A really nice and hackable toy 
Have one and will try to add MIDI-clock and more (and better) samples.
Regards, Holger
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I have one of these on the way to me with the initial idea of some sort of smart MIDI controller but with the onboard sound I thought I should be able to do something more. I am looking at how Amiga MOD files could be loaded, played and editted on the NeoTrellis M4.
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Cool idea! A MIDI controller would also be a nice feature.
“The elastomer buttons are translucent so they glow beautifully when lit.”…
I love phrases like that…
Just in case someone would suspect them to put opaque buttons to prevent from glowing uglily when lit…
I didn’t read the whole page but I suppose this little machine also has an audio output so that we can hear the sounds it produce when played…
Yes it has, but IMHO PWM… so don’t expect to get HiFi sound quality.
Regards, Holger
I’m listening to Queen 1 on a cellphone loudspeaker… It’s already not the best mastered LP from this band…
When I was 14, I would listen to it on a portable cassette player with irregular speed…
Day by day, poor quality audio has become, my culture… even more, it could become my religion…
But… Don’t send me to the paths of even mo-o-ore… even more… even moooore…
The new Brave New World TV series has the savages listen to 80’s mix tapes :> The memory limitations of the Neotrellis pretty much require a lofi approach like 8bit Amiga MOD files. Its a fun side project but using it like a mini Deluge to control the Zynthian was my initial idea.
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I’ll never understand that taste for the 1980s basic tune chips… at the time I understand that people would allow them by “default”, waiting for a better technology to replace them… and it happened…
But it seems like those kids who grew up with those Game Gears and Master Systems have been taught music and sound by means of Z80s or 6802s and have a great nostalgia for those cheap chip sounds…
But after all, do I not like to listen to the late 1920s recordings of Annette Hanshaw ? Or do I not enjoy the limited frequency spectrum of the Mellotron ?
8bit sound on the Amiga, Mac, Atari ST was a massive step forward on par with the advances in digital PCM syths like the Korg M1 & Roland D-50 around the same but put it in the hands of pimplely teens like me at the time. Synth workstations were about 5x desktop computers & about half a good 3 year old car.
It was what I consider the first democratisation of digital music tech.
Yeah it sounds crap but we have history ;> I actually don’t get lofi as a creative choice but then that’s why I’m an engineer and not a muso
A sound engineers who crafted mixing desks with incredibly low noise floors didn’t see the point of overdriven guitar either! 
The NeoTrellis looks like the ideal interface for (yet another) step sequencer. Just sayn’…
Out of stock and a bit on the expensive side. I would have thought that something like this might be more attractive. A bit more expensive but twice as many coloured buttons plus extra border buttons and already targeted at music production.
[Edit] Oops! I found this post written (many days ago) but not submitted so pressed the submit button then looked on the website to see they are back in stock. I still think they are too expensive though!)
I lashed out and got the last one just before I posted here as I didn’t know when production might be back up again. Still waiting for it to turn up.
Given its open source perhaps we can produce our own for less $$$.
The SubZero ControlPad64 looks nice and definitely more controller focused. There is a link to a manual. It looks a bit rough around the edges which made me think AliExpress. Looks the same to me.
What attracted me to the NeoTrellis M4 was the fully programmable SOC, onboard A/D and accelerometer (okay … and the coloured lights) that could make a much more interesting device.
This one looks better value.
Name brand is good but there isn’t a lot of love out there for the APC’s. Looks like its just a clip launcher (no midi notes) and no velocity or aftertouch either. I am a bit dubious about how good a AliExpress controller might be … but my curiosity hasn’t exceeded my $$$ interest level yet :>
Yep - the SubZero is “touch-sensitive” which the manual says means velocity and pressure! I am tempted to add it to my birthday list. It looks like each pad has a static colour defined by the (Windows and MacOS) software which is a shame. It would be good if it could change colour when sent a MIDI message like the LaunchPad. If I get one I will report back.
This looks like the OEM Worlde. http://en.worlde.com.cn/products.aspx?TypeId=95&FId=t3:95:3 You can find the Orca PAD64 and Orca PAD48 manuals and software editors on the downloads page. They are claiming to be class compliant so no drivers.
Reading the manual, the Orca PAD64 seems to emulate the Launchpad Pro in Ableton Live. Perhaps these guys were the OEM for novation and have come out with there own version now that Novation has updated the Launchpad Pro.
I just remembered: there’s a tutorial on turning the NeoTrellis M4 into an Ableton Live-compatible launcher.
You do need Max4Live to get it working, though.
Yep! The Orca PAD64 looks the same as the SubZero. (SubZero is a brand name that Gear4Music, a UK based retailer puts on its own range so almost certainly rebranded Orca.) It has the same limitation that it seems you cannot set the pad colour via MIDI, only setting a static colour via the configuration app. I am torn between this (which has the sexy aftertouch - although we are yet to get aftertouch working usefully in Zynthian) and something like what @MrBroccoli uses which zynpad can set the colours of (although only 3 to choose from). I think the SubZero is winning with velocity and aftertouch. Maybe I can hack it to add colour control… (I don’t hold out much hope for that!)
[Edit] I was looking at wrong manual for Orca. It does say it supports feedback for button colour. The Orca is more expensive than the SubZero. I wonder if they are the same thing / version?
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This is sort of interesting. Like a big volume controller but more. Perhaps not so much at the $$$.
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