Groovebox - Beat Synth Studio Reviews

by SMKartiat

I just sent you guys an email. Posting here just so you all don’t forget to fix this:

First thank you for your latest update. Opening up your this app to receive midi note data from other midi controllers was really the best move and you all did it. Thank you so much for making this happen.

However, in your latest update one thing got completely LEFT BEHIND; LaunchPad mini MK3 midi note controller. I am flummoxed as to how you were able to open the flood gates for other midi note controllers to control this app but somehow, BLOCKED the 2019 LaunchPads from sending midi note data. I know this has to be an accident and since many LaunchPad users have not caught up to the new custom features of the new 2019 LaunchPads, they have not reported this. Well I’m here to tell you, you missed the new LaunchPad. Please Please PLEASE get a LaunchPad Mini MK3 or X and test the this app with the LP MK3 to make sure it is receiving note data from both the LP mini MK3’s scale keyboard and from the single note keys and roll this update out ASAP.

The whole point of an iOS musician owning one of the 2019 LaunchPAds is to take advantage of being able to control the LaunchPad app and this app at the same time off of the SAME CONTROLLER. It’s great portability to perform with your apps and invest more into them.

You’re almost there, guys. Please finish fixing this.

by Klightx15

The sequencer is terrible and incredibly frustrating to use. Can’t zoom out the view. Want to move a group of notes around? Impossible. Want to shift notes an octave? Impossible. The gestures are unresponsive and half the time don’t do a thing. There needs to be a better sequencer interface made. I’ve purchased additional sound packs and I’m still disappointed that I can’t find some sounds I’m looking for. There needs to be more hip hop sounds. You’re very limited when you try sculpting your own sounds. You also can’t save the customizations you make into new sound banks. You can’t turn off filters or oscillators. It also would be nice to be able to play all selected sections consecutively to hear the transitions without having to manually trigger the next section.

by Angelo Grover

Good app but I am agreeing with Leom187...this needs work to bring it up to speed as a serious tool.

I had to reinstall it after the latest update was hanging in limbo not able to complete (don’t know why). The only saving option(s) are, presumably, to either wave or aac files in any of the three save routes...so only in an audio file format? What good is that? Not exactly the most flexible thing unless loops are as far as an attention span goes or requires. What if I want to transfer a session to this app on another device to work on?

Sorry, I just expect more from Novation because I love their stuff. Is the Amplify division of the company tasked with a focus on making simple little “beat boxes” and an ever increasing streamlined conduit to IAP pre-made loop packs for the masses of ‘djs’?

by Zabiery

I downloaded Groovebox cause I wanted to see what it did. It was actually very good! It was a combination of Loop Drum Pads 24, beats, Garageband and your other apps! I could create psytrance, synth-pop, trap, and retro waves, some of my favorite genres that I couldn't do on any other platform before. But, like your other apps, this is very limited... I am very disappointed due to the fact that you have to pay $2 to get a different pack of drums or bass or synths or leads... I know you want money but most people don’t have that kind of money. I suggest, to keep both you and other people happy, use the Drum Pads 24 system. You could charge people ”coins” to buy them... In order to get coins, you could buy them for a certain amount depending on how much you want, or you could watch an advertisement to get coins. Ads give people tons of money, so you'll have even more money than what you're doing right now! People won’t have to pay money to get a new pack and you'll be happy with the ads! But that’a just a suggestion... But I wanna do more on this. I don’t have money so it's very irritating... Hope you understand... Keep it up! :)

by Gareth Witte

First off, Groovebox is very well made - beautiful design, easy to pick up, makes creating a breeze (especially with a bluetooth midi keyboard). Here are a few things keeping it from being really fantastic. To build out a full song I think sections should have their own separate mute per block, instead of globally, and it would be great to be able to change instrument blocks individually per section rather than being stuck with a global set for all sections. My biggest gripe is that a project can’t be sent to launchpad directly from this app. It’s baffling that it isn’t a feature, especially when it can be done in Blocs, and these seem to be built on the same architecture. Other than that, this is a great creative tool.

Edit: Dev response is a good workaround but still more complicated than it should be for apps that should be a seamless experience and all work together as one. I mean really the dream is having all 3 apps in one, with separate tabs for each section, like DaVinci Resolve is for video editing.

by Mojoman67

First off, I’ve made some amazing beats on Groovebox and I’ve even purchased a few of the sound packs but I have several complaints that are keeping Groovebox from being nearly perfect.

Everything that has to do with the instruments is great and making unique sounds is easy but the thing that irritates me the most is the inability to produce different music and have them flow into each other.

The section option allows someone to create several different sounds on the same project but I can’t actually have them flow together meaning that I can’t create a beat drop, so I have to manually produce it by tapping on the section at the right time and I hate that. If I could combine sections together into one whole project, then export them and save them as a whole legit beat, Groovebox would be my all-time favorite beat production app.

Being able to export music is one of my favorite options but it’s the same 2-4 bars that loop repeatedly and I want some variation and diversity. If the developers ever do create combined sections, Groovebox would be 10x better!

Overall, download Groovebox, get the drum packs and such. Everything is fantastic and although there are a lot of in-app purchases, TONS of beats can be made with what is given to you for free.

by Lord Enoch

UPDATE: Sections is a great step forward but kinda pointless since it just keeps looping one section instead of playing through each section.

I'm seriously enjoying Groovebox and have already spent a considerable amount of time on building up ideas and exporting into Ableton Live.
To fully unlock Groovebox , it's pretty steep and I most likely will not unlock the full potential until I see what the updates bring.

NEEDED:
Automation! You know, the ability to record knob movements over time.

Song Mode! Probably the most essential element that's missing from here.

Piano Roll Improvements!
It would be really nice to scale the piano roll to be able to see what is going on. It drives me nuts trying to figure out what is doing what when you can only see so little at a time.

Record Improvements!! This is also a biggie! When enabling Record it seems to start wherever it feels like it. Having it start at a designated position would be clutch! Also, a Record Count-In would make things even better.

I noticed that Groovebox crashes when I tried to export some of my projects to Ableton Live.

Like I said, a really great start, I'm really hoping Groovebox gets expanded; has potential to be a go to app for building musical sketches.

by Ghostproducer18

I like the innovation in the development of Groovebox. I just wish it wasn’t so expensive to unlock its full potential. I’m not even lamenting the sound pack prices as much as I’m taken back by the hefty fee it takes to unlock all the production tools. I feel like those should have been available from the beginning. I love the new update though. Groovebox looks cleaner and more inviting. The sounds are reminiscent of modular synths that you may hear on a Kanye project or Daft Punk record. Groovebox will take you out of your comfort zone when it comes to sound.

All I ask is that the developers take fiscal matters into consideration. I’m a low income college student. I can’t afford to buy everything Groovebox has to offer. Sorry. As good as it is, it’s not worth the immense amount of cash that they are asking. Please change that!!!!

by Kithara-nvc

I love the playability and sound of Groovebox. The packs are good quality and the instrument controls fun to play with to tweak your sound. The keys and pads are also easy to use. If you want to only sketch musical ideas and send to a project in Ableton or stems to be loaded into your favorite DAW this is all you need.

However if you want to do any further work polishing, extending with parameter automation, arranging and finishing a track you will be unsatisfied.

I’m not saying I want Cubasis but I am saying that Auxy and Gadget gets you a lot further along the production workflow.

I would like to see:

Midi learn on all instrument knobs or perhaps main controls.

Automation of the instrument knobs or perhaps main controls.

Configurable Quantize when playing sections. Right now it seems to be quantized to lowest piano roll quantization.

Be able to switch between legato section transitions as it is now and a full configurable quantum as above.

Some kind of song mode or at least a performance capture. Yes there are many fine ways to capture performances such as AUM, or your iOS DAW of choice.

I’d love to see this app expose it’s separate channels to AudioBus or AUM so we can mix further at the instrument level where there are better solutions for midi learn.

by Oseanview

this app is my favorite music app out of the many that I use because the range of sounds and compositions you can create with it with ease is huge. The seamless integration with the Novation Launchkey is just wonderful. The many expansions whether they’re sound packs or actual instrument control expansions are not over-priced and I would recommend getting the expansions for all instruments’ controls because they provide very in depth tweaking of everything. I love Groovebox to the moon and back, my only wish for something to be added to it would be the ability to change the time signatures, especially for the drumbox. Even so, 5/5 stars!

by Maxwellteks

From when I first tried “launchkey”, I loved your design, then
With Launchpad and audio import I could instantly create my own sound packs ,..NOW with this app I have superior synth sounds that I can program and tweak to my own liking .Blocs wave, is also a trip into new territory, and all three can be exported straight back into the launchpad. I would love to see you update the Launchkey app. And give it a record function so that those awesome instruments and tweaking effects could also be sent to the Launchpad. Either way I love the versatility you keep adding . I’d recommend anyone to get all four.

by Oof302

So I’m a bass player that’s wanting to experiment with the theory of other instruments. Groovebox has everything you need to get started with electronic music, it helped me learn the basics of a beat. The automated scales are nice for the lazy minded, so you can hit whatever key you want and not mess up. It’s a tad bit expensive to unlock advanced features, but it’s way more expensive to buy the instruments. Overall a good app for the musically minded, but I recommend you learn how to play on a chromatic scale before using this instead of having everything laid it in major or minor for you.

by Ryan1377

I am one of those people who has way too many music apps on my iPad. I have purchased dozens of the most popular DAW, synth, drum machine and fx apps and this app one I constantly come back too. Its simply one of the most enjoyable music apps. The immediacy of building great loops is amazing. The addition of automation on synths took it to another level and the implementation of automation is very intuitive and lets you add great movement to the sounds. The one big request that would put this over the top is to add AUv3 multi-out so you can route each channel to a separate mixer track in AUM to add Individual eq and effects.

by DJ Meowmixx

Thanks for adding the new synth ! Since the beginning GB had allot of yet unrealized potential, serving more as a fun and engaging introduction for users to the play around with the basics of EDM. Now (thankfully) the developers seem to have decided what direction they would take GB in, moving toward making it a “real”instrument (not a toy, they have begun releasing new synths and offering more varied content! IMO, GB is now showing signs of what it could be: A very easy to use, yet powerful instrument for IOS.
With continued developer support and refinement, and an ear for user feedback, Gb could realize its potential, achieving enough real depth and versatility to be fully integrated into any producers workflow!
Really great way to get an idea down when on the go! Works well with Novations other apps Launchpad and Bloc Waves - you can really do allot with this thing! Hours of fun with a simple interface - Potentially GB could be a serious music maker in it's own right for the iOS -Keep up the good stuff, steady new content and excellent support!

by Dimitri G.

Update 2:
Am I missing something? There are 2/3 times more drum packs than synth or bass options which is unusual and starting to seem limiting. I’d much rather have more options with melody than an over abundance of slightly different drum sounds.

Update:
I think we are good on the drum combos, where are the new bass and synths?

Downloaded this on a whim and have been really impressed and engrossed ever since. Simple layout, great controls and the add-ons are worth the buys but most of all - amazing sounds and songwriting capability. When I'm jamming on an app I want to spend more time playing and developing quickly vs the more precise process on my desktop DAWs and this app lets me do that. Highly recommend.
Only gripes are - transferring the clips to work on in Ableton causes a slight pop sound during the start of each clip.
Also this would be PERFECT if -
- I was able to create a simple timeline of when different tracks come on to capture my layering process.
- The automation and effect tweaks could be recorded or transferred to desktop.

Buy this now, you'll have a blast right away!

by Blaink

Great app, and love the ecosystem, but.. If there was a way to get my ideas into a timeline/DAW, then this + blocswave + launchpad would be literally perfect. I don’t know if I’m ignorant, behind the times, or what, but having the option to record and/or export (seamlessly) into a timeline (like garage band, fruityloops, whatever) all on one ios device seems like the full package, and an essential part of a music suite. Why isn’t this a thing? Right now, all I have is pieces of songs, and no way to mix them into full ideas... I tried leaping from this, to blocs wave, to garage band, but its a pain, and difficult to get right.

Anyway, if this does exist, could a dev point me in the right direction? Either way, thanks for a great tool and slick interface.

by Dlkillinois

Groovebox is amazing. Fun, intuitive, and high quality. It’s easy to get rolling on things.

I switched phones and didn’t realize that the tracks weren’t backed up. I had been creating works penned around highly emotional moments for me (I wrote a really pretty song about my deceased dog as she was dying of cancer, for example). That’s all gone. So I’m in mourning here wishing that I’d been smart enough to have exported everything instead of assuming it was somehow backed up. Please take this as a warning and avoid what I’m feeling now.

Again, Groovebox is great and is extremely versatile. It sounds fantastic. I just wish there was some cloud backup feature, but that’s life I suppose.

by IronStarGazette

I love all of this company's apps! I perform live with Launchpad and this app on a regular basis, and have recommended them all to several fellow musicians.
Thank you so much for adding Chromatic Mode to this app!
Speaking of this app, I also have one suggestion and one request: First, when muting/unmuting tracks, could there be a way to either set a fade in/out time, or have the delay be post-signal, so that the tracks can come in and out smoothly instead of an abrupt cut off?
Second, I would personally really get a lot of use out of the ability to have non-4/4 sequence lengths. In addition to the occasional song in 3, 5, 7, etc. I often like to create a dance groove with maybe a synth arpeggio and/or a percussion track that continuously move across the bar line. I know it's not the most common user need but there are some of us who like to break out of the box, and I love using your platforms so it would mean a lot!
Thanks again for all you guys do.

by Don O...

this app is a terrific app. Sounds great, intuitive interface, and fun to use. this app Pro Features allow so much more flexibility in sound customization and the recent automation update is a great addition. this app is even better when using the Novation Mini Mk3. I do have some feature requests. It would be great if midi learn functionality could be added so that, at a minimum, Launchkey Mini knobs that have not been assigned by default can be used. Functionality would also improve if the Launchkey Mini knobs could control track volumes when on the mixer (volume) screen or through a shift function. Finally, this app would benefit immensely by incorporating an export function that allows for this app creations to be automatically sent and assigned within the Launchpad app (similar the the functionality of the Blocs app). Other than that, great job! Keep up the amazing work! Don

by Andrei. L.

This family of apps was introduced to me by a friend, he showed me the launchpad app and wanted to know about how to make loops,After doing a little bit of digging I realized that the this app app existed. Groovebox could be perfect if you could pull up each synth as a auv3 standalone. And in that mode, it’d be cool to see a more feature rich device

For example the drum machine while I this app, would work as we currently know he. But in standalone you’d be able to add effects, used samples, etc
The wave table module would have waveform modifiers, user tables and more modulation as all the synths could absolutely use a few more editing options :)

This platform while expensive, is so brilliantly crafted. On one hand I love how easy it is to start making a song. But I find myself wanting more wavetable selections I suggest to look at Drambo and their wavetable synth. That’s about as on point as it gets with user tables and adding modifiers and filters as you go

Hope to see more table packs added, but if not. I’ll keep jamming I’m so happy with this purchase

by Eriptron

Update: this app, in it’s early days, was good for making music in a lot of genres. Since then they have reworked all of the original presets and now everything sounds the similar. Oh, for sure you can vary the tempo and you gave the synth settings but if I’m going rework everything, I might as well create them from scratch. If I do that I don’t need GooveBox. They have way too many presets now that sound similar simply because they turn them out to make money so now there just a collection of riff-raff for the most part. I may end our just deleting it. It was good for a while. Oh well.

—-
Every once in a while this app resets all my volumes to, I’m guessing, zero decibels which ‘totally’ hoses the mix! Also, undo-redo no longer works and I lost the settings for a fantastic piece because of a mistake I made. I’m afraid of what else I’ll find. I’ll stop updating if they aren’t going to test better than that.

by Anickt

I have pretty much all the iOS music apps. I keep going back to this. Why? First of all, it sounds great. I’ll put it’s sound up against any iOS music app. Second, it’s so easy to use (once you know where all the controls are) that it gets out of the way of making music. Third, the IAP purchases are small money, especially if you hit a sale, but they add some nice new spice to the pot. There’s more about it that I like but those are 3 big things to me.

What does it need? I thought about this a lot. Maybe the ability to edit automation. But it’s pretty easy to just clear and re-do it. So, for me, there’s two main asks. One is the ability to share projects between devices. The other is a way to chain segments in order to play/export as a Song. That’s it!