Hardware Companions for VCV Rack, AKA "What should I throw my money at?"

Find a MIDI controller with some knobs and keys. There are some really nice ones for pretty cheap. I like the look of the Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol M32 keyboard for the price.

Upgrade to a really fast computer.

Get a nice Audio interface if you haven’t yet, especially if you’re using your computer’s built-in audio.

I can’t think of any hardware that would really enhance using VCVRack per se. There are reasons one might buy hardware, but that is a personal question of how you want to work, and most importantly, how much money you have.

Eurorack is a money pit. I have a lot of experience with hardware modular synthesizers, and they’re fun and all, but VCVRack gives you that experience with a lot more flexibility.

Remember that what you’re working with is a musical instrument, and practice is the most important component to being fluent and musical with it, even with just a keyboard, mouse and Rack. The more I experiment with putting together performance patches, the closer I get to something musically compelling without adding in thousands of dollars of gear.

And that’s speaking as someone with thousands of dollars of gear.

3 Likes

I don’t have a lot of cash so i’m looking towards a Beatstep pro. It just seems to do a lot of different and useful stuff.

1 Like

definitely a nice choice :wink:

1 Like

Yes, that’s a fantastic choice. I’ve got one too. Not only do you get two melodic and one percussion sequencer, you also get 16 banks of 16 faders and 32 buttons, if you set it up right. Setting an individual control’s MIDI channel to “User” means it will use whatever channel you happen to have assigned to Control mode. It’s SUPER easy to switch MIDI channels, which can then give you quick access to whatever knob you need.

The advantage that things like the LaunchControl XL (which I also have) and the Midi Fighter Twister have is that you can configure the LEDs associated with each knob, which makes it a little easier to keep track of what exactly you’re messing with. :slight_smile:

1 Like

@digitalohm How’s the PC12 and Rack v1? It does look like a special controller.

I just received mine and my view is completely opposite. Maybe stupid of me, but I expected a metal case. I feel like the build quality is a lot better then a BCR2000 but much much less then a Doepfer Drehbank. And its being sold as a companion for Elektron, wich is made from metal so… oh well. That being said the unit works great though.