1010music Bluebox The Mixer ‘That You Always Hoped Someone Would Make’

1010music has introduced the Bluebox, a portable digital audio mixer that they describe as the ‘keyboard mixer with live performance features that you always hoped someone would make.’

The Bluebox offers stereo, 3.5 mm TRS inputs. You can map them to 12 mono tracks or 6 stereo tracks – all with independent control for recording and playback. Connect your music gear to Bluebox, and then route each track independently to the three outputs and effects sends.

Each track offers control of volume, gain, 4 band parametric EQ, pan, mute and solo functions. You can also apply global reverb and delay effects along with 4-band EQ per track.

You can also record independent tracks or the Main mix using a standard microSD card.

Features:

  • Mix 12 mono/6 stereo tracks of live or prerecorded sound.
  • Independently route each track to any combination of three stereo outputs:
    • Stereo Output 1 – Main mix
    • Stereo Output 2 – Assignable, with dedicated sub-mixer (pre or post fader)
    • Stereo Output 3 – Headphone output, with dedicated sub-mixer (pre or post fader)
  • Control one parameter for multiple tracks at once in Mixer mode.
  • Focus on one track at a time in Track mode.
  • Adjust the level or mute state of each output independently.
  • Use touch gestures or knobs to tweak your sound with four band EQ per track with support for Low Cut/Low Shelf, Parametric, and High Shelf/High Cut settings for each band.
  • Apply high-quality Reverb and Delay effects with independent effects sends for each track.
  • Override the headphone output with the Main mix on demand.
  • Maximize the loudness and unify your mix with the built-in global compressor
  • Sync to external clocks through the MIDI Input and Output.
  • Record hours of music as 48k, 24 bit WAVs directly to the microSD card as multi-track or as the main stereo mix.
  • Playback previously recorded tracks while recording new ones.
  • Load firmware updates through the microSD card.
  • Mix electronic music gear such as the 1010music blackbox, eurorack modules, drum machines, samplers and synthesizers.
  • Save and recall Project settings including all parameters for tracks, outputs, EQ and effects.
  • Plug into a power outlet, or use with your USB Power Bank for hours of use on the go.
  • Fit it into a small spot on your desk and then tuck it in your pack for the next gig.

Here’s an in-depth look at the Bluebox via Ziv Eliraz of loopop:

Pricing and Availability

The Bluebox is available to pre-order now and is expected to ship in December 2020.

26 thoughts on “1010music Bluebox The Mixer ‘That You Always Hoped Someone Would Make’

  1. Been waiting for Elektron to make this but with Elektron FX. This may have to do for now. Loving my tiny Blackbox, been auto-sampling like a mad man and turned it into a tiny sample player. Have multi-samples of my favorite pigments presets. Great device in such a tiny package. Sequence it from the deluge, run it through pedals, record into the deluge, gameover! Tiny “small device” fun.

  2. Does this record post-fader? Like will it record my fader movement/eq movement? I don’t think there is a multitrack recorder mixer that does this and we NEED IT PRETTY BAD

  3. This is correct. I’ve been waiting for more general purpose audio gear that uses mini jack / 3.5mm and is not in Eurorack format.
    The hate for 3.5mm is ridiculous.

    1. I disagree that the hate for 3.5 mm is ridiculous, however I haven’t seen any hate for it in this thread.
      There are a number of issues – first would be size and fragility, especially if things will be jacked in and out frequently. Small parts inside small cases, right next to pcbs, often cause shorts down the line.
      But I understand what they’re going for here, and won’t begrudge them for going small. This device is actually interesting to me, despite owning dozens of mixers of varying quality. This looks way cooler and way more useful to me than the black box. I don’t like touch screens, especially mixing on touch screens, but I could see it as a submixer for couple electronic devices before the main mixer, with their own effects and buses.
      What gives me pause here is that it’s all unbalanced, unless it has an option for balanced in 6 channel mode, which is unlikely, but maybe possible. This coupled with usb power is a nightmare for ground loops, and the loopop video pretty much confirms this. Yes, there are work arounds, but to me is something that the designers should have worked out before production.
      This mixer seems to be designed to invite ground loops, which is kind of like designing a U shaped gun barrel.
      Work that out, and I’ll be interested.

  4. For the 10 years i’m enjoying this hobby i never understood why the companies making mixers only focused on having it al mixers in all sizes, and never made designs that where focused on hobbyist like me that have a small studio with mostly stereo synths, sampler, drumcomputers in it. So the statement “That You Always Hoped Someone Would Make” is spot on here for that reason.

    1. Yes, I spent a few weeks on a new mixer search, main goal- SMALL- thats it. It’s practically impossible. Only ones you can find are Hart Mixers and a bunch of knock-offs on amazon.

      Now all it needs to do is works as an audio interface thought I doubt it’ll happen, I just hope it’ll be in an update, 12in/2out.

      1. I never understood why digital machine don’t usually comes with digital output, is it that space consuming and pricey to implement?
        The benefits can be great, We will get direct outputs, Less unnecessary conversion/latency,
        Multi channel processing with the DAW and keep using the audio interface we already have, Use it as a converter for eurorack or just redundant way to input and output signals
        I love that is blue 🙂

  5. The only negative I have for this mixer is that it isn’t actually available yet! It is going to live next to my Euroracck, the perfect module and I can record my Euro-noodles!

  6. It just doesn’t seem like it would be fun AT ALL to mix 12 tracks one by one with a tiny touch screen.

    I’d sacrifice portability for physical controls.
    When I’m playing a hardware set up the mixer is kinda like one of the Instruments.
    Knobs, faders, mutes, etc.

    Idk. This just looks horribly tedious to me.

  7. I kinda fail to see how is this in any way better than a digital mixer and a touchpad/ipad? A 12-channel digital mixer and a cheap touchpad (even cheaper if you already have an ipad) is going to be cheaper, have more effects, compressors per channel, larger touchscreen, proper 1/4-inch plugs/xlr’s on inputs and outputs… And stil only really takes the space of the touchpad device since you can hide the mixer as it’s not attached to the touchscreen.

    1. This is also a full multitrack digital recorder that can record and launch multiple takes per track. It’s also like 5 inch square, there is nothing remotely this small available and the point is you don’t need an ipad and a Wi-Fi connection to use it…

    2. The size with the stand-alone funcionality and take recording are the only things this thing has over a regular small digital mixer. Again, this has to be on the table for it to be controllable, the digital mixer can be hidden/rackmounted and can be controlled with a phone, which is half the size of this and has a way better touch screen, if you want a slightly bigger touch screen, use an ipad (or a cheap alternative). Many digital mixers have multitrack recording and audio interface functionality…

  8. Ipad + 12 channel audio interface = what your talking about. If you dont already own an ipad, add up those cost. You even said Digital Mixer, so even pricier.

    Thats kind of not the point here. There are many options in this space, this is just another and a welcome addition.

  9. I want a mixer that acts as a brain, sending out midi tempo to all my devices, and then loops audio that comes in, so I can then move on to the next synth or instrument and add on top, then be able to mute tracks and pull them out. So the mixer is part of the performance helping me build a full song an instrument at a time, rather than just recording in whatever I did onto an sd card.

    I can’t really tell from Loopop’s video if this product does that, but it seems like no. That is the product that will be the dawless hardware game changer. At least for my workflow.

    He says in the video “some digital mixers allow you to set loop points” which ones? And do they cost thousands of dollars?

      1. good of loopop to demo any of the product’s best features. people always say he’s so thorough, but this review seemed rushed and only half complete.

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