs. What I mean is, you can't open a pack in it and take a few samples from another pack and replace some of the samples in pack #1 with them. Yes, you can drag and drop individual samples and patches, but as far as I can tell, it's impossible to mix samples between packs if you don't have the individual sample's audio file on your computer. You could of course record it playing on your Circuit, then drag and drop it, but that's super tedious if you want to do that for more than a few samples.
2. As far as I can tell, there's no way to hear the patch while you're programming. I honestly have no idea why. This seems like too big of a flaw to let slip by. Not everyone has tons of experience with the Nova engine and can program patches without any audio feedback.
Pretty sure you can hear while editing. When in editor in components, just switch to note editor on the circuit for the synth you are editing and play the keyboard.
@@user-iz8pg8zz1b I thought in order to connect the Circuit to Components you had to do that 3-button combination. The exact combo escapes me but I know it by muscle memory; I'll come back and edit it in when I remember.
@@mikeexits I think that's only for the "librarian" (I think that's what it's called) page for uploading patches and samples. I think if you go into editor, connect usb and then select to connect in the top right you should be able to play in synth note mode and hear the synth as you change the parameters and settings - it works for me that way anyway
@@user-iz8pg8zz1b Thanks, I appreciate your help a lot. I'll try it soon and update accordingly.
@@mikeexits No worries
My Circuit OG broke recently, so Novation sent me a TRACKS as replacement for free. Happy to have both of them now ;-) Thanks Novation
No audio over usb ... Audio over USB is the future of Groovebox and Drum Machines in my opinion . Really loved the machine but not being able to record the tracks for post editing was sad .
Get an audio interface. :)
Audio over usb is ALWAYS done with crappy generic high latency drivers. I would much rather use a quality audio interface and not have the developers wasting time on audio over usb. So no thanks for me.
Adds huge cost. This is not a high end product, it makes less sense if they added £100 on the top for quality USB audio. These devices have a lot of competition and therefore the price is very sensitive.
@@RonCavagnaro I have an Audient ID44 but it's to record the separate tracks in a daw .
@@soulatdawn3630 so plug in circuit out into it...
Why. Nobody talk about.byou can use the circuit attack like a midi controller too!!
and usb audio....
It would be nice if all tracks could be only midi .
They could. Just turn the volume down. I'm pretty sure it will transmit the midi from the synth tracks
Confirmed, it does.
Sweet
They do but only the first 4 tracks, the last 4 only transmit one note each on channel 10
I honestly do not understand how anybody can be arsed midi’ing up external gear. I think the disadvantages of this far outweigh the benefits. Correct me if you think otherwise?
10:31 (re "baked in" features): Some shortcuts require shift+button keystrokes. Many though simply require a second press of the same button.
"It's just notes and velocity that go into the MIDIRecorder" or you can use Components to assign CCs to the 8 macro knobs and sequence them.
Future 'Bad Gear'
24 PPQN, and a en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech_lattice with a 3 for a 24.
1940 + ? ...
The sa(n)dness of hatomization ..
yep, shopt and 24. Firm-phalash?
I love how the bassline came from a neutron and was a sample. It is now official. The implementation of the nova synth engine in the circuit is steaming poo if Nick has to use a neutron instead.
Not really, it was just to test the use of longer samples and that was part of the source I used
don't like the non-replaceable battery
I'm sure in two years we will know how to replace it lol
You find the CT's probability screen "fiddly?" Hold a step down and choose from one of eight probability levels. That's not fiddly at all.
It honestly doesn't seem worth upgrading from the OG Circuit.
Try one in the store, you might think different.
@@TechGently yeah my mind has changed over the past two months. Definitely planning on getting one now. My OG is fried.
I could never imagine using something like this. Great review - it looks intriguing, but the UI just makes no sense to me. #DAW4LIFE
I would actually love to use one of these, but I also just dont understand the UI. Also had to give up on Ableton + Push.. Being colorblind doesnt help I guess.
I have a citcuit...didnt like the ui at all...horses for courses...knob per function has always been my fav ui...
Sorry Nick. Fell asleep.
Sleep typing. Outstanding skills
17:09 C'mon Nick. Press TEMPO then rotate macro knob 5 to alter the volume of the click/beep. RTFM mate. This review is not up to Sonic state's usual high standard.
That is highlighted onscreen, but it also shows the limitations of the screenless workflow.
No speakers? Then its just a VST in a box!