Dreaming of a Zaquencer Pro…

Home Forums Music and Audio Production Dreaming of a Zaquencer Pro…

This topic contains 13 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by Avatar of colin colin 5 years, 2 months ago.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
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  • #6035
    Avatar of Panason
    Panason
    Participant

    This has been talked about before but it’s worth pushing for! It would be amazing to have the Zaquencer running in better hardware.

    The lack of an informative screen is the main problem with the BCR. I’m talking small OLED screens above the encoders and/or at least a larger main OLED screen that can display full words instead of 3 letter abbreviations…. a button with LED under each knob for more functionality…. A nicer, slimmer and less clunky box made of metal… better encoders… CV/Gate out option… full MIDI CC support (per step and as a control surface), 8 tracks… etc.

    Small OLED screens have become quite cheap! (you can even find them on large e-cig batteries).

    If Christian is interested maybe we can all crowdfund such a project (Kickstarter/Patreon?) I am confident that such a product would be very succesful with the growing popularity of all things knobular and step sequencers …. The only product in the market that is similar is the very expensive and unavailable Cirklon sequencer, and that has only 16 knobs for step editing.

    I have the time and energy to get behind such a project. I’m no techie but have been involved in music technology on and off for 20 years and understand the needs of electronic musicians trying to avoid getting sucked into a computer…

    #6106
    Avatar of Dan Haglund
    Dan Haglund
    Participant

    +1 for this – I would get behind this….

    #6109
    Avatar of alien_brain
    alien_brain
    Participant

    custom hardware has always been an option and a few have done it like the retrokits guys

    “The RK-2000 is not really in production but we’d like to show it off anyway (and who knows right…). It is an Aluminium anodized frontplate plus wooden cheeks for the Behringer BCR-2000.

    The faceplate is tailored for the Zaquencer software. On our own BCR2000 we’ve replaced all rotary encoders with more solid detent-type-encoders (A job which is not advisable to do by the way) so now we have a pretty reliable and versatile 4 track sequencer.”

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Avatar of alien_brain alien_brain.
    #6112
    Avatar of Panason
    Panason
    Participant

    Yeah, that is nice.

    Now I believe the encoders are actually the BCR’s (and Zaquencer’s) biggest issue.

    (A job which is not advisable to do by the way)

    Why do you think they’re saying that? So that amateurs don’t ruin the PCB?

    Is it difficult to de-solder the BCR encoders?

    I know a professional tech who can do this…

    #6115
    Avatar of Panason
    Panason
    Participant

    Seems that Christian is not interested in doing a Zaquencer Pro? A shame as the Zaquencer is a great concept that deserves a more solid hardware platform… Screens above the encoders, buttons under each encoder, 8 tracks and 8 midi CCs per track would make this a dream machine!

    The Pyramid is too gimped for what it costs (7000 midi event limit, small screen, not enough knobs) and the Cirklon is expensive and unavailable… There is not much else!

    #6122
    Avatar of alien_brain
    alien_brain
    Participant

    its a nice idea but christian is a coder who seized upon an sdk, and never intended to make a hardware box. hey maybe one of you guys can take on that challenge and then im sure christian would take notice and support you! (dont quote me please)

    #6127
    Avatar of Panason
    Panason
    Participant

    I guess the simplest route would be putting the BCR internals in a metal enclosure and replacing the encoders.

    #6131
    Avatar of alien_brain
    alien_brain
    Participant

    well, i think thats what the warning was for. cloning happens all the time in the modular world. of course cloned stuff is open source which the bcr2000 is not. thats pretty much the end of that.

    #6480
    Avatar of Panason
    Panason
    Participant

    Hi, I am conceptualising a sequencer/ controller inspired by the Zaquencer, Push, and Elektron…

    ALMA sequencer concept

    https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2917410#2917410

    If any engineers and coders are interested in making this a reality please get in touch!

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Avatar of Panason Panason.
    • This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Avatar of Panason Panason.
    #6578
    Avatar of alien_brain
    alien_brain
    Participant

    say… if anyone is looking for a current replacement for zaquencer with a better build, check out mode machines seq12… like a cross between zaquencer and nanoloop, produced by a german guy. not cheap tho. maybe not as cool in some ways.

    https://www.modemachines.com/seq12

    https://youtu.be/MCpR3A_MRfQ

    #6629
    Avatar of Panason
    Panason
    Participant

    Ridiculously overpriced and lacking various features that the Zaq has. For that price I would want at least a large hi-res screen and some encoders… It’s amazing that they can ask for this much, who buys that?

    #6630
    Avatar of Panason
    Panason
    Participant

    Christian, will you take the Zaquencer further in some way? The market for affordable hardware sequencers like this one is growing… It’s a good time to jump in!

    I have asked Uli Behringer at Gearlutz forums to revive the BCR2000 but got no response, lol.

    I’m pretty sure crowdfunding for a new machine would work…

    #6632
    Avatar of alien_brain
    alien_brain
    Participant

    yep its expensive. i bought it. fully robust hardware is not so cheap. as demonstrated by the build quality of the bcr-2000, an inexpensive piece of hardware. looks like building a better solution will either be full of hurdles and challenges with not so much difference to the end product or buying one will be expensive.

    so seq-12 has 12 tracks with controller lanes and similar features. 3 zaquencers using new bcr-2000s (assuming they were still for sale new for around $250 each) plus 3 zaquencer licences totals $1050, so very similar price. only seq-12 is much more robust build with 3 midi outputs as well. also polyend seq is around that price with less over all features. but your point is taken.

    so get yours going and charge what you want. right now its jsut a concept… have you found a platform or a coder? youve got a layout, graphics, functions, the whole bit! its almost finished! impressive. good luck with that. i hope someone gets in touch and is willing to do the work for you. will you be paying? glad i bought 2 new bcr-2000 when they were still available. itll be a sad day when mine breaks down.

    #6823
    Avatar of colin
    colin
    Participant

    im a dreamer too ..

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