Hi people, here I am just thinking out loud to get some impressions/opinions
Recently got an AR MK1 and it has been great. I also have an OT MK2 which has been my main tool the last 3 years.
AR Sounds fat enough to me and I still get flabbergasted by the sequencer and the other bunch of elite Elektron features. I have found myself limited sometimes when it comes to the machines restrictions depending on the pad, but then samples come to rescue.
Overall a nice experience, yet it’s sometimes overwhelming the whole lot of features. It’s easy to get lost in the programming instead of actually making sounds/music.
That’s why I’ve recently put my eyes on the Nord drum 3P: I really enjoy the idea of sound modeling and the Nord sound to me is quite top notch. I feel 6 pads is enough voices and the ability to play them with sticks (and foot pedal) gives me the feeling I can get a more organic sound.
I’m very handy with the OT when it comes to resampling material and midi controlling external gear, which makes me believe I could get around of what I’m giving up from the AR.
With all that said, I would like to read some opinions and experiences from other users around the globe. And thank you in advance for stopping by.
I have both. They both sound great and I don’t think they have much overlap other than they both “do drums”.
I use the Rytm when I want to program/sequence things with p-locks or use samples or just generally have a programming interface for a rhythm. I always use a little of drive and the master compressor, so Rytm is a little “woolier” for me.
I use the nd3 when I want to play more freely (with pad controller or sticks) and have more sense of dynamics. The sound is much more “clean” than the Rytm, but as you said “top notch”. 6 channels is plenty of voices considering the dynamic response of each channel.
The nd3 is far more dynamic out of the box than the AR. The AR is capable of being dynamic, but programming the velocity mods is tedious at best. I would recommend trying one yourself—they are hard to compare just looking at the specs, but it seems a good fit for your goals
Kinda. Comparing ARmk1 and ND1, I thought I’d be able to get a couple of monosynths and 4 voices for drums played via pads out of the AR.
While it’s possible, they’re two completely different sounds.
It’s probably possible to replicate the ND sounds on the AR for a better programmer than me, but there is some special programming going on in the Nord Drums with the velocity, sweep, and punch parameters.( I’m 90% sure there’s an inaccessible LFO going on in the background as well )
And the with the ND you’re going to miss (I know I did) samples, P-locks, effects, Compressor / Distortion, audio input, USB Audio input
If you can, get them both and spend the next year exploiting the strengths and weaknesses of the two w/ OT as much as possible.
ND3P is great, I have one. It’s kind of best suited to live performance though of course you can use it as a pretty great drum or even monophonic synth module, but just be aware that no matter what, it is going to sound like a ND3P, the programming options are just very restricted. This can be a good or bad thing depending on your expectations and wants.
AR is better at claps and sounding analog.
If you value your time and just want to sound good but not too picky definitely get a Drum.
