(Part 2) Top products from r/volcas

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 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.

Third the keystep. Not sure what is meant by reliance on DAW. Keystep plugs directly into Volcas. The only con to the keystep for my setup is that it requires USB power source. For that, just get a $10 rechargeable USB phone charger.

I have my keystep midi out going into a midi thru box https://www.amazon.com/MIDI-Solutions-Quadra-4-Output-Thru/dp/B0002GH8X4
The midi thru box plugs into each Volca and I can choose which gets Volca gets played by selecting the midi channel on the keystep. It's been working out great.

AFAIK all Volcas the Volca Bass has a female stereo TRS 3.5mm minijack connector, but the signal is not truly stereo, both channels are bridged internally instead. This makes sense for using headphones, but it's not that convenient for taking the signal out into a mixer or audio interface.The cable that I've seen the most people using has a male stereo minijack (TRS 3.5 mm) on the Volca side and a male mono jack (TS 6.35 mm) on the side that goes into the unbalanced input in your mixer or audio interface. This cable is wired in such a way that the signals from the tip and the ring in the minijack are bridged together and connected to the tip in the jack, while both sleeves are used for grounding and connected directly.

You can find the pro snake on Thomman or Designacable on Amazon.

As the connector in the Volca has its tip and ring already bridged, another option would be a similar cable to the one explained before, but leaving the ring in the minijack unconnected. "Tip to tip" plus "sleeve to sleeve" should just work.

A third option is a regular male stereo minijack (TRS 3.5 mm) to twin male mono jack (TS 6.35 mm), but you will need to leave one of the two 6.35mm jacks unconnected to the mixer or audio interface. Not exactly ideal, but much easier to source from any music gear store.

What will definitely not work is a mono to mono cable. Again, as the connector in the Volca is internally bridged, using a mono connector would connect the ring and the sleeve together and in doing so it would also divert the signal from the tip to the sleeve, which is grounded. Long story short: no audio at all on the other side of the cable.

EDIT: not all Volcas have bridged connectors. As /u/TheMythicalNarwhal and /u/Rx-Ende pointed out below, at least the Sample and the Mix are true stereo.

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.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MIDIExpand--keith-mcmillen-instruments-midi-expander?adpos=1o2&creative=55226083081&device=t&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CNTV74myscwCFQqKaQodtooO7A

I wonder if that would work for any controller with a standard USB output?

I bet this would work:

http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/usb-host.shtml

but honestly, just go buy one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/midiplus-AK490-MIDI-Keyboard-Controller/dp/B00VHKM72Q/ref=sr_1_23?s=musical-instruments&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1525116771&sr=1-23&keywords=midi+controller&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

> Samsung Serie 5 Ultra Touch 540U

You probably need to use something like this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Headphone-3-5mm-Adapter-Smart-Phone-Brand-New-2-Female-to-Male-Splitter-Cable-to/172227312807?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44039%26meid%3Dfaddeb56ea4d4d0785713c2795c36302%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D111201679129%26itm%3D172227312807&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

plug your volca into the mic input on that y-splitter

might also need to use a cable like this from the volca. Really depends on the y-splitter and where the rings are on it. This information is usually hard to find online.

https://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Mono-Male-Cable-Plated/dp/B004HZR2OG

EDIT: You could also just buy a cheep external sound card to get you by for now.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28M8615&cm_re=external_sound_card-_-29-128-004-_-Product

Yeah exactly like that. I use these cables for connecting my Volcas to an audio interface, so should work the same for a pedal - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000WKBQZ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have this for my Volcas and Boutiques. It's ok, not as cheap as I would have liked and it's a little noisy. Does the job, though.

One of these will do the job https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-U-Control-Ultra-Low-Interface-Software/dp/B0023BYDHK/ and a cable like this https://www.amazon.com/Choseal-3-5mm-Audio-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00A7J1ANA/

The headphone jack of your mixer is an output. Never plug anything except headphones in there.

You need to connect the volca sample to the mixer inputs, using a stereo 1/8th to RCA cable like this:http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-Cable-CMR210-Stereo-Adapter/dp/B000068O3B

You can also get this cable at radio shack if you still have one nearby, also any computer store will have them also.

It doesn't look like the itrack Dock has 5 min midi. You might plug a cable like this in to the USB port, but I haven't had any experience with this. http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY-Cable-Converter-Keyboard-Window/dp/B0017H4EBG

Link to the cases for anyone else who wants to get one.

https://www.amazon.com/Sharpie-Extra-Point-Poster-Marker-White/dp/B0026HL1EO

What are your thoughts on audio interfaces with FireWire out? My MBP has a FireWire port and I just saw this PreSonus FireStudio Mobile 10x6 listed on Craigslist for cheap:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002N553S4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ex2xCbGPEKCSN

I use a 1 Spot pedal power supply with these adapters.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EBG5QE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZDO400/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Buy a roll of these: https://www.amazon.com/VELCRO%C2%AE-Brand-One-Wrap-Cable-170091/dp/B0083ILCNK

https://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Plated-Contacts-Improved-Performance/dp/B00UKQ1LMU

This is what goes from the Volca’s sync jack into the PO’s sync jack. You do not need a splitter for the sync.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07FB9WC92/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1


This is what splits the audio (totally separately from the sync) from both gadgets into your headphones