1010 Music - blackbox 2

Blackbox 2 is 1010music's compact sampler, sequencer and performance workstation — a small box for recording things, chopping them up and building whole arrangements without a computer anywhere in sight. Each of the four tracks can become a One-Shot, Loop, Slicer, Multisample, External or Shredder instrument, that last one being new: granular playback and slicing folded into a single thing. One-shot and loop patches hold up to sixteen samples each, so a track can happily be a whole drum kit. The housing has been redrawn to match the larger Bento in its looks, with the knobs now sitting above the 4" touchscreen rather than beside it — of course people have opinions about this, and you'll have formed yours within a short time of booting it up.

Compared to the original, version 2 runs twice the processing power and behaves a bit more like a self-contained instrument. Sequencing covers step, grid and piano roll with per-step probability, which is nice in order to introduce a bit of variety on each repeat. Loop Groups launch several synced loops together, Scenes and Song mode give you two ways of arranging them, and internal resampling means a section you've fussed over for twenty minutes can simply become the raw material for the next one. Automatic multisampling is another new time-saver — plug in a synth, walk away, come back to a playable instrument.

Performance gets a fair bit of attention this time around as well. The DJ effects sit under XY control — filter, echo, gater, flanger, bitcrusher and repeater — and MIDI-triggered recording with immediate playback covers live looping, with loops armed by clock, by audio threshold or by a set length. Long WAV files stream directly from microSD, and USB-C handles multichannel audio, MIDI and file transfer. Add three stereo outputs, stereo input, clock I/O and the internal battery, and what you're left with is a rather excellent little self-contained sample device.

A lot fits into this little box, but the appeal stays simple enough: sampling, sequencing and arranging without having to surround yourself with much other hardware.

Features:

• Compact four-track sampling, sequencing and performance workstation
• Six instrument types: One-Shot, Loop, Slicer, Multisample, External and Shredder
• Shredder mode for granular playback and slicing
• Up to 16 samples in One-Shot and Loop patches
• Twice the processing power of the original Blackbox
• 4" high-resolution colour touchscreen
• Step sequencer and piano-roll sequencing
• Per-step probability
• Loop Groups for synced multi-loop launching
• Scenes and Song mode for arranging
• Internal master resampling
• Automatic multisampling of external instruments
• Live looping with MIDI-triggered recording and immediate playback
• Recording triggered by clock, audio threshold or set length
• XY-controlled DJ effects: filter, echo, gater, flanger, bitcrusher and repeater
• Filters, envelopes, LFOs, overdrive and modulation
• Four-band EQ
• Long WAV streaming directly from microSD
• Multichannel USB audio and MIDI via USB-C
• Stereo audio input
• Three stereo audio outputs plus headphone output
• TRS MIDI input/output
• Analogue clock input/output
• Internal rechargeable battery
• 24-bit ADC/DAC
• microSD storage