Sidecar Mini or Sidecar?
There are two Sidecars. Both run the same engine core, play the same built-in machines and speak the same protocol to the Rytm.
- Sidecar Mini runs on a Teensy 4.1. It is the cheap way to get started: the built-in machines, a few user machines, samples streamed from its card, the send effects including HALO, the remote pages on the Rytm’s screen, and stereo recording to its card.
- Sidecar Mini + PSRAM is a Teensy 4.1 with PSRAM chips fitted. It adds a second plugin code space for more and bigger user machines and recording of stems (both in testing).
- Sidecar runs on a Raspberry Pi 4B. It is the full version: many user machines, the heavy effects (RINGS, CLOUDSEED, STUTTER), the multitrack recorder with playback, the touch display, Wi-Fi and computer audio.
Start with the Mini, make projects on it, and move up to the full Sidecar later.
| Sidecar Mini (Teensy 4.1) | Sidecar Mini + PSRAM | Sidecar (Raspberry Pi 4B) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | one Cortex-M7 at 600 MHz | the same | four Cortex-A72 at 1.5 GHz, bare metal (no Linux) |
| Memory | 1 MB RAM | 1 MB RAM + 8 or 16 MB PSRAM | 2 GB or more |
| Start-up | about a second | about a second | about 11 seconds from the SD card |
| Voices, built-in machines | 8, all | 8, all | 8, all |
| User machines (U1..U5) | RMP1 packages in 32 KB of plugin code space: the six starter machines fit together | plus a PSRAM code space (1 MB) for more and bigger ones (in testing) | RMPA packages, no such limit |
| Samples from the card (SIDECAR folder, sample pool) | yes | yes, more sample memory | yes |
| LFOs | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Send effects | CHORUS, COMB, CRUSH, RINGMOD, HALO | the same | those, plus RINGS, CLOUDSEED, STUTTER |
| Remote pages on the Rytm’s screen | connect screen, SIDECAR, SYSTEM (no network line), SCOPE, LFO, REC (record, no playback), voice pages | the same | the same, plus playback and channel picking on the REC page |
| Recorder | stereo (MAIN L/R) with a fast SD card | stereo and stems (12 channels, in testing) | up to 23 sources, with playback |
| Display | none | none | optional 800x480 touch display (HDMI; DSI expected) |
| Web UI | the console in Chrome or Edge over USB (WebSerial) | the same | its own page at sidecar.local over Ethernet or Wi-Fi |
| Wi-Fi | none | none | yes (off in the SD card package) |
| Computer audio over USB | stereo, with USB MIDI (multichannel later) | the same | multi-channel, with MIDI |
| Power | from its micro-USB port | the same | its own 5 V 3 A supply |
| Latency, voice after the Rytm’s own drum | about 3.8 ms | about 3.8 ms | about 4.7 ms |
Testers with PSRAM: the PSRAM test steps say what to run and report (:psram, :psram bench on the console). Everything else works on a stock Teensy 4.1 without PSRAM.
Moving a project from the Mini to the Sidecar
Section titled “Moving a project from the Mini to the Sidecar”The Rytm project itself stays on the Rytm. What the Sidecar keeps per project (the sample pool, the JUNO and FM lists, the user slot list) uses the same files on both, and every sound remembers its user machine by a fingerprint of the machine’s id, which is the same in both package types. To move up:
- Copy your Mini’s card folders (
/Samples,/JUNO,/DX7,/PRESETSand the hidden/.rytm) to the Pi’s card, or upload them onsidecar.local. - Install the Pi version (
.a64.rmp) of each user machine you use: the Teensy’s.rmppackages do not load on the Pi. You can also export the slot list from the Mini’s console and import it onsidecar.local. - Load the project on the Rytm: the slots find their machines from the project’s sounds.
Slot fingerprints across two Sidecars are tested on hardware.