Unhelpful comment coming in hot: sample that shit and make a song.
See if you can do better than the Metronome Only Experiment.
People on here don’t stop to amaze me. What a quirky, fun thing!
I bought the @LaVernWinston manually sliced 3D printed case and sprayed the inside with some liquid rubber just for this reason. My partner was annoyed by the clackity pings. The mechanical switches are as durable as they come but the hollow (and weighty) metal case resonance doesn’t help the noise lol. Still unclear how it will affect the components longevity, the DT II/DN II do produce more heat and I’m sure the metal case and space inside helps with heat dissipation.
The buttons of my DT1 have this ringing sound to it. The DT2 i had was the same.
Here’s a recording from my DT1:
I hate that sound but it’s still my favorite device.
The metal case sounds a little bit when buttons are „clicked“, yes. I guess if the DT2 sits in a case this effect is dampened. For example If my DT2 is on a table it is more recognizable than when its on a stand where it has some contact with rubber (i use the well known roadworx) beneath it.
If it bothers you i think a totaly closed stand, with a case all around the DT2, will solve this.
But since you will return it to get another unit:
Please share the information if its the same with this another unit.
What we actually have in this case is a plate or spring reverb!? The reverb time seems to be well over 1s.
You might need good monitoring/headphones/conversion to hear this as clearly as it can be heard here!
I’ve compared to my Digitakt 1 - which I can’t easily record right now because it’s wired up in another location - and the v1 makes an extremely quiet version of this sound that’s barely audible and not an issue. This on the other hand is audible like a bell! It’s very distracting.
From what I’m reading here it seems like others the issue too but very mildly/quietly like my v1, and it looks like the v2 unit I’ve picked up is out of the ordinary. I find it hard to believe that Elektron would think that this is acceptable.
No I mean it’s the same when I hold it in my hands - it’s nothing to do with how it’s mounted. I think only opening up the unit and moding it would solve this; something I’m not prepared to do for a new under warranty device.
Well ok this is similar to my DT2, but lower frequency. You seem to have compressed this though - or your phone has? - and so it sounds even more OTT.
My DT1 virtually makes no tonal sound at all - nothing like this or the DT2 I’ve just bought… Odd.
Disappointing QA would be one way of looking at this issue.
Time for church!
Its a metal box full of tact switches. Which have springs in them.
Get everything tight enough and the springs in the box will resonate.
Undo a 1 or 2 panel screws. Not all the way, just enough to make the box loose its resonant chamber.
Just like slackening off the head on a drum.
Worth knowing: there’s not really a lot inside a digitakt, its mostly empty space. You can put some dampening material in there too if you want. Bit of felt taped to the base plate would do it.
I used a Zoom H2 recorder without compression. The ringing sounds just as loud in reality as in the recording. Otherwise i wouldn’t have uploaded it to show here.
Of course it depends on how loud your speakers are set when you listen to the recording.
Speaking of buttons while we’re talking about it. I’ve noticed my 1 button is sticking. Not in the goopy rubber costing mess way but in the I press it and it stays under the casing.
I remember this happening to others. What was the fix apart from sending it in?
Just tried mine yeah it of course does it too.just a clack when pushing down and the ring when releasing it.Def a spring reverb sound.Kinda cool and analog…….)))
Just checked my Elektron boxes (A4 mk2, Rytm mk2, DN2, DT2, Octatrack mk2 and analog heat +FX) and all of them has this sound. The analog heat +fx has the least if possible non at all and probably due to lot less buttons
Maybe your OG DT is out of order? All my Elektrons make a ringing sound of multiple notes building a cluster of notes, just like yours (like the ring of a snare, for example).
Analog Rytm MKII, Analog Four MKII, Syntakt, Digitone II and Digitakt II.
Interestingly, my Analog Four MKII and Digitakt II sound very alike.
Out of order? No, it sounds like I’d expect, as does my DN. This… does not. Maybe the extent of the noise from the DT2 doesn’t even come across on my recording. It’s bad.
Sadly I can actually note many aspects of the DT2 I received that feel poorly made or poorer parts compared to the DT. Scratchy knobs as opposed to smooth, the “white” lights are in fact indigo rather than white on the original machines and the bank of LEDs is garish. The white/blue screen is horrible and garish compared to the original yellow one. Feels much less classy and special than the DT overall… if I didn’t know any better I’d think it was a knock-off! : P I’m pretty disappointed but I will try returning for a replacement in case I got unlucky.
I was of course just looking forward to getting cracking with the thing and getting some work done.
Right, that sounds exactly like my original Digitakt. I only noticed there’s the faintest sound after comparing with the loud DT2 I’ve received and like you say it’s pretty much nothing.
That sounds like good news then and it sounds like we’re talking about different units exhibiting different levels of sound due to slight manufacturing or part differences.
I too am used to the faintest pings from mechanical keyboards etc but this is actually loud. Loud enough to get in the way of tweaking a drum sound when working at moderate or low levels and obviously that’s a problem.
buy this:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/pieces-bitumen-anti-drumming-insulation-self-adhesive/dp/B07DNB5KZ5?th=1
put strips/pieces of that stuff where it makes sense:
→ profit
All my Elektron instruments have this sound too, though yours was really loud!
This is a typical problem in mechanical keyboard switches. Keyboard enthusiasts
call it spring ping, and they fix it by take out the switches, opening them up, then applying a tiny amount of synthetic oil (Krytox 205G0 or GPL Krytox 105 oil) on the springs.
Not really a viable option unless you’re comfortable with soldering, voiding your warranty, and have half a week of free time to do it, sadly.
But! If you do lube the springs like this, the pinging sounds completely disappear (based on my experience with keyboard switches, at least).
The volume of the “ping” on my DT2 buttons is the same as the audio recording you posted, personally I don’t find it annoying