bluebox from 1010music gets a welcome update with exciting new features like sidechain and spectrum analysis. Plus you can now use it with your iPhone! Find out how to get hold of the beta firmware.
1010music Bluebox
1.3 Beta Firmware
1010music’s bluebox is a handy mixer available in both desktop and Eurorack formats. After recent news about an update for bento, those busy beavers at 1010music have now announced new firmware for bluebox.
Firmware version 1.3 will bring some tasty new functionality to the mixer, including:
- Sidechain effect: Trigger via audio, internal clock or MIDI. You can also use an internal track as the source with a threshold
- New USB engine: 24-bit 48KHz high-fidelity connection with a computer or iPhone.
- Micro SD mode: Mount bluebox as a USB drive on your computer.
- Spectrum analyzer: Visualizes real-time response across 32 bands.
Although official updates get pushed to the Downloads page, this firmware is still in beta. To access it, click on the following link for a Discord invite. Note that this is a beta version so there could be bugs.
bluebox is available at Thomann* in Eurorack format.
1010music bluebox Desktop
[20 October 2020 written by Lyubomir Dobrev] For those of us who spend most of our time in front of a screen for work, it’s only natural to want to enjoy an opportunity to get away from the computer for bouts of tactile, mouse-free producing. However, the final result almost always ends up inside your DAW. And a regular mixer or digital recorder doesn’t always cut it when you want to present your music in the best possible way. Something is missing, and 1010music may have stumbled onto it…
This Tiny Digital Mixer and Recorder Seems to Have it All!
The 1010music Bluebox is a cute and compact little digital mixer and recorder with a big ol’ colour screen, and a pleasant amount of knobs and buttons. One look at it and DAW-less musicians will be immediately intrigued! The unit lets you hook up modulars, synths, samplers, and so on to six stereo 3.5mm TRS inputs. These are mapped onto 12 mono tracks or six stereo controls, and each track is independently controlled in terms of recording and playback. So what we have is a capable little mixer with added live performance features.
Each track features volume, gain, a 4-band parametric EQ, pan, mute, and solo controls. Global compressor, reverb, and delay effects let you mash your instruments together into a deep, cohesive whole. Tracks can be recorded separately or inside the stereo mix, onto a standard microSD card. Coupled with the physical knobs, nav, and transport buttons, the 3.5-inch touchscreen practically puts a micro-DAW at your fingertips. Finally, MIDI I/O with clock enables connecting and syncing to synthesizers and other MIDI-capable equipment.
Three Stereo Outputs
Instead of a single stereo output, Bluebox offers a solid three. There’s the main mix, the assignable Stereo out 2 (with dedicated pre or post-fader sub-mixer), and Stereo 3 (headphone output with dedicated pre/post fader sub-mixer). Mixer mode enables global control over a single parameter for multiple tracks. The built-in parametric EQ is surprisingly capable, boasting Low Cut/Shelf, Parametric, and High Cut/Shelf settings for each of the four bands. The recording format is a more than adequate 48kHz/24-bit WAV in multi-track or stereo mix variants. Project settings can be saved and recalled with all parameters for tracks, outputs, EQ, and send effects.
Notably, being such a compact unit, Bluebox is bus-powered. You can plug into a power outlet or a USB power bank, or even connect another bus-powered device to the USB-A port on the back. Great stuff!
Price and Availability
Bluebox costs a fairly reasonable USD $499, but it’s already sold out until December. Let’s hope 1010music is able to meet the demand. The package includes the mixer, a microSD card, USB power cable and AC adapter with three international adapters, 2 MIDI adapters, and a Quick Start guide. Basically everything you need to go out and start making music.
Technical Specifications
- 6 stereo 3.5 mm TRS inputs
- 12 mono tracks, 6 stereo tracks or something in between
- 3 independently controlled stereo 3.5 mm TRS outputs
- 5” touch screen, 4 knobs, 8 navigation buttons and 3 transport buttons
- 3 effects: reverb, delay and compressor
- Records and plays back 48k, 24-bit audio WAV files
- 4 band EQ per track
- MIDI In and Out for beat syncing effects
- Dimensions: 5.5″ x 5″ x 2″ (14 cm x 13 cm x 5 cm), 1 lb (450 grams)
- Durable metal case
More Information
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