Birthday choice

The Lounge Other Gear
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Hello everyone,

I have a big choice to make.
I’m turning 40, and I’ve been asked to choose a gift that would really make me happy.
As you can imagine, the only thing I want is a new machine. I think you understand. :sweat_smile:

However, six months ago I bought a DTII, which I use exclusively for dawless music. It’s my first Elektron machine, and I’m completely captivated, but I still have a lot to learn and automations to create.
I don’t have much time to compose, so I can’t afford to start learning a new machine which would be too time-consuming.
So far, my production process has relied on sampling. I mainly make boom bap/trip hop music, and I’m dabbling a bit in house/minimal techno, but all sample-based. And I’m happily drifting into other, more ambient or abstract genres, thanks to the DTII.

So, I’d like to get started with sound synthesis with the goal of creating sounds to sample in the DTII, with the idea that the time spent learning synthesis will be offset by the fact that I won’t have to digg for samples anymore.

For that, I’m hesitating between the ROLAND SH4D, the HYDRASYNTH, and the DNII.

The ROLAND SH4D is apparently accessible and offers good value for money.

The HYDRASYNTH looks incredible but might be too complex for beginners.

The DNII is certainly an interesting option with the same workflow as the DTII, but I’m wondering if these two devices won’t duplicate many of the same features.

Of course, there are certainly a multitude of other synths on the market. It’s not easy to make a choice. My goal is to find the machine that will best complement my DTII without having to go through too steep a learning curve.

That’s where my thinking stands at the moment.
I welcome all opinions and feedback.

Peace

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DNII would be my choice, hands down. You already know how to use a DTII, so you instantly remove the learning curve in that sense. The FM engines have a big learning curve, but when you have the presets as a starting point you’d be well on your way.

That said, there are undoubtedly a million sound demos for it on Elektronauts you could have a listen to to see the range of sound on offer. I don’t have a DNII, but I use my DNI constantly.

Modern Roland gear has a lot to offer, but for me they are a UI nightmare most of the time. If you want a modern rompler, they can be great, but expect a big learning curve.

I have never used a Hydrasynth, but there are plenty of people here who speak highly of them.

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If you play keys at all, even a little, I’d recommend the Hydrasynth as you’d be able to sample phrases and chords that you actually played lending to more organic sounding material to manipulate in the Digitakt. The sound design can be as basic or as complicated as you like, and there are a million presets available, many of which sound amazing. The Hydrasynth can also serve as a controller for the DT2. Conversely, you can sequence the Hydrasynth from the DT. If you don’t play keys at all, get the Digitone.

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Oh, and happy birthday!!! :beers: :birthday:

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Beyond the DNII’s sound synthesis, are there any additional features compared to the DTII?
Knowing that I never need more than 16 tracks, I wonder what the point would be of having two Elektron sequencers, for example.

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Hydrasynth for sure. My explorer + DT + AH is a full complete studio set-up when not using some of my other instruments exclusively.

Happy Birthday!

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No, I don’t play. The idea is more to create the sound and resample it in a one shot in the DTII.
So, more like the DNII, according to you.

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Thank you !

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Groove synthesis 3rd wave 8m
perfect for the 40 crisis :wink:

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I use DT2 and a hydrasynth although I rarely play the hydrasynth using DT2 midi, instead I’m lazy and I play the keys and sample it.

Check your available space before considering it since it is pretty large. Also look at a few videos since I’d say it’s of intermediate difficulty. The key bed with aftertouch per key is a stand out feature so it is worthy of acting as a master keyboard for a studio. If the hydrasynth seems too complex, look at smaller synths with one knob per function if you want something immediate that requires minimal thought.

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Octatrack

Happy birthday

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Fuck me! Out of budget for a noob like me :laughing:

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Yeah, it’s a no-brainer.

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I was thinking more of the desktop version.
But I’m afraid it might be a bit too complex to start with.

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It’s not needlessly complex with redundant menus or anything. You just need to know which module of the synth you want to interact with and navigate to it so it requires a little more thought that way. Look at the layout of the modules, it’s not hard once you are familiar with them. It’s up to you, I try to manage having enough gear without getting analysis paralysis.

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Using a DNII just for sample fodder might seem like a waste, on the other hand it also means that workflow wise you’ll feel right at home. Being a big fan of Elektron in general, out of the three you mention, I*d go for the DNII. It covers a vast amount of sonic territory. Another definite plus would be the gain of a lot of extra LFOs you could use seamlessly via Midi in either direction. Generally, I’m not sure I’d go with a hardware synth at all for the use case you describe, but you seem set on hardware, so…

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I personally prefer working with separate sequencers on a couple of Elektron devices, rather than midi sequencing one with the other. When you hook them up with a midi cable, changing a pattern on the main unit will change the pattern to the same one on the other device. So if you want something to stay the same on one device but change on the other, you can just copy and paste the pattern you want to stay the same across to the next pattern slot, and punch something new into the other. Does that make sense? I find it helps me to keep track of what’s what rather than having everything densely hidden on one device.

I know that’s very different to how a lot of other people work though, so you may be different.

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Could I apply the LFOs and effects from one machine to a track on the other machine?
In concrete terms, could I have six LFOs, two reverbs, two delays, etc., per track?

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It is not redundant. While it is possible to sequence another machine from an Elektron box using a MIDI track with CCs, this is best reserved for targets that lack a decent sequencer. You will be doing things at a remove and miss the directness of the UI (for example in setting p-locks). You can have two Elektron boxes synchronized with MIDI clock and transport and have them in charge of their own tracks. If you turn off program change, you can even have separate patterns for, say, percussion on one machine and melodies on another, and not have to change patterns on all of your tracks at the same time, which is something you can’t do with just one Elektron box.

Congratulations on the upcoming milestone!

[Edit: I see @thejewk made similar points while I was typing…]

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DNII/DTII’s FX are sends, so no. You can use the FX of one machine on the summed out of the other’s (with the same settings that apply to the internal tracks). With regards to the LFOs, I think every MIDI track has 3, so you get up to 48 LFOs that you can use on any MIDI assignable parameter on the other machine (or the same if you use loopback).

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