Sequentix Cirklon - what make it so desirable?

[Portabella]

hi there,

Sequentix Cirklon is quite an expensive sequencer and everyone in the modular world, or let's say, everyone using hardware, is pretty much fascinated about it. I wonder why and what does it set apart from other sequencers?
I wish I'd understand the hype about it. This is by no means meant cynical or whatnot.
I'm tempted to buy one but then that would set me back roughly 2000 quid for what?
It can run step sequences .. so does my Doepfer Dark Time or Beatstep Pro

cheers

[Red Electric Rainbow]

its extremely powerful, well-built, and can cover a lot of ground in a short time once you get comfortable with it. i don’t have the breakout and use it only as a midi sequencer but it basically blows every other midi sequencer i’ve ever used out of the water.

[Red Electric Rainbow]

the more work you put into it, the more work it’ll do for you.

[paranormind]

It's good because it's rare.

More seriously, my two cents:

- Incredible connectivity
- Incredible feature set
- Incredible, seamless design (Cherry keys <3 ... with leds! <3)
- Rather intuitive and well-designed UI

I went with a Pyramid from Squarp because of the poor availability of the Cirklon, and I'm pretty happy with it, but frankly I think Cirklon remains the final boss of the game when it comes to hardware sequencers.

[Carrousel]

Loads on this in the last few pages of the cirklon thread.

[tron23]

Apart from the feature set and connectivity, there is also the rock solid timing even when overcrowding midi data, something that is very important for some musical styles.

[Nelson Baboon]

well, one reason is that it seems to generate multiple simultaneous threads....probably due to the multiple outputs.

it is not like the godsend sequencer unless you are looking for what it does. i mean, i was starting to get all worked up by that other thread, but it looks like the limitations that previously drove me batty are still there. Depending on what you are looking for, there is NO BEST SEQUENCER.

[6667]

hi there,

Doepfer Dark Time is quite an expensive sequencer and everyone in the modular world, or let's say, everyone using hardware, is pretty much fascinated about it. I wonder why and what does it set apart from other sequencers?
I wish I'd understand the hype about it. This is by no means meant cynical or whatnot.
I'm tempted to buy one but then that would set me back roughly 500 usd for what?
It can run step sequences .. so does my copy of Ableton Live Lite I got on ebay for 5 bucks

cheers

[6667]

hi there,

Ableton Live Lite is quite an expensive sequencer and everyone in the vst world, or let's say, everyone using software, is pretty much fascinated about it. I wonder why and what does it set apart from other sequencers?
I wish I'd understand the hype about it. This is by no means meant cynical or whatnot.
I'm tempted to buy one but then that would set me back roughly 5 usd for what?
It can run step sequences .. so does my copy of OpenMPT which I downloaded for 0 dollars

cheers

[6667]

hi there,

OpenMPT is quite an expensive sequencer and everyone in the free software community, or let's say, everyone using free trackers on a personal computing device, is pretty much fascinated about it. I wonder why and what does it set apart from other sequencers?
I wish I'd understand the hype about it. This is by no means meant cynical or whatnot.
I'm tempted to buy one but then that would set me back roughly <the cost of a computer that meets the minimum requirements to run OpenMPT> usd for what?
It can run step sequences .. so does my copy of my mouth whistling a melodic sequence which i got for free when i was born

cheers

[6667]

hi there,

My mouth making whistling noises to create a sequence is quite a physically taxing task that requires me to continuously use my mouth to create sound and everyone in the singing community, or let's say, everyone using vocal singing techniques, is pretty much fascinated about it. I wonder why and what does it set apart from other sequencers?
I wish I'd understand the hype about it. This is by no means meant cynical or whatnot.
I'm tempted to use one but then that would set me back roughly the physical strain of making noise with my mouth for what?
It can run step sequences .. so does my ability to mentally compose a sequence and repeatedly play it back in my head which i can do without ever having to expend my breath to physically manifest it in the audible range of human hearing

cheers

[DSC]

...

[Nelson Baboon]

hi there,

Doepfer Dark Time is quite an expensive sequencer and everyone in the modular world, or let's say, everyone using hardware, is pretty much fascinated about it. I wonder why and what does it set apart from other sequencers?
I wish I'd understand the hype about it. This is by no means meant cynical or whatnot.
I'm tempted to buy one but then that would set me back roughly 500 usd for what?
It can run step sequences .. so does my copy of Ableton Live Lite I got on ebay for 5 bucks

cheers

i don't think that the dark time is very interesting. Sequencer manuals are in a way more instructive than synth manuals. A synth manual can't show you how the synth will sound when you play it. But to some degree (you can't really get the ui) you can look at the features and decide whether they attract you.

have you done that? it sounds like you're just basing all of this on reputations, which is a great way to get disappointed.

[Nelson Baboon]

oh, shit. didn't get at the beginning that this is just a purebred troll. (this latest poster)

[6667]

oh, shit. didn't get at the beginning that this is just a purebred troll. (this latest poster)

pointless thread tho. just gonna be cirklon owners rattling off feature comparison of cirklon to doepfer dark time (lol). but at the end of the day u can do most of what cirklon does with ableton live lite (except maybe inter-track auxes) if you want to reduce it to features

if we just boil it down to features to price cost benefit analysis, 500 dollars for 16 step sequencer is just lol. 2000+ dollars for something that technically doesnt do anything you cant do with a free bundled version of ableton live lite is just lol.

[paranormind]

you mean like the folks buying $300 oscillators while they can generate waveforms with free software? yeah I know those guys too...

[synthfanatic]

I just purchased a Cirklon 2 after having been on the wait list since Spring, 2017. Having owned or had experience with several hardware digital and analog sequencers (Akai MPC, KORG SQ-10, SND SAM-16, Doepfer MAQ 16/3, Roland MC-4, Latronic Notron, etc.) here are some benefits that come to mind:

- Excellent build quality; these are handmade and not mass-produced
- Rock solid timing; as good (or probably better) than my Atari 1040STE when it comes to MIDI timing
- MIDI, CV/GATE, and SYNC-24 connections; there are very few hardware sequencers that have all 3
- P3 Mode and Cirklon Mode; P3 mode is more similar to a traditional 16-step analog sequencer, where as Cirklon mode allows you to write much more complex sequences and songs
- Quick workflow and setup due to x0x style grid and rotary encoders
- Nice features and modes like randomize, and the ability to transpose your sequence to custom tunings
- Ability to save your sequences & songs easily (similar to most digital sequencers, however unlike most analog sequencers)
- Great support and constant new features (for example, touch screen functionality coming soon); Colin Fraser is the creator of the Cirklon and he will actually take your ideas and implement them!

I’ve only owned the Cirklon 2 for about a month, so I feel that there’s probably many more features that I’ve yet to discover...

With this said, there’s still features that my Latronic Notron does that this can’t do... Plus I love the sequences that come out of my SND SAM-16... But if I had a gun to my head and had to choose a single hardware sequencer to keep between my Latronic Notron, SND SAM-16, and Cirklon, I’d probably choose the Cirklon.

[softroom]

With this said, there’s still features that my Latronic Notron does that this can’t do... Plus I love the sequences that come out of my SND SAM-16... But if I had a gun to my head and had to choose a single hardware sequencer to keep between my Latronic Notron, SND SAM-16, and Cirklon, I’d probably choose the Cirklon.

Funny you should mention the Notron - some Cirklon features were inspired by it (e.g. the Accumulators, although Cirklon's went much further). I suspect you're thinking of 'Supersteps' - something else I wanted but didn't get (yet). You can kinda fake it though.

[dadRabbit]

If I'm not mistaken isn't RDJ one of the first users of the Cirklon? That would be my guess why it's so popular among the many other obvious reasons.

[Leverkusen]

To me the most fascinating feature, apart from all the quality and quantity related points above, is how tracks can be internally routed to influence other tracks and how then even the amount of that influence can be influenced again by yet another track. Or several of them. And how this can affect all kind of parameters like pitch, delay, length, CC#, tempo, ratchet behavior and what not. All this while keeping the classic 16 step UI in an easily accessable way.

What are those Notron Supersteps? I could not find much information on this.

[Angroc]

I think people have covered the possitives a lot here. And I agree with all of that.

But a personal gripe for me is that it doesn't like to be controlled by external gear. This is especially frustrating when it comes to the track values feature and the A/B Knobs feature: they are very very powerful live performance tools, but currently you can only control one tracks worth of TVs + A/B Knob at a time - by selecting the track you want to control. What I miss is the ability to have simultaneous control over track values and AB Knob on several tracks - a MIDI learn functionality would solve this. And it has been suggested several times on the forums since I got one in '13, but the "issue" remains. So now, I have to think about which track I would like to utilize the A/B Knobs, since switching tracks to perform on several sets of A/B Knobs isn't natural at all.

So the TLDR summary is that it's a bit lacking in improvised live performance support: just one fill variation per scene, and one track at a time supporting TVs and A/B Knobs. 16 buttons for muting/unmuting is cool, and you can certainly get creative with that, but MIDI learn on Track Values and A/B Knobs would unlock SO much potential for live performance.

Still, it's amazing, and makes song writing so fluid and fun. The choice between CK or P3 patterns is brilliant, imho. So still worth the hefty sum and wait. Just a personal gripe I have, is all.

[synthfanatic]

You should request that feature with Colin or raise it in the Sequentix Cirklon forum. Since Sequentix mainly composes of Colin and his wife Barbara, he has a lot of roles to play at the company, but it's probably something he can implement in the future based on priority, especially if there's a lot of other users who request the same thing.

With regards to functionality of the Latronic Notron that is lacking in the Cirklon - supersteps is definitely a unique feature that is missing. For those who haven't been lucky enough to have spent time with a Notron sequencer (I think less than 200 were made?) it's a function which allows the user to use a preset waveform to a specific step. You can program different waveforms to different steps on the same MIDI channel so that crosstalk between the waveform occurs which allows for unique effects. Examples where this can be applied include pitchbend, aftertouch, and MIDI delay; pretty cool and unique once you get the hang of it.

Another thing I like about the SAM-16 & Notron Sequencer is that they both lack screens. Everything is done via buttons and knobs which gives it a certain immediacy and allows you focus on the sequences more instead of getting lost in screens and menus... There are tradeoffs to this however since having screens and menus normally allows for more functionality...

[StrangeAttraction]

What makes it so desirable?
1. Scarcity
2. Celebrity endorsements
3. It's probably very good

[Nelson Baboon]

due to its shape, it cannot be almost sat on.

[Carrousel]

hi there,

My mouth making whistling noises to create a sequence is quite a physically taxing task that requires me to continuously use my mouth to create sound and everyone in the singing community, or let's say, everyone using vocal singing techniques, is pretty much fascinated about it. I wonder why and what does it set apart from other sequencers?
I wish I'd understand the hype about it. This is by no means meant cynical or whatnot.
I'm tempted to use one but then that would set me back roughly the physical strain of making noise with my mouth for what?
It can run step sequences .. so does my ability to mentally compose a sequence and repeatedly play it back in my head which i can do without ever having to expend my breath to physically manifest it in the audible range of human hearing

cheers

Although I initially groaned, I had a widening wry smile by the end of your run of posts. Bravo

Also, yeah....these threads are pointless. The info is all already available and it isn’t that hard to find at all