nanoloop megathread

here we go!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/734721310/nanoloop

Funded already, good going. The demo video sounds really great.

Cool!

Funded.

So the latest news on this apparently is that this is not going to meet it's original deadline of ... well ... this week 

Luckily the guy has built and delivered hardware before, so I'm assuming it will come to pass at some point.

Here's to hoping. I *really* want one.

Yeah I'm not concerned at all. I'm fine with him taking some time to get things right, I'm eagerly awaiting it but if waiting a bit longer means we'll eventually get a device that looks and feels good, it'll be worth it. I remember nanoloop mono taking quite some time to get from prototypes to final product. 

The new Analogue Pocket has built-in Nanoloop and looks very cash. I'm glad they've gone with the NL2 sound engine (64kpbs LP5 rip) over NL1 (TRASH).

Another update, another delay. I’m guessing it turns out there’s a big difference between releasing a cartridge for someone else’s system and releasing something with buttons and other things users are going to interact with.

I’m not being snarky, btw. A bit surprised, maybe (also at the people in the comments on Kickstarter who great every delay with rounds of applause) and I also kinda feel sorry for the guy.

I'm glad it's back to the "landscape" format. Looks like it's a bit smaller than it was before? Or at least smaller than I expected, around GB Micro size. The new dot matrix display looks pretty cool too. Hopefully we're not far off. It's been really interesting seeing it develop.

Finally got this today. It's very small and light. 

Firmware definitely feels very early. But I've still managed to get some good sounds out of it. 

  On 10/20/2020 at 12:51 PM, modey said:

Firmware definitely feels very early

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Explain?
 

Also: cool. Also: how come they’re shipping to Australia before shipping to me?

It's buggy and a lot of features are incomplete/missing. It is v0.1 though. Oliver said on Twitter that the plan is to have it be more capable than nanoloop2. 

Also he's going through the backers in sequential order, rather than going by country. I was backer #96, and the package was sent on the 27th of September. 

Finally got mine (Dutch postal service was insanely slow).

It's *really* *rough*. Fitting batteries requires unscrewing the device and then putting it back together again, which isn't easy. Also, it's just a PCB with a plate of acrylic screwed on top. Really not worth the money.

The software, of course, is Nanoloop, but since it's all digital it could've just been a VST (when the Kickstarter was launched, he promised it'd be analog, which would've made it somewhat worthwhile).

Just goes to show, I guess, that software people can't do hardware. Sigh.

  On 12/31/2020 at 4:53 PM, rhmilo said:

Finally got mine (Dutch postal service was insanely slow).

It's *really* *rough*. Fitting batteries requires unscrewing the device and then putting it back together again, which isn't easy. Also, it's just a PCB with a plate of acrylic screwed on top. Really not worth the money.

The software, of course, is Nanoloop, but since it's all digital it could've just been a VST (when the Kickstarter was launched, he promised it'd be analog, which would've made it somewhat worthwhile).

Just goes to show, I guess, that software people can't do hardware. Sigh.

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Guh. I'm glad I opted for the Analogue Pocket (to use with NL mono) instead of this. Of course that might be just as much of a shitpile, and I won't know until May...

  On 12/31/2020 at 4:53 PM, rhmilo said:

Fitting batteries requires unscrewing the device and then putting it back together again

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No it doesn't, you put them in from the back. There's a trick to it, but it gets easier once you've done it a few times.

  On 12/31/2020 at 4:53 PM, rhmilo said:

when the Kickstarter was launched, he promised it'd be analog, which would've made it somewhat worthwhile

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He said there'd be an analog channel, then that concept got scrapped and he announced that there will be an analog version in the future. The latest update says this is still happening, with a more compact form factor apparently.

  On 12/31/2020 at 4:53 PM, rhmilo said:

Just goes to show, I guess, that software people can't do hardware. Sigh.

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He develops the cartridge circuitry himself, and has been for many years. I agree there have been some questionable choices for this device (bare LEDs, open construction, the dome switches), but he's not just a "software guy". 

  On 12/31/2020 at 4:53 PM, rhmilo said:

The software, of course, is Nanoloop, but since it's all digital it could've just been a VST

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If you buy it purely for the sound, you're gonna have a bad time. For me, Nanoloop is about the interface being conducive of a certain way of working that I can't achieve with any other gear, even my Elektrons. Of course, soundwise, it's not doing anything special (even compared to NL2), but it's the crazy things that can be done with it, even in its early state, that make it worthwhile imo. And the analog version may be cool in some ways, but Nanoloop Mono is *very* restricted compared to NL2 / digital version. 

  On 1/4/2021 at 10:36 AM, modey said:

No it doesn't, you put them in from the back. There's a trick to it, but it gets easier once you've done it a few times.

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On my device this works for one of them but not the other. The springs in the other battery "compartment" are too tight for the "trick" to work. This is just bad design as it makes use of tolerances of components that can't be relied on. Guy should've just included standard battery compartments.

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He said there'd be an analog channel,

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Right, and now there's not.

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He develops the cartridge circuitry himself, and has been for many years. I agree there have been some questionable choices for this device (bare LEDs, open construction, the dome switches), but he's not just a "software guy". 

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I thought so too, which is why I backed this. If anyone could do it, it was him. Turns out there's a big difference between developing cartridge circuitry (a PCB with components in a plastic case) and developing a device that people interact with.

All the weak points of this thing are in the parts that people have to touch: the open construction and the battery compartments (or lack of them). Buttons I don't personally have a problem with, but putting the thing together with buttons and screws is a royal pain. Also: three of the screws cover PCB traces. That's just asking for trouble. Not to mention that the screws are way too short.

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For me, Nanoloop is about the interface being conducive of a certain way of working that I can't achieve with any other gear, even my Elektrons.

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For me too, but you can have the same way of working in a phone app. Having an analog channel would have made a standalone device worthwhile for me, as it stands I could've just bought an app.

  On 1/4/2021 at 11:05 AM, rhmilo said:

you can have the same way of working in a phone app

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To each their own, but I never really gelled with the iOS app. I was talking about the physical interface with gameboy style buttons.

  On 1/4/2021 at 11:23 AM, modey said:

To each their own, but I never really gelled with the iOS app. I was talking about the physical interface with gameboy style buttons.

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Yeah, I can see that. But as this is a €100 device, that makes each of these buttons €12,50 a piece. That's a bit steep, IMHO.

Weird reasoning. I didn't buy it just for the buttons..(?)

I bought it to eventually replace nanoloop2 in case my carts/GBAs fail. Oliver says it'll eventually exceed the functionality of nl2 so that's something to look forward to. 

How's the mono working on the Analogue Pocket? 

Edit: Ah, it's not out yet. 

  On 7/5/2021 at 9:22 AM, psn said:

How's the mono working on the Analogue Pocket? 

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I emailed them about it a year or so ago and they assured me it should work fine. I do wonder how bad the whine is going to be; it's pretty bad on the DMG even though it's a really cool sounding synth.

Yeah, will be interesting to see just how faithful the FPGA will be. 

Got it. First impressions: it's a Nanoloop alright, its workflow was quite familiar. The FM engine sounds surprisingly good and deep, too. I feel the volume is a little low but that can be fixed easily. There's some missing functions that will be implemented in future updates, so all's good. GREAT minimalistic, creative tool and cool machine just to fuck around.