Best products from r/volcas

I can second pretty much everything in this comment.

-A decent pair of headphones or an amp, (which you'll need either a 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter for a standard instrument cable or a just a 3.5mm to 1/4" cable)

-the first thing I realized after getting my first volca was how beneficial a midi controller was for it. The Keystep gives you the ability to control not only your FM and midi devices but USB and CV stuff as well (which if you get hooked after opening the door with your volca you may need)

It also gives you slots to make 8 polyphonic sequences with 64 steps each. Which is pretty neat.

-a multi effects guitar pedal (or even a mixer with onboard FX which could come in handy if your collection grows) is also a great investment. A little delay or chorus goes a looong way.



i_dont_like_reddit is right about FM synthesis, it's like learning to swim in a wave pool. But if you play with it and watch some good videos, it can be very fun.

watch cuckoo's Volca FM video. It will greatly speed up your proficiency with the box.

And his FM tutorial is pretty good in getting to understand the FM world.


Lastly, Start saving up. You're gunna need it.

I think everyone has their own definition of loud.

This little Emie speaker is $40, pretty loud and decent battery life.

If you're willing to step up your budget a little bit, you can pick up a Fender Frontman 25R for under $100. It's small, light, and has gain and reverb as well. It'll get way loud.

You can pick up a Roland Microcube for the same amount of money-- it's a 5 watt but that's plenty loud for home, can be used to play pretty loudly in a smaller but crowded room, and have more fx built in.
(edit: $100 used typically but apparently $150 new)

If you want a combination of potentially really loud, multiple lines in (so you can, say, do FX on one unit but run the others as a clean line, and still have a microphone XLR in) you can pick up a Roland Street Cube for like $250 (or cheaper as a craigslist special but it's less common).

I've had the street cube for years. It's a great, super portable battery amp, you can sit on it if you need to (it's meant for street buskers) and runs goddamn long on six AA batteries.

As mentioned, dunno your budget but personally I'd recommend the Micro Cube or Street Cube. Well worth the purchase.

I got this one. Works great 👍

It just takes a regular 3.5mm trs (Tip ring sleeve) cable like everything usually uses and it converts it to 3.5mm trrs (tip ring ring sleeve) which some devices like iPads and iPhones and tablets and such need in order to know that it’s an incoming signal and to be able to record instead of like when you plug in a pair of headphones for example, which the phone senses as outgoing and will then push audio.

Movo MC3 3.5mm TRS (Female) Microphone Adapter Cable to TRRS (Male) for iPhone and Android Smartphones https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9CJDVE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-X3tDbRJ8HNW7

It’s worth the investment. I use mine al the time for quick recording sessions for music ideas. Sound quality is much better than the built in mic on the phone. Do some reading, it’s fun to learn. It’ll definitely do you good and if you need better quality you can get into different interfaces and stuff. It’s not difficult to learn, it’s just a lot of little things,
just take it in pieces and have fun with it 🙂

This was a surprise to me, too, when I got my first Volca after collecting a few Pocket Operators. They still play nicely together, but not in the same way. If you plan on getting more Volcas, a Volca Mix <https://www.korg.com/us/products/dj/volca_mix/\> may not be a bad idea (it can power three additional ones), though it is more expensive than other solutions.

Otherwise, there are a number of affordable mono mixers out there. I've seen people mention the Behringer Micromix before <https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Micromix-MX400-Low-Noise-4-Channel/dp/B000KGYAYQ\>, but you'll need some adapters for 3.5mm to 6.35mm jacks. This will strictly be mono, however, so if you plan to add some stereo devices to the mix (pun intended), you'll hit a wall pretty quickly. Behringer has a range of other mixers, and you may want to check something out in the Xenyx range <https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-502-Premium-5-Input-British/dp/B000J5UEGQ/ref=sr_1_9?crid=120WM7ZC873VD&keywords=behringer+xenyx&qid=1555091076&s=gateway&sprefix=behringer+z%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-9\>, where even the lowest-end one (linked) will give you plenty of room to expand.

Personally, I just bought a Roland GO: Mixer <https://www.amazon.com/Roland-GO-Mixer-Smartphones-GOMIXER/dp/B01MYC4DVP/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=roland+go+mixer&qid=1555091001&s=gateway&sr=8-1\> to use between a Volca, a few PO's, and a microphone for straight-to-phone video/audio recording purposes, and I've enjoyed it. If you don't plan on recording things and just need something to mix, this will be super overkill for you.

Don't know about the Midiplus Classic 25, but two options I've seen on here a lot are the Artuira Keystep and the Rock Band 3 Keyboard controller

https://www.amazon.com/Arturia-430201-KeyStep/dp/B01BPSBU40/
https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Band-Wireless-Keyboard-Wii-WiiU/dp/B003RS19XE/

Both have 5-pin midi out. The rock band keyboard can be powered by batteries, and is probably the cheapest midi keyboard control you can get with the midi out option. I haven't used it, but it seems like it'd be perfect for a portable setup.

I have the Keystep. Ended up going with it even thought it is 4x the price of the rock band controller for a few reasons. It has a bigger range (32 vs 25 keys I believe), more controls (not sure if the rock band keyboard has octave controls), and a nice built in appegiator and sequencer that can sync with the volcas. It's not "sit on a park bench and play" portable but it's pretty small (while still being very playable), and can be powered by USB, so you could run it off a small battery pack.

I think the general consensus of budget mixers with included FX is that they're not very good. I don't have firsthand experience with the 1202fx, but I'd rather handle the fx separately anyway as I have a lot of pedals. If you want fx, consider looking at one of the Zoom multifx pedals as they're pretty cheap but offer a lot of freedom in what you can do with them.

I have a Dude. I like it and use it with my portable stuff, but if you weren't aware, it's mono only and powered. I were to get another smaller mixer I'd probably go with the Maker Hart Loop Mixer. 5 stereo inputs with a lot more options, and you can stack multiple mixers together should you need more room.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M68UK38/?coliid=I2O0YX9QG0HL2U

I just got the maker hart loop mixer delivered last week. I was gonna get the Volca Mix but read a lot of complaints about it, so ended up on the Maker Hart.


The little I've tried so far is reasonable. Of course it's not going to be the best mixer ever at that price, but it's certainly portable and solid enough. Having 5 stereo inputs is great, too.


https://www.amazon.com/Maker-Hart-LOOP-MIXER-Portable/dp/B01M68UK38

I definitely will! You do the same. The way I did this one was I just ran the tracks playing into a small mixer I have, then a really simple USB interface i got off of amazon that looks like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1511477524&sr=8-9&keywords=usb+audio+interface

this track is really simple so it didn't take much, but if you ran like 6 different channels into some simple interface like that it might muddy it.

I record most of my tracks into either logic or I use the recording feature on my op-1.

I'd really like to get more into abelton, becuase I think it would really help with workflow, but I have such a mental block on learning it. I'm used to the garageband/logic interface setup.

I guess it depends on which volcas you're using and what you mean by silence/return. Like do you want to trigger a whole sequence change or just start the sequence, or send a sequence to them. You can search for their midi charts to see exactly what things you can turn on/off. Depending on how advanced your midi devices are, you could trigger them in all sorts of ways. Basically, it might not be a direct connection, you could have foot switch->midi controller->volcas. It could be done though. Just have to figure out what code does what on the volca, then assign your footswitch to trigger that midi note on a midi controller. I've done things like that with an electronic drum set(that had analog triggers), triggering the drum module that had a midi out.

And that's if you can't just find a full on midi foot controller. they seem a lil pricey

There's also numerous ways you could do that with just audio signal routing. Like using a switch box to mute or unmute the output. (if they're playing on a loop)

I think the cheapest way you could do it would be get an old launch pad or triggerfinger you don't mind stepping on, and (hopefully) assign the correct code for play/stop. Or, use something like the Arturia keystep to send sequences all together and not use the volca's sequencer. lol sorry, I used to do a lot of stuff with midi.

These pencil cases: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWN5VZ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Fit one volca perfectly and are pretty cheap

Thank you very much for digging that up. You are so nice.

Is the recommended setup here something like: iRig Keys => Computer => iRig Pro Duo => volca?

That seems a bit much. I'm hoping this little female to female usb adapter might fix me up. Right?

Awesome, thank you very much for the suggestion! I found a Xenyx 1002FX for about $50 on some local classifieds. She doesn't have a laptop yet but maybe I'll look at the 502 usb so she can use it when she gets a laptop.

​

It might be a noob question but what cord would she need to plug the volca into the mixer? It looks like it would need to be a 1/8 male split to 1/4 left and right like this cord.

i keep them covered up with bartowels when i'm not using them, and i wipe them down with dry microfiber towels like these: http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Microfiber-Cleaning-Cloth-Pack/dp/B009FUFBTG/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1420679472&sr=8-15&keywords=microfiber+towel

i use those to clean everything now, if they don't work dry just get them slightly wet and they'll clean anything.

Something like this

I use Volca Keys with Ableton and I use something similar. Works great!

So this came to a surprise to me, just because I haven't had that much experience with this kind of gear.

Here are my notes:

1. Plugging in headphones (TRS) to the volca works fine.
   
2. Plugging in a stereo cable (TRS) to a normal stereo system works fine.
   
3. Plugging in a stereo cable (TRS) to a mixing board = huge amounts of white noise.
   
4. Plugging in a mono cable (TS) to a mixing board = works perfectly.
   
   I don't have enough details, but I think you're connecting your volca (stereo) to a line in (mono) and it's getting messed up because the mixing board is expecting mono.
   
   I figured this out by taking one of my 3.5mm TRS to 6.35 mm TS cable only using the T and it worked fine.
   
   My final solution was to buy a TS 3.5mm to TS 6.35mm cable for each of my volcas and everything works fantastically now.
   
   edit: if you're using a volca sample, which is actually stereo, you'll want to split the TRS to 2x TS and put it into two channels on your mixing board.

I use these for the mono Volcas. Works perfectly!

Here is a really weird option, if you want to get it into your computer for recording, buy 2 usb soundcard things for like $10 each. They look like this: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0776QBWYB

Then plug each volca into the mic input.

On my mac I just create an audio group with both soundcard mics, so I get a 'stereo' input. Or you could record each track separate.

I am planning on getting a monotron delay cause I think it sounds great with the Volca FM. Currently using an ms-70cdr with the Volca mix and I like it a lot.

Edit: here’s the cable I use to hook my pedal up to the Volca mix aux loop: Hosa CMP-153 3.5 mm TRS to Dual 1/4 inch TS Stereo Breakout Cable, 3 feet

From another newbie, I spent a lot of time weighing strengths and weaknesses of different mixers for the volcas and wound up getting this and I'm really happy with it:

https://www.amazon.com/Maker-Hart-LOOP-MIXER-Portable/dp/B01M68UK38/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1543002133&sr=8-2&keywords=loop+mixer+maker+hart

Can do mono and stereo, has a headphone output, cheap, already has all 1/8" jacks so no adapters needed.

I use one of these, which work great and which I got for £6.50:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IRVQ0F8?ref_=Oct_CABSellerC_430548031_0

Also these are the perfect size for volca:

https://www.amazon.com/Vaultz-Locking-Supply-Tactical-VZ00192/dp/B00KWN5VZ4/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=vaultz+lock+box&qid=1573026601&sr=8-6

Here’s a super simple mixer that will mix up to four inputs down to one. You’ll lose the stereo this way, but it’s a really cheap and easy way to mix your volcas. You’ll also still need an audio interface if you want to record to your computer. But you could get away with a single channel interface. Again, this would mean losing your stereo image.

Amazon Link

Do you have any kind of recording interface? (e.g. Sapphire 2i2) there's tons out there. You need an audio input on your computer to take audio from the headphone out on the volca. The audio interface will serve as this input. Plugging a 3.5mm TRS cable directly into your mic input on your computer is probably not advisable since mic inputs are generally mono.

Sound is not transferred through midi. Midi is simply control information.

P.s. The volca headphone out is 3.5mm stereo (but outputs a mono signal) so you need a cable that has 3.5mm TRS to 1/4 inch TS

Like these: http://www.amazon.com/HOSA-CMP-110-Mono-Interconnect-3-5mm/dp/B000068O3D?th=0

Alternatively, some people use these:
http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-CMP159-Stereo-Breakout-10-Feet/dp/B005HGM1D6

You could make your own 'passive summing mixer' if you aren't scared of soldering a little. Alternatively there is this http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-MICROMIX-MX400-4-Channel-Mixer/dp/B000KGYAYQ/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1393752272&sr=8-10&keywords=behringer+mixer

Here. if you want stereo (i.e. for pan) you'll need to use two channels.
I just plug one channel into my mixer and leave the other unplugged.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068O3C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

Each Volca comes with a stereo 3.5mm cable. Plug one into the sync out of one into the sync in of the other. You'll then need a mixer to hook the headphone out to for each Volca.

Here's a cheap mixer, and you'll need one of these cables for the Bass, and one of these cables for the Sample.

I opted for the $59 5-channel Hart mixer instead.

Behringer Micromix

I have used these for the mono Volcas.

https://www.gear4music.com/G4M/Minijack-Jack-Cable-1m/108P

For the stereo Volcas these worked.

https://www.amazon.ca/Hosa-CMP159-Stereo-Breakout-10-Feet/dp/B005HGM1D6

The Hosa cables will work but you end up only plugging one of the 1/4 cables in. I found the mono cables to be more tidy.