Novation Circuit Tracks Music Production Workstation

The Novation Circuit Tracks makes it easier than ever for producers to unleash their creativity -- featuring a hands-on sequencer and advanced effects!

$399.99

  • 8 x  
    $50.00
  • No Credit Check
    6 x  
    $66.66
  • No Credit Check
    4 x  
    $100.00

Novation Circuit Groove Box with Sample Import

No longer available at zZounds
Build beats anywhere! Circuit combines two synths, a drum machine, and a sample importer in a battery-powered grid-based groovebox with an on-board speaker.

Want some instant electronic inspiration? Get on board with the Novation Circuit -- the standalone groove box which makes creativity second nature. Start making music in seconds -- with Nova-heritage synths, expertly sculpted drums or your own samples.

We used the Circuit's Sample Import feature to create a track from real-world sounds:


It's all about the hands-on experience. Hit the pads, tweak the knobs. Layer the parts, adjust the effects. With its compact design, battery power and built-in speakers, Circuit can be used to make music entirely on its own -- anytime, anywhere. Likewise, sync to your computer and session hardware, and use your own samples for full DAW connectivity.

Learn more about the new Pattern Chain Sequences, Tied/Drone Notes and Synth Micro-nudge features in the Circuit 1.7 firmware update:


It's a beat-dropping, heart-stopping musical brainstorm in a box. Grab the moment. The only question you'll ask is: how did I ever live without it?

Firmware Version 1.7

Even greater control of your groove creation – for free!
The evolution of Circuit continues, with v1.7 bringing some hotly-requested powerful functions, including Pattern Chain Sequences, Tied/Drone Notes and Synth Micro-nudge. Download the system updater here. Simply log in and connect your Circuit to your Mac® or PC running Chrome™ or Components Standalone.

Make songs
We've expanded what’s possible with the Patterns view, allowing you to now make complex sequences of patterns and read more pattern chains. There's a new Pattern Chain Sequence function, from which you can select up to 32 patterns and 16 chains of patterns in any order. You can repeat patterns and chains and build up your sequence, navigating easily between sequences. Toggle the append setting to add patterns and chains to an existing pattern sequence, even when playing.

Create Tied/Drone Notes
Each step now has a tie-forward setting, so it's now possible to tie notes together in order to create drone notes and long ambient pads.

Take your music off the grid
It's now possible to take your music off the grid by delaying notes on a step from one to five ticks (each step is divided up into six ticks). It's also possible to use Synth Micro-nudge to create new, more complex rhythms like triplets across the beat.

Ideas in Seconds. Tracks in Minutes.

Circuit inspires, straight out the box. Combining two-part synthesiser and a four-part drum machine with a 4x8 RGB velocity-sensitive grid sequencer -- you'll be finding cool musical directions and creating electronic grooves in no time.

Standalone Creativity

Compact, battery powered and with built-in speakers, Circuit is about getting creative whenever and wherever inspiration strikes. Build entire tunes from scratch without a laptop, then save them and play them back live. Of course, Circuit will also plug in to your sound system and work with your computer and other synth gear too.

Get a walkthrough of the Circuit in this demo:


Cutting-edge Sound

Deep bass lines, epic leads and warm pads -- explore a world of electronic sound at your fingertips. Building on our Nova heritage, Circuit delivers cutting-edge sound with production-ready monophonic and polyphonic patches full of character.

Build Ideas Quickly

Take control with Circuit's intuitive interface. The split grid shows your steps and notes at the same time, so you can sequence and play while seeing exactly what's going on -- program each step or capture your performance in real-time.

Circuit Components

Supported by an online suite of tools that is constantly evolving, take advantage of regular updates to customize your Circuit. For example, simply drag and drop samples onto Circuit with Sample Import, using the streamlined browser-based Web MIDI workflow, and create your own sound library.

Searching for the perfect beat?

Velocity-sensitive RGB pads let you quickly build expressive drum beats, by step sequencing or playing live across a wide range of drum sounds. Define your sound with real-time control over pitch, decay, distortion, EQ and filter. Then drop your perfect beat with Circuit -- time and time again.

What's in the Box?

- Novation Circuit
- USB cable
- 2 MIDI breakout cables: 3.5mm jack to female 5 pin din
- Printed Getting Started Guide
- Circuit patches sheet
- Safety information sheet
- 6x AA batteries included
- 12V DC power supply included
- Ableton Live Lite music making software
- 4 GB of Loopmasters sounds and samples
- Circuit Components: https://www.novationmusic.com/circuit-components

Features:

- 2-part Nova-heritage analogue-modelled +wavetable synthesiser
- 4-part drum machine
- 4x8 grid of RGB, velocity-sensitive sequencer pads
- MiniNova spec oscillator types
- 64 production-ready patches
- Step sequence or build live
- Lock your music in time and key
- Tweak using 8 synth macro encoders with RGB LEDs
- Record and play back your tweaks
- Combine up to 128 steps of synth and drum patterns
- Add awesome delay and reverb effects
- 32 slots for saving sessions
- Create your own synth patches using Circuit Editor
- Add your samples with Sample Import
- Compact and battery powered
- Built-in DSP-enhanced speaker
- Pads and knobs, and sequence works with computer and hardware via USB and MIDI
read less

System Requirements

Circuit can provide MIDI Input and Output via USB to a connected computer. It is class compliant, so will work on any modern Mac or Windows PC.

- Dimensions: 1.97" x 9.45" x 7.87" (H x W x D)
- Weight: 3.09 lbs (with accessories), 2.09 lbs (without accessories)

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 800-431-2609

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. (4 ratings)
Submitted July 3, 2016 by a customer from yahoo.com

"Useful tool for laying out ideas quickly"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
Well, curiosity got the best of me and I am happy to say that the circuit meets and exceeds my expectations. The unit is very well made and allows me the chance to put together a small set up for the small events that I want to go to and set up quickly. This, a small synth set up and PA system makes quite a bit of great sound in a short time.

Sound
The sound is very good, the synth presets are OK but easy enough to modify. I really like a few of them just as they are. The drum selection may be simple but it is very good for a minimal group of beats, the controls are interesting and once you get used to them, quite effective.

Features
The ability to import samples and save them (or replace them with the original sounds) makes this extremely flexible. The max sample time is 60 seconds, more than enough for most songs. Using a second sampler for loops or whatever works well with this box. The lighting scheme is very good and gives a lot of information as to where you are are at in the process and makes the sequencing interesting. I could care less if there is a screen on this because this box is way intuitive. The selectors are laid out logically and interacting with them is enjoyable. The circuit really compliments my analog gear and gives me some basic drum sounds, the sequencer works super nice with my other sequencers allowing me to have a complex set up to tinker with and experiment. I have a couple of old school read more groove boxes still, for instance the Yamaha AN200 and RM1x, this is superior to them in many ways.

Ease of Use
This box is a snap to just fool around with but if you intend to get original you will need to learn about exactly what else this can do besides play preset sessions. Youtube is a great place to look for tutorials, if you already use Launchpads you should catch on even quicker. I got this because i wanted some of the launchpad style controls but i wanted to ignore the computer. Did you get that? You NEED a computer to update the OS and to use the free Novation circuit librarian or download the editor. This box is BATTERY operated or powered by a wallwart- no USB power. Batteries last a pretty long time. I would say that most synth freaks will be able to master this to a large extent in a few hours, to master it may take a few days of trial and error. The limitations are part of the charm.

Quality
The knobs are typical novation quality, solid feeling and smooth,same for the pads.I would not advise tossing this in a back pack though. The shipping box has a nice foam insert that some people put in a case they buy and that is my plan. The 1/4 inch line outs are excellent, the head phone jack is smaller though. The lights are beautiful to see and very functional.

Value
This cost me less here at zZounds than it was listed at on other stores, buying from zZounds is getting to be my first choice lately. They answer my questions quickly and helped insure that my equipment got here fairly quickly. This circuit is a decent value even in a time when gear is being sold for fairly cheap, I consider this to be one of my better purchases.

Manufacturer Support
My other Novation products have never needed support, I hear they are responsive.

The Wow Factor
Looking at this thing running is a trip, lately it seems that a lot of equipment is lit up here in my little studio and this is probably the brightest, not counting the Roland sys 1m- when it gets to flashing during inactivity. Of course i can turn that off but I welcome the Novation Circuit's lights because they are a large part of knowing what is going on when using it.

Musical Background:
hand drums, digeridu

Musical Style:
Electronic, analog and digital, hybrid ambient and dance.
read less
9 of 9 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!