Hi Elektronauts, I’m new to the forum, but a while back I got into the world of Elektron with a Model:Cycles and sold it to buy a Digitakt.
I’m very happy with the purchase, but I’d like to find a partner for this little monster. I’m thinking about doing live sets. Some of the genres that interest me are techno, acid techno, psytrance, minimal house, experimental, IDM… My budget is limited, so I can’t afford a Digitone or Syntakt, but I’ve seen some very interesting used options:
Behringer Model D
Arturia Minibrute 2
Korg MS-20 mini
Behringer K2
Behringer TD3
Behringer RD9
Behringer RD8
Novation Bass Station II
Roland TR8
Roland MS1
Moog Minitaur (not currently available used where I live)
Korg FM
I’ve read a lot of forums and seen a lot of videos on YouTube, but I can’t decide… What do you think? Any recommendations?
You can buy a used digitone 1 for about $400 northwestern speckled eagle bucks these days. I’d just do that, personally.
It seems to be Nord week on here so I’d say a used Nord Drum at your acceptable price if such a thing exists.
I would just hold it back and read some threads about gas.
Or just look at a poly synth because a poly can do mono duties too, but not the other way.
nord drum 2 or nord drum 3, do not buy a nord drum 1 if you aren’t 100% sure you want that specific device.
I make technoish / drum-centric stuff and have loved the TR8S and TR6S. I wouldn’t go the TR8 route personally. The 6S is a great value for the price if you don’t mind some menu diving and button combos to get around.
I also second the suggestion to save a bit more and go for a Digitone 1. It kind of feels simple on the surface but there are so many ways to go with it, and that would give you some more melodic opportunities.
Lastly, Analog Four MK1s can be found for around $500 and are an absolute beast for the price. They can be a bit tedious to dial in but similar to the Digitone, are really versatile.
Definitely an MPC one
You may as well save your money and double-down on using the Digitakt. Get your galloping psytrance basslines and trippy swirly pad sounds by sampling plugin synths. Get your acid techno basslines by sampling the Roland TB-303 plugin trial between the bursts of noise. Make your own endlessly looping textures and chords and keys. Sample TV shows and adverts for weird unique sounds.
The only thing you can’t do with your Digitakt is stereo samples, but no way will a live audience notice this.
If you’re on a budget I don’t recommend any of the boxes emulating classic Roland drum stuff because the Digitakt can do that so well, either with One-Shots or with sample chains. An external bass synth can be fun but again, playing back sampled bass loops is no additional cost and less hassle. Same with chords and pads etc, though again they’re gonna be mono when summoned from the Digitakt, but a live audience isn’t going to notice.
I appreciate others are recommending the Digitone - it’s a brilliant device but your interest in acid techno, psytrance and other more direct, classic genres makes me think you may as well stick with the Digitakt. You can do a heck of a lot with a Digitone but it has that FM sound which may work for say, the experimental and IDM stuff, but possibly less so for the old-skool bangers. You can do whatever you want with it but sometimes it takes a lot of work to shape the sound away from the FM thing and by that point I’d rather have just sampled a plugin. 
Yeah, I’m lazy. 
from a utilitarian perspective, a digitone 1 will make the most sense
if you buy one used (which i guess they all are at this point), it will be less than something like the aforementioned ms-20 mini
it’s like having four synths in one and is designed to pair with the digitakt – there are also a bunch of videos on youtube to demystify this process
having a second elektron sequencer is very helpful when composing patterns, especially given the limited sampling space on the digitakt
This is the voice of reason to listen to!
yeah this is actually the most sound advice
The digitakt + digitone combo is great. They really make a lot of sense together and can both be found for great prices used.
@Turronejo That’s quite a list you have there, drum machines, monos and a polysynth.
Whichever way, a drum machine seems a perverse addition to the digitakt, as you can load those sounds in.
What are you missing? Chords, textures, lead lines, acid, distortion, additional sequencing? Do everything you can with the DT and hold off further purchases until you know what role you want them to fill.
This is the correct answer.
I love the Digitone, but I’m from Chile, and it hasn’t been available secondhand for a while (plus, it costs around $600-$700 used here). I also have to admit that I’m very interested in analog synthesis and learning about modulars, so a semi-modular synthesizer becomes interesting. The Syntakt also seems like a very attractive option.
I don t know this one!, I found the MKI on sale but not the MKII and III
My advice to you if a digitone is too expensive is to stay away from modular altogether.
I’m not saying don’t buy a semi-modular synth, but eurorack will not be friendly to your wallet.
Semi-modular is definitely the gateway to eurorack.
I love the Digitone, but I’m from Chile, and it hasn’t been available secondhand for a while (plus, it costs around $600-$700 used here). I also have to admit that I’m very interested in analog synthesis and learning about modulars, so a semi-modular synthesizer becomes interesting.
The TR 8/6 S + Digitakt are interesting combo, but I thinks Digitakt with the TR8 can do the same o similar, no?
I looking something analogue to learn, semi modular are very interesring to me, MPC+DT is amazing but very similar to the digitakt in a lot of things, no?
Doubling de money a very interesging option could be the Digitak 2 also. However i want to learn about analogue synthesis 