Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
Mini mixer market just expanded
Korg announce the Volca Mix which has been requested by Volca fans for a while and it looks really tasty.
However it appears this whole niche has expanded with options.
There are similar mini mixers already out like Bastl’s Dude mono mixer, Patch Blocks’s PBMIX01 stereo mixer (both battery powered), the gluttonous looking KVaudio Vixen kickstarter and the Maker Hart 5 stereo channel Loop mixer.
For iOS stereo input and out is essential. The Volca Mix i would assume guarentee build quality and the onboard compressor is very enticing, but only 3 inputs (2 mono a1stereo) plus an aux send and return is li limiting.
Are there others I've missed?
Comments
What about the Roland little square one...Go mixer I think it is called?
Yamaha, Mackie, Allen Heath, Alesis, etc all have mini mixers. Since the Volca mixer requires a power supply, I reckon these are their competition. https://www.sweetwater.com/c264--Analog_Mixers/reviews?params=eyJyYW5nZSI6eyJQcmljZSBSYW5nZSI6eyJsb3dlciI6IjEiLCJ1cHBlciI6IjE2MCJ9fX0 Switch the sort from Price Low to High to see the smaller ones.
Definitely not as mini as the Korg but look what $159 gets you from Soundcraft: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Notepad12FX
Cheers for the list, I’ve got the Yamaha MG10 USB. Bit hot, heavy and clunky for my needs, looking for something simpler and lighter.
I wish I’d got round to putting this into production.
What Volca fans had wished for in 2015:
5 audio inputs, 3-band EQ per channel, 2 independent and tempo-synced Kaoss FX, FX syncable to MIDI clock and Volca sync, Channel Mute buttons. Looks like a lot of fun.
What Korg made of it after two years of development, or should I dare to say, long discussions with KORG product managers?
Only 3 inputs, a simplistic tilt EQ, a compressor and no sync inputs at all, well, because there's no FX anyway. I wish it would have been the other way 'round
I Googled that earlier and was surprised how shite it looked. I’m in the market for a cheap, low spec mixer like most iOS music makers, but that’s as tempting as a kick in the donkey.
If you just need basic volume boost I've mentioned this one a few times. Runs on 9volt or A/C. I've been using it for five years without a problem.
They make quite a few mixers, including this similar passive one:
Yeah the volca mix is really disappointing. When I first saw the image as “leaked”, I though (and hoped) it couldn’t be real. I don’t understand how they could put this out after the photoshopped image and the actual Vixen mixer had been so popular.
Patch blocks mixer seems nice but it’s a bit expensive. Hoping to see more small and versatile mixers.
Tell me it’s a rabbit!
Thank god my cat is out now
Keys, bass, fm, sample, rhythm, kick, 2xkpm, 2volcamix starting from 1500 whatever money you have(more probably around 1000 or even less if you are smart) definitely looks like a very smart bundle when compared example given to Roland boutiques which would be around 4K
I like where your mind is at but that's not really a fair comparison. The boutiques are all much better spec'd. More polyphony, more controls, preset storage, transposable sequencers...
To flip the analogy a bit, 1500 can get you a whole lot of higher end groove box which is likely more musically/sonically capable than a Volca collection of the same price.
Ofc, but with a performance vs money the volca setup still is way better and self contained from my perspective. Beware I’m just talking about the bundle format, definitely when singled out volcas are toylike, specially in a recording studio, but if you compare what you can achieve with a flightcase and one wall plug: 2 multieffect sends, one sampler, one drum machine, 4 synths, no external speaker needed(probably those of volcamix will be shit but since phones speakers are becoming a viable way to listen music no one will really complain as long as it is fun), no external keyboard.
All in all the volca setup looks much more fun with a wide enough palette of sounds to suit most of the musician.
Out of curiosity which could be that groove box?
Ps: it definitely wasn’t a fair comparison, usual orange and apples, which kind of share the form factor
Personally I think the Volca mix looks great and has totally thrown me. It depends on the sound quality of course, but it’s a £100 cheaper than the Vixen plus the on board compression is making the choice very difficult.
KVgear say they are working on a Eurorack signal mixer next so I’ll wait and see for that. No doubt on paper the Vixen is the tastiest,
The main bummer for me regarding the Volca Mix is not being battery powered but that’s to be expected with the sockets for other volcas.
With that in mind I’m still eyeing up the PBMIX3 too.
It's a pretty good proposition imho. I haven't seen a price in Euros for my region yet (typically everything's 150% to 200% of the US price around here). However I can't help but wonder what they could have done with the device if they had omitted the silly speakers and added something else in their place. But if I was going to add a mixer to a Volca setup, I'd totally go for a Volca mixer.
This looks quite good, I’m on the hunt too:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B06XYL7W89?psc=1#nav-search-keywords
I was also checking this one out. It definitely looks good and price is nice. I’m curious about durability and noise though.
So was I but I forgot to save the link. Their other mini mixers don't seem to get very good reviews though. Caution advised.
Yeah the non ‘loop’ ones have mixed reviews, good ones for this though, and the bloke in this vid likes it:
Not sure I’d pay £70 for it though. I’ll watch a few more vids and maybe stick a price tracker on it.
Don't get me wrong, I dig my Volcas! They're a lot of fun and a lot more versatile than many give them credit for. It's not that I think the Volca mix looks bad, it just doesn't look all that good to me for the price. I couldn't imagine buying two of the mixers though—the Vixen gets you more inputs, more power, two sends on 1/4" jacks (and no need to switch hookups if you want to change the send of a given input to the other send).
Oh man, way to get my Saturday GAS going! I can dream up lots of ways to spend $1500! For standalone, capable boxes, these come to mind:
And then, the combos... Which I guess you'd need to add a mixer to.
All of those setups allow one to sequence entire songs or at least do pattern chaining. With 6 volcas, there's no way to do some stuff that's important to some like change all of the individual sequencers at once or even transpose them.
Again, I love the Volca line but I don't actually think it's about the mass of them—think part of what makes them great is that you can get into one for <$150 at a time. Once they add up to $1500, think the shortcomings will really start to add up as compared to other options.
Apologies to the OP for the thread derailment!.
Yamaha AG-06 is a great little mixer and audio interface combined. Works off USB power so with a battery pack it's totally mobile. Surprisingly good built in effects (unfortunately needs a computer editor) and 3 different recording modes when using it as an interface.
It can record either ch1 and 2 with no effects or the entire 6 channels with effects and it can also record the entire mix plus the output of your iOS device back into the iOS device. I found one used for €80 and have seen others priced for not much more.
Latency is a fraction (0.5ms) higher than the €600 interface I had previously used but I actually prefer this little white box now.
I use one as well, and really like it. Very versitile!
Only issues are that it runs out of inputs if you start expanding your studio. I have also found that it is easy to create ground loops when powering ipads, usb devices, and connecting said devices to the mixer (that might just be me though)
With Volcas, ipads, Pocket Operators, Samplers, and Sequencers all fighting for space, it might be time for a medium for at mixer. Does the cycle ever end
I have yet to have ground loop issues or any problems with my iPad or PC after months of use. Do you still get these problems using an external battery to power the mixer? Might be a fault somewhere and since these are fairly recent you should be covered by the warranty. I should mention that I haven't had need to use the phantom power on the device, if you are using this I have an old microphone somewhere that I could plug in and check if this also happens here.
It seems to happen when I connect USB devices like my Novation Circuit to my iPad for midi in and sync, and also send Circuit audio to the mixer, while sending the audio of the iPad to a mixer input channel. Pretty sure it is my fault for creating the loops with poorly planned cabling
Really like it and all the options it offers.
To be fair. Multiple beatstep pros can be used to sequence 6 volcas. They send out a pretty good volca sync output signal now. Can sync to each other well. And you can now use the drum mode to send chords out basically.....
The addition of saved projects with sequence block saving means you can jam quite a bit using them. 16 projects + 16 sequence blocks is a lot of sequences to jam with
The 2.0 firmware update has turned it into one of my favorite hardware sequencers of all time. Match that to a launchpad pro feeding scale data directly into it and it's just sublime.
My make Noise 0-coast loves the fact that each drum gate can now run independent of the other sequencers. So can you it to do all sorts of clock dividers stuff too.
Here's an overview of the unit with the older firmware.
And the new firmware changes:-
Separate video for just the excellent scene mode I talked about:-
The best part of the new firmware is that you can now assign different midi channels per drum layer. So that means you can send 10 different midi channels to trigger the volca sample and use 2 other channels to trigger other synths per beatstep pro.
That means a volca sample + volca keys + volca bass jam and is quite viable. If you add the new volca mix to that equation it's pretty much a standalone jam unit needing no computer or iOS input at all.
I use a Minilogue in place of the volca bass here but this sounds like my jam setup. I mix on Boss BX-4 I found for 20 bucks. It's a fun setup and BSP 2.0 update is fantastic. I was what made me by the Volca Sample again because they're now a perfect combo.
Wish this worked with drum gate outs. Would be really fun to be able to use drum tracks to mess with the timing of different volcas. It can be done but requires an attenuator on each output because the gate signal is too hot for the volca.
Now that's a stretch.
You can kinda sorta hack chords out of the drum sequencer but it requires using a computer and the drum sequencer notes are global for all 16 projects. If you're using 8-10 pads for the Volca Sample, that leave 6-8 total notes for all possible chords across all projects. I mean, I dig Cm but not _that much. 
And you can't change the MIDI channel of those on the fly. I've done it for a few jams but it's not really a poly sequencer so, in practice, my VKeys (and VFM) don't really get the workout they could with the BSP alone. I did add a Keystep to the setup. I sync that with the BSP and can record poly sequences there. Can also use it to transpose the BSP (and vice versa via a midi patch bay).
Adding the BSP and Keystep makes the 1500 more like 1850.
I’m totally underwhelmed. Not that I need one as I don’t have any volca-like equipment but as a bystander I feel it a bit strange they’ve sacrificed potential inputs in favour of 2 speakers? I guess the early adopters will give us their opinions buts since each volca already has a speaker and already give a you a good stereo field depending on where they are placed this feels like a bit of a flaw.
I like the combined LP/HP knob and which they had that on all small mixers. Not for eq but more of a filter fade in/fade out. I like to ‘park’ a sound source that is just shimmering (hp) or bubbling (lp) in the background for dynamic purposes but resonance has to be set at that certain sweet spot. I think Circuit’s big know does it quite well.
Vixen looks good but like most things Kickstarter is rather steeply priced. I guess the fetish factor is not to be underestimated so I’m sure volca mixer will sell well but I’d personally be going for the Hart brand jobbie as I have a weak knee for white rounded plastics. Soap over shower gel for me anytime
.
Ah well, looking forward to first YT videos.
Oh I know it's a stretch lol. But my thinking was using one beatsteps drum modes for drums and the other for hacky chords. Personally id use either modstep or quantum for chord sequences. Or the main beast in my live setup ableton itself. Ableton+launchpad pro+ BSP + 2 midifighter Twisters give you quite a lot of stuff to jam with. I'm just refining my setup currently. Have a launch control Xl that's been kept aside strictly for a melodic euclidian sequencer I've built in ableton using multiple cthulhus and reaktor. It basically can take any chords fed into it and build entire song structures in real-time. Just feed it different chord progressions and you have an entirely different track
Sadly that monster isn't stable enough for me to trust in a live jam so it's benched for now and lives only on my desktop for now.
Agreed. Speakers on this is such a stupid idea from users point of view, all volcas already has these crappy non useable speakers, why would volca mixer need to add more? Well it doesent need to and most people wont need them and its just a waste of space in the mixer. However this sort of rappy speakers are cheap and easy to implement, plus it adds marketing value. They can say that this EVEN COMES WITH A SPEAKER!!!!! while in reality no one will use it, but it still sticks to peoples head and they are more likely to buy it, because it makes them think that maybe they sometime will need a speaker, so its a handy thing to add. Also if its even a slightly bit better than volca speakers, they can say that its an upgrade, even if it still wouldnt be good enough to use. Maybe they also thought that if someone can buy more volcas, they will likely want a proper mixer anyways. And if they would had increased the amount of inputs and left out the speakers, the price would had been higher and they want to keep prices low for the volca series, since thats what the whole series is marketed on, small and not expensive units that together make an relatively affordable and fun setup when combined.
But this product looks like a bit fail form the design point of view. They could had made it so much better. Im sure they will sell quite a bit of them tho
Korg without Tatsuya Takahashi it’s not the same
You clearly can see that this Volca mix isn’t designed by him.