Singular Sound massively levels up its Beat Buddy 2 - now in sleek gold accented custom enclosure with all-round improvements and a handy SuperSwitch Controller

So I obviously invested in the Polyend Step Drum Machine Pedal back in February of this year ($499) - which has a little more about it than the Bead Buddy 2 - including 2000+ Samples, 1000 Song Presets, 332 Beats, 245 Kits, 65 Punch-in Effects, 16 Steps, 15-20 Parameters per Step, and 4 Tracks of Drums, Percussion, Pads, and Stabs.

By contrast the Bead Buddy 2 has 24 Genres, 13 Drum Sets - including 4 Drum Sets, 220+ Styles / 230 Songs Onboard, and romo for 320 Drum Sets.

While the Bead Buddy has all kinds of smart features that make it super appealing - constantly randomised fills, Autopilot song playback, SuperSwitch Support etc. The Main Left and Right Footswitch Functional elements are fantastic, and you get a slightly more dynamic experience - with that ability to kick in Accents, and constantly change things up.

I love how my Polyend Step sounds - it’s the best drum machine I’ve had to date, but I don’t particularly get on with its interface - and I feel that overall - there are some better usability features on the Beat Buddy (particularly with the Super Switch) - at least that seems to appeal to me more! I don’t know how much that is about he grass being greener - while I feel that the Beat Buddy is more of stompbox - and how it functions will therefore more likely appeal to me.

Currently it’s listed at $599 - which is too high, but the price has been levelled somewhat to match the Polyend Step - they’re both at $499 currently - and you need to fork out and extra $149 for the essential to me SuperSwitch!

I would need to get one into my hands - in order to learn if my perceptions are correct. It’s a much smaller device than the Polyend Step, and several parts of it - including the screen seem to be better thought out. I can’t help but thinking that if they had both been available at the same time - then I would have more likely gone with the Beat Buddy, What I want out of Drum Machine is superior rhythms and sounds. Ideally I would like all of Prince’s rhythms that accompanied his Purple Rain, and Sign of the Time released - would be great for me to be able to buy that entire set on an SD Card - while I’m not sure anyone particularly caters for that at the moment!

Judging from the Promo Materials and Demos - there seems to be something extra about the Beat Buddy that gels with me a little more - while I won’t know for sure until I get the pedal in - and it’s unlikely to happen this year unless I get some kind of offer - but I can definitely see myself moving across to the Beat Buddy 2 come the new year!

Main Controls - Drum Set, Tempo (BPM), Main / Headphone Volume, Multi-Directional Pad Controller (Folder / Song), Tap Buton (Tap Tempo).

Left Footswitch :

• Master Control (default)
• First tap : Start beat (with optional intro fill)
• Tap once : Insert fill (different fill each time)
• Hold down : Begin transition
• Release hold : End transition, advance to next so

Right Footswitch : 

• First tap : Start beat without intro/count in
• Tap once : Pause/Unpause

Ports - Multiswitch 1* (>Footswitch+), Multiswitch 2* (>SuperSwitch), Right TS Input, Left TS Input, Power Button, SD Card D Slot (4GB), 9V DX [-] xxxmA, MIDI In DIN, MIDI Out DIN, Right TS Out, Left TS Out. 1/4 Headphones.

SuperSwitch - 1.Accent Hit, 2.Previous Part, 3.Next Part, 4.Half Time, 5.Double Time, Outro.