Expert Sleepers announced the NTX-8CV at Superbooth Berlin 2026, a4HP Eurorack module designed to connect an iPad or Mac to a modular rack via a single USB-C cable. It operates as three distinct interface types depending on how you work: a MIDI-to-CV converter based on the FH-2 architecture, an 8-channel USB audio interface, and an expander for the disting NT.
Three operating modes:
MIDI-to-CV: The USB-C port operates in dual mode — Device Mode connects directly to your iPad or Mac, while Host Mode lets you plug a USB MIDI controller straight into the module without a computer in the chain. Based on the FH-2 architecture, the MIDI-to-CV conversion handles pitch, gate, velocity, CC, and clock signals.
8-Channel USB Audio Interface: The NTX-8CV is USB Audio Class Compliant with 8 DC-coupled outputs, which means it can carry either high-quality audio or control voltages from software such as Silent Way, CV Tools, or Bitwig Studio. For iPad users, this is the routing path that gets software modulation into physical hardware without additional converters.
Disting NT Expander: For those already in the Expert Sleepers ecosystem, the NTX-8CV connects directly to the disting NT and adds 8 extra CV outputs. Units can be daisy-chained to add up to 64 extra outputs from a single disting NT.
What this means for iPad musicians:
The iPad has developed into a capable sequencing and synthesis platform, but routing those signals into a modular rack typically requires multiple adapters and cables. The NTX-8CV reduces that to one USB-C cable. iOS sequencers like Augmatic GRE, PolyPipe, or StepPolyArp or MIDI controllers like TouchOSC or Condukt can control modular parameters from the iPad touchscreen.
Premade TouchOSC templates are already available online that can control the modules built in clock generators, LFOs, arpeggiators, Euclidean pattern generators, and sequencers.
In audio interface mode, you can run 8 separate outputs from your iPad into the rack for analog processing. Apps like AUM or miRack can send audio through your analog filters and VCAs in real time over the USB-C connection. It can make your virtual and hardware modular work as one.
The trade-off: output only
To keep the module at 4HP and a lower price point, Expert Sleepers designed the NTX-8CV as output-only — there are no inputs. Your iPad can send signals to the modular but the modular cannot send audio back through this module. If you need round-trip communication to record your rack back into iOS hosts, you’ll need to look at the larger ES-8 or ES-9 interfaces instead. For strictly sequencing and running iPad audio through analog gear, the NTX-8CV covers the job efficiently.
Technical specifications:
- Width: 4HP
- Outputs: 8x DC-coupled (audio or CV)
- Connectivity: USB-C dual role (Host and Device mode)
- Expansion: Compatible with disting NT (daisy-chainable up to 64 CV outputs)
- Architecture: Based on FH-2
- Internal engines: Clock, LFOs, Arpeggiators, Euclidean sequencers — all MIDI-controllable
The NTX-8CV will be available summer 2026.
Price: UK £179 (inc VAT), US $219 (exclusive of sales tax), EU €172.25 (exclusive of VAT)
