‘What is neat?’
Tidy, efficient layout and aesthetically appealing.
Does neat mean small?
Neat does not equal small. For example, nature is neat and nature is huge.
Bringing it back on topic, Live III has been my favorite groovebox to date. OPXY would’ve been killer if it didn’t kill my wrists. Looking forward to the M8 as it seems like it could take the cake if it clicks for me.
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I really wish they’d made the dials on the punch in effects track do something performative like assignable track filters or a 4 option mod matrix.
As you say, there are great performances features in the op-z, but they are spread across multiple tracks, so live it is tricky to do more than what is available on a single track.
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You can get some glitchy crunchy sounds out of a D2 once you max out its polyphony and overload its pattern sequences. A while ago I stumbled on a group known as the D4 destroyers (using two D2s together) that got some harsh gnarly stuff out of it. I can’t seem to find their YT channel now tho.
It’s fun when used with an external sequencer like a Hapax. Ridiculous combo I know. I like that it’s a JV1010 but with the Techno expansion card sounds and is 8 part multitimbral. I think folks looking at JV1010 romper might like it. But I wouldn’t pay more than a $150 for one. I still have mine and occasionally dust it off for a jam.
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Not sure if this is what you’re after, but @MichaalHell posted an interesting video about how to use a FaderFox to control various parameters of the OP-Z more directly.
It might overcome some of the barriers when performing with the OP-Z.
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Thanks @Omar Yeah I have a Korg nanokey studio and it is great for this role: knobs for each track, pads for punch in fx, xy pad for master filter.
I just wish TE made the punch in fx track encoders do something. Seems like a wasted opportunity on an otherwise feature packed, compact and awesome device.
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The MPC Live 3 similarly excels the Digitone 2, so why not choose it instead?
Maybe “best” doesn’t really mean “most versatile”. I agree that the Digitone 2 is the most compelling Elektron device though.
Have you tried the Woovebox?
Yeah the term ‘best’ is too ambiguous
But if we think about the term ‘groove’ in a box…Then surely the SP1200 is best. Its probably sold the most amount of records in history and practically invented the term groove (as we know it in dance music terms)
In terms of neatness (like something you can hold, take anywhere, does a lot of stuff) - it must be the M8. My only critisism of the M8 are chords are so long winded. If they implemented a Digitone way of doing Chords - it would be near complete for me. Also amazing to see their latest FW now supporting audio over usb?!
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(I absolutely love my M8, but another week point could be the effects, IMHO)
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Why does this topic even exist when the answer is Model:Cycles? You can close it now… 
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Digitone 2…easy choice for me after owning many
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My fav groove-box is DN2+OTmk2
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Care to share the files via DM? I have the PX-7 which isn’t horrible looking but just in case I want to ever change it, it would be nice to have.
Send me your email via DM and I’ll shoot them your way.
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Which is why the greatest groovebox ever made (imo) would be an M8 with an auxiliary audio output so you can build an FX loop lol. I think all sampler devices should have dual outputs like this to support a hardware resampling workflow. I think the SP404mk2, despite mostly being a stereo-in stereo-out kind of machine, can do this using the headphone jack’s cue functionality. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s anything else at the same price point with this kind of functionality. It’s honestly really weird how many modern grooveboxes forgo multiple outputs considering how useful they are on a multitimbral instrument.
With the M8’s new firmware update I suppose you could use a raspi or something as a multifx unit on each of the M8’s channels…
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Could you provide some more info about this?
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We’re almost there, as you can sort of route the FX tracks independently using an audio USB host. But there is no dry bus enabling an FX loop, yet.
It’s a pity because this would open up a vast array of possibilities to use any hardware FX with the M8.
You could always dedicate one of the tracks to an external FX loop (IIRC you can route tracks independently via USB), and insert the clips to be processed on this track only. But it doesn’t offer the flexibility of a send fader you could use to send any signal you wish to an external FX, from any track, at any time.
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You can replace any of the send fx (chorus, delay, reverb) with a send bus over usb. That way you can use any instrument’s sends to route it to an external effect.
The trouble is that there’s no way to map those sends to a midi controller
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