Elektron sequencer is digital right? Like on the rytm.
What about analog seq? What are the benefits? Never played with one and just ask myself whats might be the differences. Pros cons etc.
Analog sounds better, obiously. 
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I have an analog sequencer (0Ctrl) and then the Elektron boxes. Difference is that the Elektron boxes have a million more sequencing features.
Well I guess most digital sequencers use Midi protocols, so are somewhat limited by the 7 bit thing (meaning only 128 parameter values, although there are solutions to this problem).
But the major advantage of digital sequencers is the fact that they can transmit large amounts of data/control a large amount of parameters with minimal connections, whereas an analogue sequencer usually requires a separate voltage connection for every parameter that requires control.
Trying to compare the two on specs alone doesnāt really tell the whole story though, as there are many advantages to analogue sequencing, especially if using a modular system, as CV signals can be patched in an almost limitless set of configurations and modulated almost endelssly. Also, some people prefer the workflow of certain analogue sequencers, where notes arenāt quantized and can be dialled in on knobs with a wide frequency range.
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Still dont get it. Why would anyone give up digital seq for analog?
Why should someone give up on tightly tuned digital oscillators for those unstable analog ones, that you have to tune?
Different people like different things.
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A digital sequencer is always stepped. If the resolution is high enough you might not hear it, but it always is.
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because anything can easily be an analog modulation/sequencing source !
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Clearly these people are wrong, and should be harangued in internet forums until they comply.
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I donāt think they do, do they?
A sequencer isnāt part of the audio path so I donāt think anyone cares about them being analog.
Iām not even sure I know of any strictly analog sequencers. Old ones obviously - some Eurorack ones might be but I suspect most of them use a digital clock at the very least.
Edit: I see now what is meant by digital vs analog regarding sequencers. tbh Iām not sure the āanalogā aspect of a CV generator is neccessarily that important, and a lot of them wonāt be analog anyway, they just generate an analog signal.
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I will only use an analog qwerty keyboard for renaming my samples. Anything else is just cold and soulless.
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Yeah, let me add a caveat.
When I say analogue or digital, Iām talking about the nature of the control signal.
Iād say immediacy used to be one of the obvious reasons people went for analog step sequencers, and their limitations.
Digital sequencers have come a long way, especially in recent years. Donāt forget there werenāt many MIDI sequencers with that immediate approach until very recently. Or prohibitively expensive.
Also, because Tangerine Dream.
If thatās what the OP is asking then it seems like too obvious an answer: because you need CV.
Have sequencers lost focus as a signal generator?
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Yeah, I think thereās an increasing amount of gear that combines the best parts of both analogue and digital.
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Digital sequencers are binary; analogs are fluid.
You can make an analog sequencer do anything you patch it to do. Whereas digital is constrained to a pre-determined code (however good it might be). You have to program digital sequencers.
Absolutely - the filter is by far the main thing - almost everything else could be digital and few people could tell the difference.
Analog oscillators are only good for the ways in which they donāt work right.
(I am still a fan of analog, because Iām an elitist snob)
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Yeah analog holds up well under extremes. Digital falls apart.
Big analog snob here.
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Digital sequencers are good when you want to program something precisely. It is also much easier for programming melodic voices since āplay this note like thisā is much more compact/straightforward with MIDI than it is with CV, which requires a whole bunch of plumbing for something v basic. That said, there can be bandwidth issues and steppiness.
Analog sequencers are good when you want to set up an environment where events pinball off each other. Eg. since everything is voltage, and there are lots of interesting + accessible ways you can intercept and manipulate voltage when you have this gear, you can set some initial conditions (such as: this VCA is going to open and close according to this semi-random CV source, letting through some control signal when it does) and quite easily get organic or surprising things to happen. It is difficult to do this with MIDI without very specific MIDI processing gear, and itās nowhere near as immediate.
I like both and use both.
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