What you basically described in terms of needs was a mpc live… I donno man, in terms of expressiveness and midi control it beats elektron in my opinion. Performance sampler other than finger drumming it’s really not. The same old mpc used on countless records is still there just the features haven’t lived up to people’s expectations.
However, as a mpc user it more than met my expectations… few quirks here and there but it’s the same with the digitakt I own. Which is completely different type of sampler. Cool sequencer and the synth stuff I do is amazing on it but no relation to a mpc at all. Some similarities but you will find that on any sampler.
You should really go to a local music store that has this stuff instead of listening to all the internet hype… it seems a key step would suit you more than 600 dollar pyramid, you could get a key step and small modular setup for utilities or whatever for that price. heck you can get an analog keys NEW for a little more I jus t seen…
A portable ableton to me would be an octatrack or mpc live both similar in many ways but offer WAY different features. You want something you can build tracks on and load them into ableton, mpc live. It’s a production unit as inferred by its name midi or music PRODUCTION center. It has instruments you can make or even some come stock. A mpc and a midi keyboard will get you very far with arrangements.
Or you want something you can program to rock out like an ableton dj and be slanging crazy loops and stuff on the fly, octatrack. limited with midi tracks and tactile expresiveness but a hell of a sequencer to program. to building loops and manipulating them in rhythmic ways Seems to be its strong suit.
As I said before, go out and actually touch the units are interested in. You got friends with elektron, maybe they will let you try one out for a little bit. Go to some music stores, even places with used gear. You never know one of the Roland sp series might be all you need.
But with my 2cents start small maybe a digitakt and key step. From there you should be able to indentify your actual needs. Check out some gear first though, the hardware world is set up that you need other units to do everything you want, plus flashy marketing, internet buzz, etc…