1010 Music Blackbox 2 Overview

A Next-Generation Portable Sampling Workstation

Noah Hafford · 05/06/26

1010 Music have announced the long-awaited followup to their portable sampling powerhouse the Blackbox with Blackbox 2; a portable sandbox of sample creation and mangling. In short, the original Blackbox became an invaluable tool for artist and sound designers alike; offering the kind of flexibility usually only found within the confines of a DAW. This new iteration adds a ton of both hardware and software upgrades that catapult Blackbox's legendary functionality into a whole new realm of sonic exploration.

While there are a plethora of exciting upgrades to be found in the Blackbox 2, arguably one of the most exciting is the most straightforward; an onboard rechargeable battery. This seemingly simple feature is sure to spark the wanderlusting imagination of anyone who craves the endless inspiration of the world around them. This, along with its extremely portable form factor make the Blackbox 2 an immediately intriguing proposition for those mobile sound-makers amongst us. In other hardware improvements, the screen has undergone a significant upgrade, improving the resolution of the image, along with bumping the size up to 4"—an especially useful feature when using the touchscreen functionality.

1010 Music have made substantial improvements to the OS of their hardware since the release of the original Blackbox, and this sequel is no exception; the entire UI and UX have been revamped for a more immediate, performance focused experience. Many notes have been taken from the Bento and the playability of its interface; many of these features have been blended with the best features of the Blackbox to create something that is just as much of a performance tool as it is an exploratory sampling instrument. Launch, Scene, Song, Mixing, and Effects screens have all been reworked to create a user experience that lends itself more toward intuitive creation and beatmaking.

Great attention has been paid to Blackbox 2's workflow, with one of the most exciting new features being the automated Multisample instrument process—allowing you to quickly sample external gear and create a multi-key instrument, with many of the usually-laborious parts of this process being handled under the hood. The brand new Track screen allows for loading up to four instances of the Multisample, Loop, Slicer, or One-Shot instruments; with the Loop and One-Shot instruments supporting 16 sample per-patch. This, along with the improved sequencer make full performances on the Blackbox 2 not only possible, but potentially more efficient than complex setups—and with the improved loading speeds and support for higher capacity SD cards, many may find this workflow preferable.

Audio can be sampled and resampled internally with Blackbox 2, allowing you to reroute your effects to create layers upon layers of affected sounds, giving you an endless well of creative exploration. Project and sample capacity have been significantly increased, allowing for more complex, more ambitious projects as your needs may require. All of these upgrades come together to create what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting samplers at Superbooth, and with the improved portability, Blackbox 2 from 1010 Music is sure to be the secret weapon in the arsenal of many a sampling scientists.