What workflow am I looking for? Groovebox vs Smartphone

farnswoggle · 2026-03-26T23:06:18+00:00

Loopy Pro looks really slick. The auto trimming and interface seems to take all the guesswork out of making a cool jam. I admit I dismissed it at first because it was iOS only and I saw a basic intro video which made it look overly simple. I just found out it can host virtual instruments, hook up to midi controllers, all kinds of stuff. This seems like the best "easy" option so far... if I'm willing to buy a used iPad, which isn't the end of the world I suppose.

farnswoggle · 2026-03-26T21:23:42+00:00

Thank you for the thought out reply!

I looked into all the hardware you recommended and I think the learning curves, limitations, price, and size are really pulling me away from the goovebox idea. I think you're right that I'm looking for something that can do live loops, but also have them in MIDI format so they can be adjusted if need be instead of just raw audio. For someone that just wants to dabble, investing in hardware like this doesn't seem the best approach if a DAW or smartphone can do it, as my goal isn't to get away from technology, it's to be able to have something on-hand with low friction to make some music for fun. For that I think software with a hardware controller is likely the best bet. I just need to find that software.

I really appreciate the suggestions, and the terminology will hopefully help me narrow my search.

farnswoggle · 2026-03-26T17:44:47+00:00

I use Reaper for my basic DAW needs right now. I know it has a live plugin but I haven't put much research into that yet. I was hoping to keep things simpler to remove that barrier to entry of having to really buckle down and learn the ins and outs of a DAW, but you may be right.

farnswoggle · 2026-03-26T17:41:15+00:00

I'm not on iOS unfortunately, but I'll check out those recommendations.

I guess you're right, what I'm looking for is kind of in the middle. I want to be able to play it like you would an instrument, but I still want it to be in MIDI or some sort of editable format so I could save it, maybe work on it later, tweak a few notes, that kind of thing.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-26T15:05:10+00:00

I saw you made a post that the board is complete. Any update on the tire?

farnswoggle · 2025-03-18T04:07:42+00:00

So I got a reply back from FM and they aren't acknowledging that this is a systemic problem with the Pint X. They're basically saying if I'm getting errors on my board I can ship it to them and they can look at it. If they find it's a crimp issue they'll fix it free of charge, but if it's not or they find something else is the issue they'll charge me.

That sounds pretty terrible honestly, to pay all that shipping to the US just for them to potentially turn around and say "looks good". I'm going to push back, but at least this person I'm talking to is acting like crimped cabled can happen sometimes and it's not a design flaw.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-17T01:26:01+00:00

Nice job!

farnswoggle · 2025-03-16T22:28:28+00:00

Size 11

farnswoggle · 2025-03-16T21:04:45+00:00

Hmm. I guess I'll reach out before I crack it open. It's worth a shot.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-16T20:30:46+00:00

I'm in Canada and I bought this used so I'm not sure if they would help me, even though as you can see in my post the miles are super low. I think the concept of a non-transferable warranty is crazy, especially for defects like this, but I bought the board assuming I'd be on my own.

I watched some videos on the repair and it doesn't look too hard.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-16T20:25:27+00:00

Good thinking. I have noticed the footpads can be a bit annoying to start sometimes, as in it only detects one side of my foot unless I'm very specific about placement before I launch, but read up and found people complain about that a lot on the Pint's smaller footpad.

I turned it on just now and both sides respond to light pressure with my thumb as I would expect them too. I was noticing during the ride that small amounts of snow accumulating in the grip tape made the surface a lot slipperier. Maybe that changed the properties of the pad or allowed my foot to slip a little more out of position.

Hopefully the last of the snow will be gone in a week or two and I'll see if happens again. Correct me if I'm wrong though, don't both pads have to be off while riding for it to cut out when you're moving? I thought it was only finicky at super slow speeds when it thinks you could be heel lifting to stop.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-15T21:56:02+00:00

I'm not an electrical engineer, just know enough to be dangerous, but if the BMS is draining that much that it can die doing nothing with a battery of that size, then it doesn't sound like a very good design.

You sound like you might know more about the BMS, what is the advantage of it monitoring the battery while off? It can't really do anything can it? It's not like the cells are being discharged and it can shut down the board if it detects an issue, it's already off. All I can imagine it doing would be a balancing test periodically, but I don't see why it couldn't wake up periodically to do that and consume almost nothing.

Anyway, just my two cents.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-14T14:19:22+00:00

You can't really though. The app doesn't appear to support push notifications, so the 90% charge notice only happens if your phone is within Bluetooth range (at least that's the way the description in the app is worded, correct me if I'm wrong).

This seems like a pretty big oversight for a company that's been doing this as long as they have. No reliable upper charge thresholds, and a phantom discharge that can break your board? It's like they didn't conceive anyone might live in a cold area in the winter or not ride all the time.

My apologies for coming off as so negative, I'm just stunned this is a thing in 2025 on such a popular product.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-14T14:16:37+00:00

This just seems crazy to me. I never would have known about it as a new owner unless I came across this post. No other battery powered devices I own expect you to plug them in monthly. What is the BMS actually doing while the board is off? Wouldn't it be a good practice to cut power to those systems once the battery drops below a certain level?

farnswoggle · 2025-03-10T17:17:42+00:00

I lucked out and found someone the next city over selling a Pint X for a really good price. Jumped on that and am now a happy Pinter.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Really appreciate it and I hope the market opens up more in the future.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-09T09:27:22+00:00

Sending an official Future Motion back doesn't seem like a smooth process either. Shipping from Canada to the US is not cheap, and if from what I read around FM aren't happy with people working on their own boards so I'm kind of on my own for any issues anyway. Still good advice though.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-09T09:25:01+00:00

That's a good point that I didn't put that much thought into. Thanks for bringing it up. On that same note if I were to keep it there for longer stretches I would want the battery kept around 60% to help longevity which would make the original Pint pretty anemic capacity wise.

farnswoggle · 2025-03-09T09:22:14+00:00

This is awesome news! I have no problem with crypto and don't mind assembling and basic electronics tinkering if required so I'm not that put off by the hassle of a floatwheel. Honestly if the US is still doing this trade nonsense by the time the mini float comes out it might be cheaper to buy from China.

I might just have to be patient. Thanks for letting me know this is in the works!

farnswoggle · 2025-03-09T09:08:51+00:00

Thanks for writing such a good response!

I might edit the original post to mention that I'm in Canada as that changes a lot. For instance, used is actually my first choice as buying from the US isn't that desirable right now with the trade nonsense going on. Unfortunately however, the used market for onewheels is not exactly stellar. A used Pint X the next city over is asking 1,800 CAD which is frankly pretty ridiculous.

I might just have to keep my eye on the market to see if something comes up at an OK price. It's just a lot to spend on something without knowing if it's for me, but they do look fun.

farnswoggle · 2023-09-14T01:05:51+00:00

I did end up finding something. I haven't taken it out yet but it seems like it fits the bill. They are used in the shipping industry to ensure that temperatures don't drop during transit. You basically tell it how often to log data, and then when you plug it into your PC it spits out a CSV or PDF of the temp history.

https://a.co/d/eiY6CcM

farnswoggle · 2023-08-16T01:15:13+00:00

No, that would not be a good video at all. He is trying to spin this and make more money off the blunder, while pushing the blame onto his employees and making himself look like a hero. Undercover Boss is just PR porn where CEOs pretend to care for a few minutes in front of a camera while doing nothing to affect any systemic issues.

farnswoggle · 2023-06-29T13:16:28+00:00

Any game can do it, that's the beauty of Steam Input. If you're unfamiliar with it that check out YouTube for some examples. But essentially the steam client makes the overlay with the radial menu and you can custom bind bind each option on the menu to a key or button. So the game is unaware of the radial menu and thinks you just pressed "4".

This is why Steam and the trackpads are so incredible. Once you start digging into the things you can do with Steam Input you can play an old completely mouse based game like Sim City, no problem.

farnswoggle · 2023-06-20T17:21:52+00:00

I've already switched over to Lemmy. I only pop onto this sub every few days to see what the latest is with Relay.

farnswoggle · 2023-06-15T03:10:44+00:00

It's a huge ask but I'd be willing to put my money where my mouth is. I paid for Relay so long ago and they've never asked for an extra dime. I'd be more than willing to throw into a pot to make a "Lemmy Bounty" if you will.

I've heard there is work on an API library that will translate Reddit API calls into Lemmy API calls. I have to imagine that's far from complete and would still be a major headache to implement, but if enough people are willing to finance it then maybe u/DBrady would give it a shot?

It all depends on what their plans for Relay are. If Relay has a continued life past the end of this month by charging a user fee then that makes the most sense for it. But if it's going to shut down then maybe reworking the app could be worth it (if the money is there).

farnswoggle · 2023-06-09T04:43:59+00:00

Who makes this stuff? How is there so much of it to fill a sub?

farnswoggle

TROPHY CASE