I’m a stressed, overworked, underpaid recently new dad who just wants to make music solely to just enjoy the process and bliss out and get stuck in that lovely state of mind where the hours just fall away.
I currently have a DNII, DTII, M:C and various other non Elektron stuff. I love the II’s like no other music item I’ve ever owned and I’ve worked through plenty of them over the years.
I’m DESPERATE to buy a Tonverk. I hover over that buy button almost daily. I’ve never wanted a box more but it will be my most expensive purchase to date.
My biggest concern is I don’t want to pay all that money for essentially a headache.
I keep lurking the bug posts regularly and it seems like the firmware’s a lot better than release but still a mess.
I just don’t know how common the bugs a lot of people experiencing are. I know things like chord step timing is broken for everyone but is there anyone on here who are using their sweet, sweet Tonverks and not experiencing frequent freezes, bugs, etc.
I just want to enjoy it and not find myself constantly powering it on and off and loosing projects and screaming at the sky during my precious downtime.
I don’t really have the time to be researching workarounds and fixes and ways to stop it from freezing up or corrupting projects.
Would any of you incredibly wise owls say I could buy one yet or should I keep waiting?
(also apologies, I went to edit my previous post and deleted it because I’m a big, thick idiot)
I doubt anyone could recommend that you buy new stuff based on that opener. You already have some fine Elektron machines. Enjoy those when you get the chance…?
if you want to be realistic, set a goal of recording 1 album of 4-6 tracks for each instrument you have, once you get past that goal start thinking about other gear.
I have two answers for you – one solicited, one not.
a) Toneverk is in a good enough shape to get you where you need to be. It works, is fun, plays sounds, and is exciting because it has a long future ahead of it. It won’t make you any more happy than you already are, however, because what you’re looking for is a dopamine hit in a difficult time (been there).
b) I’m you 13 years in the future. This is what I would say to me in the past: fuck Tonverk (for now). Buy yourself a comfy chair, a camera, a journal…, and spend that time you’d spend making music looking at your kid. When it sleeps, eats, shits, smiles, cries. I assume you are already doing that, but do more of it. And then more. You may not realize this but you need it more thank a Toneverk. Both you and your child won’t remember the unfinished tracks you make – you will remember time unspent, though.
I have had a Tonverk for about a month. It has never once frozen on me.
There are a few bugs, none of them upset me to the point where i can’t carry on.
It’s master clock is pretty good. I have no issues there.
Best Elektron box I’ve ever used (I’ve had all the Digi boxes)
The complaints are somewhat louder than the contented users, as ever on the internet, the complaints get amplified - not without good reason. BUT it’s still a great box with a great future, no doubt!
If you go for it, sell some boxes so its a free cost
Early parenting will frustrate you in terms of how little time you have. As long as you know that, which you do.
u got swedish synthesis and swedish sampling plockable at ur disposal…ther eu go…anything else is GAS…
and since i’m off that hook in quite a while by now, i can only recognize, such questions like urs, asking for how safe it’s gonna be to purchase the latest swedish sonic gearbox now, is a sign of decline…seems, tv has not that much of a no brainer thing to it, as all former swedish product releases had…
for now, i’d say, even given the fact that u already got more than enough pro klak klak zak zak devices, tv will still see swedish product improvement via fw update tradition and u’ll be fine in case u hit that button…
i mean hey, at least u can tell urself, ok, it’s swedish polyphonic sampling for the very first time, so i “need” it…
Yeah sell your other stuff to buy it and find a way tto get it for 1200 or less. Hover over discount codes and stores w/o sales tax like Control Voltage. (This is making a guess you’re in the USA, apologies if I’m wrong.) Downsize to one piece of gear the TV can handle being that. It’s a fun challenge that will keep you occupied. Sample into tv before u sell.
I’m not against purchases to make you happy even if it’s a dopamine hit, you only live once. TV is great and you’ll keep having something to check and wait for and be excited about when they do firmware releases too which is part of the hobby clearly since you’re browsing and GASing.
But focus on your child.
Do you have a spouse? Do you share finances? Can you afford it? Are they alright with this expense? Will you share responsibilities in caring for the child? Will you interrupt your jams when it cries? As long as you’re not being irresponsible or inequitable then seriously you only live once
I love the Tonverk, I’m having so much fruitful experimentation, I would not recommend it to anyone if its the kind of thing the financial impact would be felt. It’s just not there yet.
I think a TV could be interesting if you sell all your other stuff and focus on TV. Otherwise you already have more than enough.
But …
You probably don’t have the time to learn how to use your TV and make interesting multi samples or subtract kits for it. I also got it shortly after becoming a parent, but find that I don’t have the time to prepare it in a way that I want to use it much for now. I think this one takes more time to curate a nice sample library and build some kits. So I‘d suggest you stick to what you already have and understand and see how TV has evolved and whether it’s still interesting to you once you have a bit more time again.
Haha sorry I was a bit dramatic in the opener, I’m not broke things are alright but tight, I do have the money aside for one but it’s still a lot of money y’know.
Also time absolutely flies, my daughter’s turning 3 next week so the days of baby madness are kind of behind me now and the insane nursery fees where we live will finally come to an end soon.
I’m enjoying my current boxes wholeheartedly and have at last started finishing complete full tracks that i’m actually proud of, I know the digi’s like the back of my hand after so many years with them but I’d really love to add a Tonverk into the mix for all the FX routing possibilities and would love to run old gear through the multisampler and start selling off some old stuff, grainer looks like a lot of fun as well. And GAS, so much GAS.
I guess deep down in my heart of hearts I know I should probably just wait for a few more updates and continue using my current setup as it always brings me so much joy already.
And also the concern from you guys is so nice, rest assured my daughter always comes first, I adore her dearly to say the least and only really switch the gear on once she’s asleep. We’re putting money aside for her and for rainy days. Me and my partner work blue collar jobs but we’re in a decent place, things are good.
Also my partner’s an angel and she’s into her photography and DJ tech so she gets it. I have though assured her I’ll sell some old gear because it’s barely getting used now. When our daughter arrived our ‘studio’ became her room and i’ve had to downsize my desk massively which apart from having to put the 1210’s into storage has really been a blessing in disguise, generally I mainly just work inside the DTII & DNII these days.
And thanks to everyone for your time and advice, your replies are really helpful honestly. You guys are the best.
Personally, I don’t see much point in having both, other than collective purposes.
They definitely have different workflows. DT feels a little more straightforward, no BS, just beat making without thinking.
If this is truly what you are after, and it is not just GAS bubbling up, I’d just stick with what you have.
That being said, I’ve had zero issues with Tonverk, aside from some funny behaviour around Subtracks and plocks, but nothing that stops my session.
Tonverk is undeniably pretty dope, but it definitely requires more cognitive space than your current machines, so there is a good chance that it’s not going to bring you to the Zen state that you’re after.
In that case, I can see buying a TV, sampling your gear that takes up more space and sell that on. On the other hand, if your DT II & DN II work so well, what would you need the TV for? I‘d consider replacing DT with TV. But then again, the TV will fuck with the muscle memory you‘ve built on your digis and will make it less fluent for you to work with these.
I’m really considering it but I love the immediacy of it and find myself often using up more than 8 tracks, I’m kinda worried I may find the Tonverk’s 8 tracks limiting like I did the OG DT and it’d be nice to have the DTII to take care of simpler stuff if I needed it to.
Also the DTII is so portable with a battery and my little field recorder, love taking them out and about but I think I’d be too afraid to ever take the Tonverk out the house. My thinking is the DTII could be good to sketch things out and then move them onto the Tonverk to make use of all the FX options and things like grainer and whatever is still to come.
And you’re spot on, learning the Tonverk is without doubt going to slow my workflow down for a good while which makes me think maybe I should keep the DTII for now at least.