I bought a CT and initially really enjoyed it, but ended up gravitating towards a Polyend Tracker as it seemed to offer a bit more control and flexibility.

Fully personalise your instrument with custom MIDI templates and samples, or find new inspiration with exclusive artist-made sound packs. My experience with the Circuit Tracks has been overall fantastic, but I want to demand for more and put a fair bit of criticism on what it lacks or it could be improved. For the most part, the functionality of the original Circuit is carried over here with few changes, meaning the synths and sampling capabilities are broadly similar to those on the original.Novation’s Circuit (reviewed SOS January 2016) sparked an obsessive interest for me in portable tabletop music gadgets, and a move away from computer‑centric composition. The interface is very hands on that allows you to produce music very quickly and explore new sounds in an intuitive manner.

As with the synths, sounds are selected using the pad grid with a total of 64 pre-loaded sample slots.The Circuit’s focus on a simple, intuitive workflow is truly emphasized for all of the above groups, as it provides a way to get in the flow and jam out without looking at or touching a computer screen. My kids use it every now and then (they spend more time at the piano, and have a bazillion other things to entertain themselves with, like every teenager in this day and era), and I do noodle with it from time to time, so I’d say it’s a good place to start if you want to do electronic music without a computer and have exactly zero physical devices. While there is no way to create new presets on the Circuit itself, the included Components software has a decent UI for organizing, loading, and designing sounds.