Lol why not
Make Noise do great gear yes !
Lyra is a little bit unpredictable for me.
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I will watch that too !
this is what sold me on the digitone the first time i bought it
as a beginner, it was daunting to learn the synth engine and elektron ui simultaneously but it definitely can be done with time/research/guidance
if you were to consider the dn, i would definitely recommend getting one second-hand as they can be around half the price of a new one if they are used
it would leave you some room to get a nice external reverb pedal
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Octatrack. Hugely powerful and flexible. There are so many ways you could use it from unquantised sampling and looping to 2 channel 8 fx processor, and some. Itās an incredible machine.
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Go cheap. Go DIY. Plus a bunch of pedals. Also DIY. 
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wow really nice !
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MK1 used is fine ?
Definitely. The only major differences are the MKII has better IO converters (the MKII can handle modular no probs), better screen and some dedicated buttons for sampling and general navigation.
You can find used MKIIās for under $1000 howeverā¦
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Example - live take on Octatrack + AH + Eventide Space. I just loaded my older samples to Octa and improvisedā¦
But also keep in mind that hardware-only approach can have serious limits in sound design, like only 4 out channels in Octa and only 2FX per internal channel. Maybe something like Push 3 or Akai MPC One would be more flexible regarding the number of channels and effects.
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Used Analog 4 MkII
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For dark ambient / drone? Smaller number of live tracks could even be preferred considering how much bandwidth can be taken up by reverb and the sound design of the drones themselves.
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A good distorsion pedal , stƩrƩo maybe should be added to thƩ equation too
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Nice ! Mpc One ? Not too limited for sequencing ?
minimizing is better ?
to illustrate mypost I would like to do this āstyleā at the dark ambient level but without daw
Everyone has their own workflow and some certainly prefer flexibility, however ādark ambientā does lend itself well to minimalism, long notes, slow envelopes and cavernous digital reverbs ocreate a bed of sound that is already maximalist, hardware with onboard FX can do quite a bit with a limited number of synth/sample tracks.
It will likely be easier to create the atmosphere than it will to plan for silence and create interesting dynamic shifts and cinematic beats.
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It should be noted that Oscillator Sync is a big fan of the Syntakt for drones as well:
And How I Drone on the Elektron Syntakt.
I donāt have any specific recommendations for hardware here, but I will say that I started buying hardware without a clear goal for it or knowledge of how to use it.
It mostly came down to āI like what people are doing with the Digitone - Iāll buy one of thoseā and substanās music was definitely a part of that.
Though you have said āno softwareā - which is the position I started with as well - I have recently found it extremely beneficial to explore effects (and soft synths) on my iPad/iPhone.
With their class-compliant audio support, I just need to connect a USB cable to my Elektron boxes to route the audio through those effects.
Being able to experiment with a wide range of software effects in the $0-10 range, and explore different routing options, has given me a far better understanding of what I would actually want from an effects pedal if I was to buy hardware (far more than buying an MS-70CDR ever did).
Itās also shown me that many of the pedals Iāve seen, which demo well, are not really suited for the type of music that Iām making.
And having something to hand all the time has let me expand my knowledge of synthesis much faster, which translates to a better understanding of how to use the hardware I own, and a better idea of what I would want if I was to buy something new.
Doing this with mobile hardware feels quite distinct from sitting down at a desk and working in a DAW for me, but I understand itās not for everyone. Itās not something I was open to when I started out with this - as I really wanted to get away from screens altogether (just forget about the synth displays - those donāt count!)
Iām not suggesting this instead of hardware, but I would recommend that you buy things one piece at a time rather than buying a synth and a couple of effects pedals all at once, thinking that will make it easier to get the results you want.
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It has quite good notes sequencer, but I found it a bit too complex to use (as MPC in general). You need to try maybe the MPC software first for DAW to test if it fits your workflow
A bunch of insights from a bunch of people with different approaches - food for thought maybe?
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