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Novation Circuit OG vs Roland MC-101 - which to get?
Hello team,
Money burning a hole in my pocket wants a battery powered groovebox.
Anyone have any thoughts of the OG Circuit (ie: not tracks or rythym) vs the roland MC 101?
Pros and cons?
Which one would you get?
Thanks!
Comments
I ended up getting the OG circuit.
Mainly because I really like the sequencer and lack of any screens/menus. It’s really easy to use and let’s me just jam without thinking too much. I love how it takes me away from all the complexities of music production and let’s me get back to basics without distractions.
It’s also a steal used at the moment. I got mine for less than £100.
I also have a Roland JD-XI which ticks many of the same boxes as the 101. The one thing I’m missing is class compliant audio/midi which I think the 101 has? That would be a major advantage for the Roland. But it has the Roland sound and lots of X0X drum machine samples and the Roland style sequencer so it’s best if both worlds (plus it has a keyboard and vocoder which I love) for me.
If you like the circuit style UI then nothing gets close for sheer fun and taking you into a different way of working and a change scenery. I think the Rolands are a little bit more fiddly but also more capable overall. The 101 can do a lot more so it depends on what you actually want to do with it.
The Novation really came alive when I programmed some of my own sounds and used my own drum samples.
If you can afford it, 100% the mc101. It has a massive rompler built in, a more flexible higher resolution sequencer, and better pattern switching to create a full song on the device. It also has polyphonic chromatic playback of samples, which you can influence with envelopes, filters, and one of nearly 100 very high quality effects. For it's price it is hands down the most powerful groovebox in the 400-500$ range with the exception of maybe the dirtywave m8.
It is more expensive , a bit clunkier to use for certain genres (favors live playing a over manual sequencing), and cannot sample in. The 4 tracks can seem limiting at first, but the zencore engine let's you fill those tracks pretty well, and you can have different patches every pattern to add variety.
I also have the circuit rhythm, which I adore, but that's because it does what the mc101 can't: direct sample in with chopping. Highly recommend the rhythm if you're looking for a digitakt-lite kind of groovebox.
The og circuit is gonna get limited imo.
I don't have one, so I can't comment too much. I'd even really pick the mc101 over the tracks, but it's tied for me with the rhythm.
I'll drop a couple of my mc101 tracks. I've made techno, industrial l, black metal, dungeon Synth, sludge metal, jazz, and drum and bass on it. I can't imagine pulling that off with the og circuit. Maybe the tracks, definitely the rhythm (minus the polyphony. )
Industrial techno
Doom/ sludge metal
Drum and bass
Hope this helps. I struggled hard finding a groovebox, and it wasn't until the mc101 got fully updated with firmware improvements that I was truly happy with it.
Is the mc-101 better about knobs than the og circuit?
One thing I HATE about og circuit (I have played with one but not the 101) is that the unlabled knobs all mean different things and do different things per synth patch, so I have no idea where, say, my attack or cutoff knobs moved to.
Actually knowing what does what when would be an incredible feature.
Pulled the trigger on the MC-101.
YOLO
It's only marginally better in that the knobs on the mc101 will show what parameter you're changing when you turn it and look at the screen.
However there are only 4 knobs, and they are assignable. You could always assign cutoff, resonance and two other parameters of choice in order, and you'll know what they do for each patch. It will stay the same when you change patches on that track. But there's only 4 of them. You'll still be menu diving a bit to access the other parameters and reassigning the knobs on the fly is a tad bit fiddly.
The circuit rhythm is basically knob per function, but it's a sampler, so it's apples and papayas.
Yeah that’s a bit annoying on the circuit. I kinda fixed it by programming and editing my own patches with the same knobs for most functions. I haven’t bothered for every patch though.
I dunno if anybody has gone in and fixed the factory patches with consistent functions per knob and made them available as a pack, but it’s not impossible to do. Just tedious. Very. And you need a pc or mac.
Like I said, just pulled the trigger on the 101. YOLO
Nice.
Well, since you're getting one, a few tips:
Create a template project with 8 bars or however many you like to work with and save it. Set up each track to use "clip" as their sound source. This way you can switch patches on tracks between patterns! Helps eliminate set up time.
Update the firmware! Most crucial tip.
Tattoo these shortcuts onto your forearm:
https://github.com/NLxAROSA/mc101cheatsheet
Approach it like it's a d-50 on steroids. It's even priced the same as a boutique d-05, but imo it's much more versatile.
Dig into the fx! The fx are like a whole separate synthesizer. You can make the same patch sound like as sh101, a heavy metal guitar, or a fake vocoder if you mess with the fx.
For the scatter fx, don't forget to program them. You can even isolate them to a specific track, and they sound great toned down and directed to the drum track.
Play with the patch randomizer. It's really inspiring sometimes.
Take your favorite synth or one shot samples and load them into a tone track (or incorporate them into the drum tracks). It comes with an sd card, so you can fit a ton of samples that will add to the sound variety, and the synth sampler is great sounding. You can add glide/portamento or play a sample polyphonically, and after adding effects, you can get some wild sounds.
Ok that's all I can think of right now.
Assuming the Circuit is cheap and I end up with both, can I control the midi clock/start/stop with the MC-101?
Circuit OG vs. MC101
Circuit Tracks vs. MC101
Definitely yes. In HW world this is very different from iOS. In HW world, everything just works as expected :-D
I don't know where you live, but I have a Circuit OG to sell. I live in Montreal.
Mint condition with box and power supply.
If you want to buy it used. Mine is like new.
LMK!
Cool. Enjoy :-D
If you want more storage, the mc-101 only accepts sdhc so a max of 32gb. Which is plenty. I only load one shots on to it and use a sampler to chop melodic samples.
What is this with the 101 saying looper tracks? Can I take loops off blocs wave and load it to it?
You can load samples into drum pads and tone tracks and then sequence them. The looper track plays the file or loop as a loop with time stretching. So yes, but also into the other modes as well. You can also export different clips to files and then load them into one of the aforementioned modes as well, effectively increasing your track count.
You can also sequence out 3 tracks and then record them into a looper track. Again effectively increasing you track count.