Anyone using these two machines together? Wondering if they make a good pair or if the Deluge has too much overlap with the DT functions.
If I’d pair the Deluge with something, it wouldn’t be a sampler like the Digitakt. There’s too much going on within the Deluge that the Digitakt wouldn’t bring anything obvious to the table. And the Deluge is a great sampler, as is.
If anything, I’d pair it with a synth that reaches for depths the Deluge can’t go to. The sound engine’s pretty neat and has a lot going for it, but after having spent a few months with it now, it just doesn’t take you to places all that exciting. It’s a bit flat, while flexible.
Given the Deluge’s dynamics and effects, I think it’d go well with stuff that kind of have that broken character to them to begin with. The OP-1, the Reface CS, maybe even a Tempest.
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Think that’s very good advice @andreasroman. Both Deluge and Digitakt have a lot of overlap. The Deluge only goes so far into synthesis and Digitakt doesn’t bring anything different/new (OS updates may improve it in time).
Looking for a juicy, characterful synth, or something hands on that provides a different interface to the Deluge would be a good solution.
Disclaimer: haven’t used Digitakt, but own an OT and previously owned a Deluge.
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I’m using my Deluge along with a MPC Live with the pair going into an Octatrack for looping/slicing/etc. The MPC and Deluge complement each other very well.
I like the MPC for it’s pads, workflow, touch screen, and the fact that I can use it to manage the contents of Deluge’s SD card to some extent. (more detailed sample editing, preparation, etc.) Saves me a trip to the computer quite a lot. (I also use the MPC to create sample chains for the OT which it can communicate with via USB)
With keygroup programs on the Live it’s also a killer synth. Basically if you load up single cycle waves you can have up to 512 sample-based oscillators. It’s utter madness! And the filter section seems lifted from the Ion/Micron/MiniAK series and sounds quite good.
So yeah, I think the MPC Live and Deluge go well together.
I do own a Digitakt as well, and I love it. But I generally use it to build loops which I then sample into the MPC when I want to get something serious done with them. Otherwise it’s just fooling around with parameter locks and CTRL-AL for days!
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I pair the Deluge with modular… Other then that I think I would go for the boutique series… The Op1 is nice to sample into the deluge but you need a usb midi interface (or laptop) to sync both if you don’t want to sample it.
Thats a pretty sweet feature I was not aware of.
MPC Live sounds like a decent consideration as a Deluge companion.
If you hook up the OT via USB and put it into card reader mode, the MPC just sees it like any other external drive, allowing you to freely exchange files with it.
Works similar with the OP-1 too.
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What was it about the Deluge that prompted you to sell?
I have an OP-1 and my Digitakt arrives Monday (after a two month wait!) In that meantime I saw the Deluge. Wish I could play with both the Deluge and DT at same time, sounds like I’d be best to decide one over the other. Going for a simple desk setup with one main sampler/sequencer, my Nord A1r, and my Op-1 for when I’m on the road.
Well I have got both Deluge and DT. They are both very nice to play with. I sequence my modular with the deluge and do some heavily audio in (from my modular) effects and some synths But I hit the CPU wall on the deluge pretty fast. So to free up cpu on the Deluge I use the DT for drums and lush pads. I often think to buy a midi to cv unit to sequence my modular with the digitakt because the DT has got Trig conditions. The Deluge is so different then the DT. I think different about that then @andreasroman Allright they are both samplers but you can never have enough sample tracks right 
What I really like on the DT is of course Trig conditions, probability , but also the visability on the sound you sample.
What I really like of the deluge is the synth engine and the visibility of your sequence.
What I dislike about the DT is that you can not apply send effects to the audio in.
What I dislike about the Deluge is its CPU power.
I had the OT MK2, but there was too much overlap and decided to keep the deluge and the DT, because of its footprint and better effects. It was hard to let the OT go, I am a long time OT user and thought I never get rid of it. I’m gonna miss that crossfader so bad 
, maybe I will buy it back later (if I win the lottery) but I really didn’t like the effects on the OT. But samplemangling was awesome on that thing.
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Bought one of the first batch (unseen/heard in the flesh), a gamble which I was happy taking. Just didn’t gel with the Deluge as hoped. Just my experience, I would still recommend others to consider it as it is a pretty unique instrument…
Ultimately, four things were the crux of why I decided to not keep it:
- tiny screen made everything a chore; too cryptic, especially when selecting/editing samples
- stereo output meant everything has to be mixed on board (see point 1)
- the synth sound/fx just wasn’t for me; a bit flat (as @andreasroman mentioned)
- my unit had a screen issue on arrival; characters would flicker or elements would not work at all (randomly). It was fixed under warranty (at no cost), but this made learning/using it frustrating and annoying. While it was away for repair, decided to sell it.
If/when Synthstrom make a Deluge MK2 with an OLED screen and multiple outputs, I would consider buying it. Rohan & Ian are lovely guys to deal with and the Deluge concept (in particular the sequencer) is next level, just flawed by hardware limitations IMO, YMMV.
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I had a go with the Octatrack MKII when it came out, and a few rounds with it at Elektron HQ as well. I’ve been an Octatrack user for years, but the Deluge has taken its place now. I don’t think I’ll ever be going back to the Octa again.
They’re very different, and yet they’re not - oddballs in an otherwise fairly streamlined world of products similar to each other, so different than you can’t copy them. They’re their own category.
The Deluge, for what I want to do and how I approach sampling, works better for me than the Octatrack. But that’s just a testament to how differently musicians approach the Octatrack, and I just approached the Octatrack in a way that meant the Deluge made more sense to me, once I learned it.
As the current beta now allows for slicing (quite effectively too!), and perfectly timed recorded loops made it into v1.2, I feel the commitment that Synthstrom has to the Deluge, and the way they’re already bending its circuits compared to what it could do at launch, makes is one of the most interesting things to come out in years.