Arturia Beatstep Pro

I've not had my Beatstep pro for long but I can definitely see the potential with it.

So far I have it hooked up to my Moog sub 37 via cv controlling pitch, velocity and gate (NB - needs to 1/4" to 1/8" patch leads for this). CV gate has an option for slides - this can achieve a nice acid glide effect if you're into that sort of thing! I've tested the MIDI out to the Prophet 08 (output from Beatstep Pro sequencer is mono only) and no issues.

I've had some success linking to Reaper DAW via usb though haven't got the tempo sync-ing yet (need to suss the config I guess). I also have the pads and encoders (in control mode) triggering samples and effects in Geist via my Reaper DAW.

The build quality of the item is good. The MIDI software editor (for configuring) seem pretty comprehensive (I managed to accidentally overwrite a sequence early on as I wasn't sure how to utilise it so it takes a bit of time to familiarise with how it operates - still not quite there yet!).

From a sequencing point of view it's very hands on and intuitive. I haven't looked at the manual yet (just a couple of youtube videos) and I have managed to create a couple of sequences without much effort.

I haven't experimented with the drum CV outs much as I don't have a hardware dum machine with CV inputs. I did link one of th drum CV outs to a moogerfooger delay pedal which has CV in and managed to use this to control the delay time.

All in all I can see this being a very useful tool for hands-on idea generation / live work and so far am happy with the purchase.

NB - I chose 4 stars for sound as it was a requirement to fill this in (it produces no sound) so I just went with the average of my other choices!

As other reviewers have stated, this unit was released with MANY bugs, with new ones introduced as the fixes came in - however, in the latest firmware it does seems to be much more stable, the CV clock inputs are working now, and the random dropped / triggered notes are a thing of the past (with my unit at least!)

I for one am glad I stuck with it - it is a brilliantly fun unit, very easy to start using and with a lot of powerful options to use. I have recently had this unit powering two CV sources (Dark Energy, and my modular) and a drum machine (MFB-522), in perfect synch with no issues. I have also had the BSP clocked by Pamela's Workout, which was in turn having it's tempo changed by the modular, in part controlled by the outputs of the BSP - so a bit of a controlled feedback loop going on, and it worked brilliantly.

The unit itself is solid feeling, the knobs are nice and firm, the USB connector is a bit weak feeling, but I haven't had any issues with it so far.

So - ignore the nay-sayers and get one, it is well worth putting up with the occasional glitch, which are much less common now anyway.