Arturia BeatStep Pro Demo With Juno 60, MicroBrute & Eurorack Synthesizers

Here’s an in-depth video demo, via SourceDistributionTV, of the new Arturia BeatStep Pro

In the video demo, the Arturia BeatStep Pro is hooked up to a host of hardware, including:

  • a vintage Roland Juno 60 polysynth (with MIDI retrofit);
  • Arturia MicroBrute monophonic analogue synth (via CV/Gate); and
  • Tiptop Audio 808/909 Eurorack modules

The BeatStep Pro is now shipping, with a street price of about US $249.

23 thoughts on “Arturia BeatStep Pro Demo With Juno 60, MicroBrute & Eurorack Synthesizers

  1. So, I might be underestimating what the beatstep pro can do, but I was looking for a hardware sequencer, something pattern based, ideally with multiple CV and gate outs (but MIDI is OK), and I can’t find much that betters what was around 30 years ago. A used Oberheim DSX sequencer on Ebay is about $300 and has 8 separate channels of CV, an Alesis MMT8 still has performance features hard to replicate. It seems like hardware sequencers haven’t progressed as much as other music tech. Would be that hard to remake something like the MMT8 using an Arduino or something with a better UI for less than $200?

    1. Not to be a jerk, but why not just get an MMT-8 if that is what you want? They are still out there, heck I have mine kicking around somewhere. But no, the BeatStep Pro isn’t exactly a pattern based sequencer. And it is capable of some really nice real time sequencing that the MMT-8 lacks. At least in theory, we’ll know when we actually get to play with them.

      1. Fair enough – not that a MMT8 represents the pinnacle of sequencing awesomeness for me, just more that sequencers like the Beatstep Pro don’t seem to be orders of magnitude better, when most other tech, compared to 30 years ago, is.

    2. As I recall, the Oberheim DSX required an OB-keyboard with one of those special interfaces in order to even get notes into it… So unless you have one (or have an extra few thousand to spend on one), it’s pretty much useless. Plus it was the size of a typewriter, and it wasn’t really designed for live or ‘on-the-fly’ tweaking. Neither was the MMT8. Apart from being able to mute an unmute tracks, the MMT8 was also not really a ‘tweaker’s’ sequencer; Which makes the Beatstep Pro pretty cool, despite it’s limitations. Not for everyone, obviously, but pretty cool.

      1. Yup.

        The Oberheim is nice but you need a full system to use it.

        There are tons of cool and innovative sequencers in eurorack currently.

        Look into those.

    3. I honestly think the new Electribes are seriously underrated as standalone sequencers. If you can handle only having MIDI out they can power up to 16 channels of sequencing, at 64 steps, and with polyphony, and act as an MIDI controller to input notes. Not to mention the onboard sounds are pretty great and you export patterns to Ableton when ready.

      I know I sound like I work for Korg (I don’t), but seriously, if CV out is not a must-have, the new ‘tribe is everything the Beatstep has and a lot more, for only a little more scratch.

    4. Have you considered looking at the Midibox SEQ? They can be used as a pretty simple step sequencer like the beatstep, but have way more depth than that; They’re a full blown 16 track sequencer with arpeggiator, MIDI FX, patch dumping etc. They’re modular, too, so you can add features as and when you need them; You can get CV/gate out etc. from it if you need it, or OSC over network.
      The link’s here; http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_seq.html Have a watch of the videos; they give you a pretty good general impression of the functionality.
      There a lighter weight, simpler version, too, the SEQ lite, which just has buttons and LEDs, but still uses the same core processor etc. The page for that (http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_seq_lite.html) has some good audio demos of the MIDI FX; They’re present on both, as they’re running basically the same underpinnings with a different interface. The video demo on that one also gives you a better view of building a sequence.
      It’d be a full DIY job, but depending on how much you’re willing to spend, you can get pre-made PCBs, and the solding shouldn’t be too bad. This site has a lot of parts kits and PCBs for sale; http://midiboxshop.bigcartel.com/products
      Bear in mind that it’s sold module-by-module; for a basic midibox SEQ v4 you’d need one core board (the STM32F4 is the recomended one; they’ve got a lot of horsepower, and are fairly cheap (I’ve come across them for about £10)), a MIDI_IO module, and a control panel board. Source carefully, and maybe make some of the stuff on stripboard etc. and I reckon you can keep it well under $200. Depends on how confident you are with building stuff. I’ve not built one myself, but it’s one of my projects lined up for the near future.

      1. Thank you! That’s a helpful list and review of those sequencers – some were new to me and look interesting. Appreciate the comment and the Synthtopia community.

  2. If I have a MU format modular, how do I get the 3.5mm CV to work with it? I have tried 3.55mm to 1/4in converter cables, but the signal never comes through…

  3. I wonder if you can have encoders going from 0 to 127 with one single twist instead of 5… or pads that never trig twice with a single hit… you know, that sort of things you expect even from a basic nano controller but that left the younger brother pretty crippled… …

    1. As for the knobs, yes, as stated in the freely available manual, there are several settings for speed and acceleration….

      1. Now if they would just update the firmware for the original Beatstep so that we adjust the knob rotation/resolution.

        I might be more inclined to spend money on Arturia gear if they actually fix issues with older gear.

  4. I wonder if it’s possible to transpose a sequence
    With a keyboard using midi in or cv in.
    I’m looking for this feature for ages in acsequencer.
    You can find it in the old Roland csq-600 machine.
    I know I can use daw to do that but I want a sequencer
    That can do that…

  5. Very Good!! Awesome UI, great functionality… Arturia, you’ve done everything right with BeatStep Pro!

  6. I liked the previous beatstep and got one as I was impatient for this to come out. I took it back though as the software and updates will only function with a mac running OS 10.7 or higher (not sure what it is with a PC, as I only have one computer) which is a shame as I have to risk losing a stable computer to upgrade and edit the layout and controls of the machine.

    I wonder if its the same with this one….

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