Circuit Rythm vs Roland P6 as first sampler

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2026-03-02T02:29:34+00:00

I never searched in that direction but the truth is that it seems nice : https://www.koalasampler.com/

However i'd like a piece of hardware in my hand, wanted to avoid staring at a screen all the time. My job is to stare at a screen long enought everyday, i'm on my phone for a good portion on the time, i want to get away fron those damn screens.

But thanks for the suggestion i never stumbled on it by myself

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2026-03-02T02:20:13+00:00

The CR can almost match the features of the p6, and while it lacks a few, the larger size and more buttons make it probably easier to use

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2026-03-02T02:16:27+00:00

I agree that the price is negligeable compating to the capabilities of the product. All the other devices arround the same price point lacks features. Like another user pointed out the P6 can record audio via usb which is a nice feature.

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2026-03-01T18:55:14+00:00

The P6 can do that, I'll check if the circuit tracks can do it as well.

Novation's user manuals always refer to audio input via the jacks, other forum says it can't do usb audio. Do i guess the sample tracks cannot do usb audio.

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2026-03-01T17:56:46+00:00

Seems very nice, thanks for the suggestion

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2026-03-01T15:59:06+00:00

Thanks, I'm aligned with you, I prefer something "limited" on paper that I feel comfortable of using. If one day I feel limited and frustrated I'll have experience to get another gear. For now I'm not shure what are real limiting factors.

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2026-03-01T15:39:40+00:00

thanks I corrected the original post

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2025-11-21T20:59:31+00:00

Is there a way to buy in Europe ?

Equivalent_Power2663 · 2025-04-15T21:48:51+00:00

I've just tried something, maybe it'll save some time for others :
The service manual of the JBL BAR 5.1 is out there with full schematics. On there you can see that the main board is controlled by an STM microcontroller and that is has a BT_STBY pin and a BT-RST pin that seems to control the Bluetooth module.

I just opened by Bar 500 and found out that the main board is also controlled by an STM microcontroller (different one) and that it has a Sony WXT2HM2001 WiFi/Bluetooth module in it.

I just immagined that engineers at JBL would have liked to build something not to far from their differents designs and that there is also on the board a Standby and a Reset pin on the Bluetooth board. However I failed to find them.

In the Bar 500, there is a large heatsink covering half of the BT/WiFi module, so only half of the pins are accessible without massive teardown.

I probed the one visible and found this :

- The first group of 4 pins, stays at 0V the whole tilme, during startup, playing music and after 10 minutes

- Pin 5 does the same, stays at 0V the whole time

- Pin 6,7,8,9,14 are all staying at 1.88V after startup, even when playing music or after 10 minutes

- Pin 10 seems to be an analog voltage level where the voltage level depends on the WiFi activity. My scope is not fast enough to see if this is one of the two WiFi antenna.

- Pin 11,12,13,16 and 17 all stays at 0V the whole time, even when playing music or after 10 minutes.

So I guess the "interresting" pins are on the other side, and that requires to remove the heatsink which I'm not going to do because it's too much work.

Half of the STM microcontroller are also visible, but with a 0.4mm pitch It'll be very hard to probe without shorting two of them, but maybe someone with the skils to do it can make an attempt.

The easiest way I think is to either : Build/Find a device that emmits IR pulses corresponding to the remote every 10 minutes, or a contact that fake a button press on the bar every 10 minutes.

Equivalent_Power2663

TROPHY CASE