Digitone vs AR

Curious if anyone has/had both and has some experience with workflow. Currently my live setup is fun as hell but much needing a consolidation (too much, too heavy). Looking for something to possibly replace my TR8 and add more musical capabilities. I also want easy interactive workflow for live.

How easy is the Digitone to sculpt spunds? Fun live?

What do you already have, and what Music are you making?

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Mostly swining house or house/techno. I have DT, TR8, AK, MFB Nanozwerg, Doepfer MS404, Volca FM, Blue Sky, Deco, Boss BX8 (mixer)

As you can see despite loving and using these synths a lot, live is getting to be unreasonable.

Many boxes. What are your favourites for jamming?

Maybe I miss your point …

… exhange a TR8 (drum-machine, simple) for a Digitone (FM-Synth) or an Analogue Rytm (drum-machine, complex) for musical reasons and have reduced weight seems to need some more information to understand your intentions :frowning:

From your list of gear I would say, you have covered some sonic territory already. What are you really missing in your setup or to create your musical ideas? A more rhythmic or a more melodic or a more creative-sound-design oriented instrument?

I’m not missing anything at all. I’m considering swaping the not ideal for live gear, for boxes more suitable. I love the analog boxes to death, but 1 hour warm-up time is rough. I’m getting really tired of breaking down my set-up and resetting it up for shows. I’d like my live and studio to be basically the same.

The MFB is a really fun!

I vote for the AR, all the way. I have both, and really like the DN, although I find myself using LFO’s from OT or Ableton to really enjoy the sculpting of its sounds. Havent had the DN for long though… but the AR is so capable on its own. You could theoretically do a full live set with that machine alone! I’m downscaling my live set up as well, and the only essentials are AR and OT i think!

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What about a case to integrate your set-up and use this live and in the studio?

I’ve certainly considered it. I’d end up being a pretty massive case though.

AR ftw.
Mk1 mind you, i dont know about mk2.

Digitone i found not to be so live-friendly (i prefer my fm synths in a daw tbh), while on the Rytm i find you can do so much on the fly.
Your milage may vary, but as somebody said, the Rytm is like a complete universe onto itself. Now with the double vco synths, its ridiculously powerful.

For live techno, i use rytm, a circuit for pads/extras, and a reverb pedal for drones. Nothing else needed.
For house maybe an octatrack or digitone would be appropriate, i guess theres some longer samples from time to time.

I have my Digitakt taking care of back beats, vox samples, chords, and melodies already. The AR does seem like a logical move.

Sorry, missed that one, you have lots on your list :slight_smile:
Then i recommend the AR, from my experience.

I have got the AR and the TR8. I like the sounds of the AR definitely more. They are much more flexible and provide a synth and a sampling sound per voice. But it takes some work to get optimized kits. The factory presets seem not to be everybodys cup of tea. To work on the AR is inspiring. The TR8 is fun and for getting a beat going in shortest time … quick and dirty.

If you like the way the Elektrons are used, go for the AR. For live performance there are interesting options too, like the “Scene Mode” and the “Performance Mode”.

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I had the digitone until recently. Traded it for a RYTM. I LOVE the digitone, but its a tricky beast to use as a drum machine, at least the way I work. If beats are what you need, RYTM is the boss.
Digitone is REALLY fun, and also very easy to use, if you’re at all familiar with the Elektron way. I’ll replace mine some day :slight_smile:

I would think this reason alone is enough to go digitone over ar for live purposes at least.

I feel you here. I’m currently working on a large pedal board (temple audio’s 43" board) and will semi-permanently house my DN, OT, DT, and AH, complete with everything plugged in under the board. all i will have to do is open the case, plug the main power in and main audio outs.

i’ve got a lot of gear that lives at home at all times, and these are the boxes that travel the most with me, so a smooth, all-in-one pedal board solution seems ideal to me.

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Do you need the AK in the live setup`?

I’m looking at a temple board to package some stuff in a portable format (DT, DN, AH and maybe some pedals). How are you liking this setup? What module(s) did you use for power distribution ? Are you mixing down to stereo pair out of the board or more outs? I’d love to see a photo of this setup!