Teenage Engineering has released firmware 1.2.12 for its mixer TX-6, turning it into a mini-size sampler and looper.
When Teenage Engineering presented their mini mixer TX-6 at Superbooth 2022, this release caused a lot of discussion in the community. Many people thought, Why? I think the developers wanted to show what was possible at this size. They did that impressively.
Mixing of 6 stereo or 12 mono tracks, recording, a built-in groovebox, 32-bit audio interface, beat tracking, multi-FX, MIDI controller… All these features are set in just 0.9 x 2.4 x 4 inches. Crazy and they don’t stop there. In the new firmware 1.2.12, they are adding more functionality to it.
teenage engineering TX-6 1.2.12 firmware
The new firmware 1.2.12 for the TX-6 is out now, and it boosts once again the feature set of it, which was anything but small before this release.
The big highlight of the new firmware is the introduction of two new modes: sampler and looper, which turn the TX-6 into a mini sampler/looper.
In the new sample mode, the six mini track buttons became sample slots and trigger buttons for the samples. The sampling capacity is minimal, with a maximum of 5.5 seconds per slot.
You can record each track in real-time and fine-tune the recording afterward with three classic controls: pitch control, sample start, and sample stop position.
Then, in the new loop mode, the TX-6 can record a loop up to 22 seconds. That’s not a lot, either. Important with these new modes is that the samples and loops are lost when power is down. So, if you want to keep your captured sounds, save them on a USB drive.
For me, teenage engineering missed the opportunity to offer an ability to sample or loop an entire mix. That would be very practical, especially for jams. Perhaps this will be added in a future update in conjunction with a USB drive.
Firmware 1.2.12 also offers an update for the TX-6’s built-in groovebox. The oscillators of the synth part can now be detuned. TE also improved the USB audio functionality, which is now more stable and offers more compatibility.
Further, it now offers a dual mono AUX send option in the mixing section. Lastly, the mixer’s feature of synchronizing with other devices via clock has been updated with a new start/stop signal when using the sync16 output. As a reminder, it can track the BPM of any incoming audio, which is unique to it.
First Impression
It’s fascinating to see what teenage engineering can incorporate into your mini mixer. This update is an excellent goodie for every TX-6 user. Every now and then, I wish I had the TX-6, especially for trade fairs or longer trips. It would give me so much functionality and take up so little space in the luggage.
The new teenage engineering TX-6 1.2.12 firmware is available now as a free download for existing users. TX-6 is available now for $1199/1139€.
More information here: teenage engineering
Available at my partner
You CAN sample or loop the whole mix (minus one track), you might want to do some study on basic mixer signal flow, TE gave us aux out on TX-6 for a reason…