Superbooth 2026: 1010music blackbox 2 is the next generation of the compact sampler workstation with twice the power, new hardware, and more.
After many quiet years, the hardware sampler market has seen significant activity. Today, we got a new one with the Kiviak WoFi LE, and there is one more.
One of the most popular compact samplers of the last few years is the blackbox due to its size and feature set. After seven years on the market, it’s now time to say goodbye. Ahead of Superbooth 2026, 1010music has unveiled its successor, the blackbox 2.
1010music blackbox 2
The Blackbox 2 is the next generation of the compact hardware sampler workstation. The instrument has undergone a complete overhaul, starting with the housing, which is now aligned with the Bento design language.
1010music blackbox 2 now has a high-resolution 4” color touchscreen. Above that are four knobs for adjusting parameters. I’m not a fan of knobs above the display; I’d prefer them below, because they don’t block the screen when adjusting the settings.
Additionally, it comes with a new button layout. You have four arrow buttons for navigation and shortcuts for tracks, instrument, launch, sequencer, song, scene, mixer, recording, FX, stop, project, and play.
Under the hood, a new CPU is now at work, twice as fast as the previous one. This allowed the developers to implement numerous new user-requested features that no longer fit into the old.
On top of that, the new blackbox 2 is now a battery-powered (3-hour) instrument perfect for writing on the go or mobile jamming.
New Engine Features
The 1010music blackbox 2 still has 16 tracks, each with an independent sampler engine that can host a loop, one-shot, slicer, shredder, and/or a multi-instrument. What is a Shredder?
Shredder is a new instrument type that creates splintered motion by combining granular synthesis and slicing techniques. And samples can now be streamed more efficiently from a microSD card to play long WAVs and more detailed multisampled instruments.
blackbox 2 also allows you to easily sample external gear with the new automated multisample instrument creation functionality. Connect your analog synth and create a multi-instrument in no time.
Internal resampling is still part of the engine, allowing you to layer effects or capture spontaneous ideas on the fly. The new blackbox also benefits from the extra launch, scene, song, mixing, and effects screens like the bento for beatmaking and playing live.
Talking of effects. Users can also work with new DJ effects with XY control: filter, delay, EQ, gate, and repeater FX. Sequencing is also part of the second generation, with a new step-sequencer with grid/piano roll and probability.
Connectivity
There are also changes on the connection side. 1010music blackbox 2 now features two USB-C ports, one for host duties and one for a device for multichannel USB audio and MIDI.
The engine has flexible MIDI integration with extensive MIDI CC support for external controllers. Further, you have a stereo audio input, three stereo outputs, and a stereo headphone socket. There is also a microSD card slot with no capacity limit for projects or samples.
1010music blackbox 2 First Impression
A nice evolution of the original blackbox. Battery operation and USB host are great additions that make the device even more portable. The engine has also received a nice boost.
I just hope the firmware is ready for release and stable. Unfortunately, with the Bento, the customers were the beta testers at the beginning. The firmware is stable now, but from what I hear, it’s not perfect yet.
1010music blackbox 2 is available now for pre-order through retailers for $649 USD/759€. It will hit the streets in July 2026.
More information here: 1010music
Can’t express enough how bad I dislike thick borders around displays. Specially when the controls are not aligned. It seems they didn’t learn from Bento after all. Also I loved the old metal compact case not sure why they think this is better.
„ I’m not a fan of knobs above the display; I’d prefer them below, because they don’t block the screen when adjusting the settings.”
It sounds and „looks” counterintuitive but in reality it is exactly opposite – it is when the knobs are on the bottom is when the hand grabbing them blocks the screen. This is because of the angle at which we typically look at those devices, which is 45 degrees, AND because of how the fingers curl and reach the knobs from the side, not from the front.
Depends on how you place the device and how you reach for the knobs.
Place it near and controls are better on top – further away and they are better on bottom. (I prefer bottom of the screen.)
… or do it like ASM and place knobs on top and bottom so you always get a 50% chance of seeing the display 😉
749 reasons to just use an Ipad instead
Cool!
Hope the 1010 “Bluebox” also gets updated!
I’m more than disappointed with 1010 Music after purchasing two of their products. Updates are slow and user feedback is almost completely ignored. For example, with the Bluebox Eurorack, only the bare minimum of updates is provided. There are practically no new features, just bug fixes.
You buy a device for what it does, not for what it potentially will do. Despite that I agree, I had the bluebox (non-euro) and their implementation of USB audio was so bad, I couldn’t get not distorted sound out of this thing in countless configurstions on Mac or PC. Comment on the forum was removed about this.
Their UIs also leave a lot to be desired by the way. I kinds don’t get the whole “compact’ device obsession, where you then pay with a cricked neck and horrendous menus and small knobs. I’d just get a proper desk or stop buying 20 of these gizmos, but that’s just from a musicians standpoint, not from a gear collector.