Getting the Roland TR-8S was transformative for our live work. I can’t recommend it enough. I’d love to have got the Elektron machine but it was no way as useful for my purpose. It has a very nice learning curve (although having now owned a A4 I guess the Elektron would be easier as well now). Second hand it’s a win win as you can always resell at little or no loss.
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Looking at max GBP 750. Size is also a consideration, right now I can just about squeeze in another Elektron box or similar size. The Tanzbar 1 does sound great as @Unifono says but I’m drawn back to A4 for the similarities to OT in OS/sequencer
Hadn’t seen that, looks cool but it’s much too big!
Overbridge doesn’t worry me as I don’t have a DAW - what were the main reasons you preferred AR over TR8S?
Whatever I choose this is always true 
This is the type of thing that drives me towards AR, as well as thinking it would be the easiest to integrate into my current gear (and my head!)
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Basically more options for sound design and familiarity with Elektron sequencers. The TR8s is very playable but the Rytm just offers much more. In a live situation the Roland is very straight forward though and I don’t have that much experience with the Rytm yet.
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I think this is what’s at the front of my mind and will probably swing it to be honest
There is lots of good discussion here too:
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I’d just go with Rytm. You understand the sequencer already and the drum engines are great. You will not be disappointed.
I’ve owned jomox alpha base, tanzbar, vermona drm3, tempest, machinedrum and rytm. And I can tell you right now rytm will be the most user friendly. The other machines are incredible, but they lack the elektron sequencing magic.
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Machinedrum is the best followed by tempest.
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Tempest looks beautiful and I heard great tracks made with it.
But many people seem to complain about never solved bugs and that it‘s engines are actually not that well designed towards drums. But what do I know there are pretty awesome polysynth demos with the tempest on youtube
Interesting, so that’s live coding driving an AR, or at least accompanying. Sounds great!
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I’d maybe consider the Division Department 01/IV it’s a hybrid analog/digital drum synth that is can be triggered with buttons by itself or MIDI sequenced by your octatrack. Lots of flexibility with sound design and responsive to MIDI CC controls.
Another cool analog/digital box is the Jomox X-base 09. Only 3 voices but for my music that’s plenty, they are kind of variable on price but have an impressive past user base, and really some absurdly powerful bass drums.
On the cheaper end, I really like the volca beats. It’s very cheap sounding in a cool 80’s way (IMO) and infinitely fun to program.
Also some haters may some shit on it, but I think the Akai Rhythm Wolf is pretty cool analog drum machine. The bass synth is pretty mediocre at best, but i like the bass drum range, the snare drum, and the perc sounds. The hi hats are also kind of whatever, but not terrible. They may be getting more rare, but I think you can still find one for cheap.
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what I was also eyeing is an acidlab drumatix.
Love the 606 sound this one seems to add some punch and flexibility to it
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It really does. A good showing of what the AR is capable of.
The RYTM checks off SO many boxes compared to other machines out there.
It sounds fantastic, great FX, DUAL VCO engine, Perf/Scene/Mute modes, and the Elektron sequencer. It’s really a no fuss machine that plays perfectly with an OT.
I sold my Tempest for one the week it came out and never looked back.
The Tempest is an amazing synth/drum machine and it LOVES to play with the OT!
It sounds just as you’d want a DSI synth to sound but has it’s own special sauce too.
The Tempest shines when it’s played hands on with lots of attention. It demands human interaction to be modulated in a way, otherwise it can be a little bland. Since you have a few other synths, Tempest will keep your hands from them.
Tempest has no banks, an 8 event midi limitation that prevents “muting” as being a workaround to having no banks. Minimal CC control via midi, and I’d say %80 of the samples sound like they came from the first sample pack every made by goldbaby.
Also, if you decide to sequence it from an external sequencer like the OT, then you loose a lot of the sequencer functions on the Tempest that make it sound cool and fun to play.
It’s a real weird one in good and bad ways. If I got one again, it would’t be for drums.
As said earlier, the A4/AK is SO good for drums, I’ve been using it more and more.
You can really morph a drum beat into something special with the performance macros.
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I love my sonic potions LXR. Very digital but I love the workflow, it’s great to jam with and you can get some good bass lines out of it with the fm synthesis. Only downside to it is no headphone out. Other than that you will have to get someone to build you one or get one second hand (unless you want to build it yourself !!) tubeohm built mine, top guy.
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@Riuozami @Unifono I have a feeling that MD will make a re-appearance at some point, now I have at least a working knowledge of Elektron workflow, my curiosity is bound to get the better of me eventually.
I’m less interested in the Tempest as a polysynth, I have a Tetra (yes I should look at that @bradleyallen) and a Virus I’ve yet to fully explore.
Maybe consider the MDUW+ and adding some more analog sounding drum sounds to it… that thought has just given me an idea for mine - any recommended RYTM/Tempest drum samples packs…
I’ve only just upgraded to the + so hadn’t checked out the free MD packs from Elektron…
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I would recommend the Machinedrum simply due to it’s flexibility and you will be familiar with the Elektron workflow. Plus I absolutely love mine! It’s digital, which some people dislike the sound, but I think it’s more easy to fit in a mix because of that. I warm mine up a bit with a Strymon Deco.
I’ve never owned the Analog Rytm, but it looks / sounds badass capability-wise. It has more sequencer features and is the more “modern” choice. If you can find a MK1 for a good price, I think you would be mighty happy. You just have to ask if you want Digital vs Analog? Old school Elektron Sequencer vs New School Elektron Sequencer? CTR-AL vs Scenes?
My vote is for something Elektron! They are so capable
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