Digitakt SSD Life

Elektron Gear
#21

Thing is, as I mentioned, you don’t need to use c6 to sysex backup your machine. There are many programs to deal with sysex. C6 is of course free others may not be.

There really aren’t any bugs that I can think of dealing with backups on the DT. A lot of the issues discussed on the board are misunderstandings or user error. As I stated I regularly backup and restore the sample and projects on my digitakt and have had not issues.

As much as I would love backups to be streamlined, and done entirely in transfer, it is far from an unusable mess. I also don’t find the need for a flashy UI for a simple utility, aesthetics is ultimately subjective.

Anyway, agree to disagree I guess.

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#22

There’s more to discuss than I’d like - I’d much prefer it if this stuff was straight-forward (and appreciate that you think it is) but backup in 2019 should not need be nearly so involved from the user’s point of view. I’m no more interested in flashy interfaces as you are - I’m talking about clear and straight-forward functionality. People want to simply be able to back up the machine with one application and have faith that their data is there and safe.

When it comes to C6/sysex you have to use both the device and the PC and make sure each is doing the right thing to the other. Plenty of opportunities for mishaps. And then you have to make sure you’ve backed up the samples for the sysex you’ve backed up, and vice-versa. It’s really backwards to be having to think about this stuff on a USB class-compliant device which is having sophisticated DAW software written for it. This is 80s early MIDI-era stuff. It’s just

To your point about Sounds, you sound pretty sure there but what I need to do either isn’t explained in the manual - which is why I asked - or it’s not possible, which would be pretty poor. I want to backup ALL the Sounds on my +Drive. I obviously don’t want to go through every project to make sure I have everything used, and that would discount unused Sounds saved for a future project etc.

So, your manual reference tells us about backing up Projects (including their Sounds) and Patterns but nothing about backing up Sounds themselves. If I’ve missed the part about “how to backup all Sounds” that’s great, but I really can’t see it there.

(Perhaps one of the problems is a manual littered with anomalies, vagueness and errors - ie it says “15.4.1 SYSEX SEND Here projects, patterns, and Sounds can be sent to an external device.”… and then goes on to not tell you how to do the latter - only Sounds within projects).

#23

Sounds good. How do you just backup all Sounds?

#24

I should also add that I’ve had a number of crashes when trying to restore from sysex and just had one now trying to test the backing-up of Sounds.
Again there’s omissions in the manual - eg how the device will start to receive sysex even when not in those settings.

I’ve no idea the cause of the crash on receiving a project but unfortunately it underlines my points above. It really doesn’t inspire confidence. Either I’m doing something wrong (I don’t think I am but if so it also makes my point) or the current beta OS has borked sysex backups. Anyone actually tried doing this stuff on the latest OS?

#25

You do have a point there.

Currently the only Elektron device that is super straightforward to back up is the Octatrack. Being able to directly access the file system via USB is awesome, and I wonder why a similar system wasn’t implemented on all devices following it.

Having said that though, I don’t really have a problem with plugging my Digitone in and doing a full sysex dump every few months. To each their own.

#26

Looking at the manual it seems you go to Sysex Send/Sounds which sends the selected bank, do that for each bank you’ve filled…

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#27

Using the transfer app (drag/drop whole +drive to/from your computer drive).
For the projects you need to use C6 (make sure you setup the digitakt to usb mode only so the transfer is much much faster)

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#28

All well and good, but still doesn’t explain how I can backup all the Sounds on my +Drive. Lots of people here saying you can do it, but no one telling me how. Whisper it - I don’t think you can!

#29

Hey Mike. Thanks but looking at the machine, not the manual, that option simply ain’t there. I don’t even see that in the latest manual.

(If you want more confusion (yes please!) the manuals obviously differ as OS versions change, but good luck working out which version of the manual you’re reading. Elektron neither label the PDF properly, nor do they put the version number in the manual… )

#30

Open Sound Manager (make sure all sounds are visible in the list) -> SELECT ALL -> SEND SYSEX

And it is in the manual. Chapter 9.3 Sound Manager. On the Digitakt itself you need to scroll down on the command page (where SELECT ALL etc. are located) to see the “SEND SYSEX” command.

The manual accessible online on the Elektron website always matches the latest (officially released) OS.

Additionally @acidhouseforall explained another method how you can backup all sounds (with the transfer app) three postings above.

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#31

Big thanks tnussb!

I was looking at the Sysex section of the manual, where I’d expect to find this detailed (where Sounds are mentioned but not explained), and also where @jefones pointed me to above. Also been looking in the sysex section of the machine where you would also expect to see it. Fine that it’s elsewhere, but in that cause there should then be duplication, of functionality in the sysex menu, and of explanation in the manual.

Man, I love the Digitakt but the more you dig in, the more you find frustrating stuff like this. Inconsistencies all over the shop.

#32

Everything I’ve learned about using the DT, I’ve learned from a ridiculous amount of rereading the manual over and over, and usage of the machine. The way the manuals are written it sometimes takes connecting concepts across sections. I forgot that and should have point you to the sounds section after the sysex section.

Edit: This thread has been pulled way off topic. Maybe a mod should merge some of this with one of the dt sysex backup threads.

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#33

I’m seeing what @tnussb pointed out and also this, sending entire banks without having to select the sounds, latest manual:

image
image.jpg897×592 115 KB

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#34

Totally agree on that.

But I’d edit it slightly… with good manuals, it needn’t be that way! A bit of logic and reason would help (pun intended…).

Cheers

Ben

#35

With more complexity in a machine comes having to read the manual. It’s not possible to understand the entire functionality without so. Sure the manuals are like tech references, but the info is in there. If you could figure it all out without reading the manual it wouldn’t be able to do nearly as much stuff. I read em front to back, the units I have I’ve read the manuals a dozen times or more and pdf searched areas countless times. I’ve even read all the elektron manuals front to back and have learned things about the ones I have from exploring their predecessors… It’s highly worth it, you also learn shortcuts and things that let you do stuff much faster…

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#36

So this is from another thread maybe explains why it’s not working for you :

#37

Thanks for the info @jefones. Wow, that’s a pretty major bug. At least it’s not just me! I know it’s a beta but that’s quite something to break. Hopefully they’ll get on it sooner rather than later.

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#38

That’s rather patronising and presumptive Open_Mike – I have plenty of complex machines and plenty of manuals, which I read. I’ve been doing this stuff a long time. I’ve read the Digitakt manual too, a number of times but I’ll tell you what… I certainly don’t claim to have memorised it! So, when it came to looking up backup info, I searched through the Sysex Dump section and backing up Sounds was most definitely not in there (though it alludes to it in a unclear manner, seemingly pertaining to projects). Even jefones above pointed me to the Sysex section though it does not contain this info. The backup info for projects and patterns is not in their respective sections but, not surprisingly, in the sysex dump section which, ergo, is which you’d expect to find ALL backup/sysex info.

So it’s clear that what I’m talking about is a lack of critical thinking/logic and consistency both in the machine and in the manual. You could have an inconsistently designed machine explained by a consistent manual, but when neither holds true, all bets are off. It’s baffling to me that people seem to want to blindly defend this stuff in this face of common sense. You know, you can like Elektron and Digitakt and still call them up on stuff that’s not right. You might actually find it helps…

#39

That’s one way to take it I guess, I honestly was just trying to be helpful. Tons of people on here don’t read the manuals. It’s hard to tell sometimes so for what it’s worth I wasn’t trying to patronize or offend you one bit. On the flip side, I don’t own a DT but I have the manual and with a matter of seconds found 2 methods to do what you are trying to do which made me think you either only have the quick start guide and not the full manual or perhaps you didn’t read it, it’s not a big deal to get upset about…

It’s so not personal, I had even made a thread about it years ago for the sake of all the nauts…
-Importance of reading Elektron manuals :3lektron:

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#40

Also I’ll add that I went out of my way to read the manual of a device I don’t have and post clips of it to try to help you, I’m not a jerk… :smile:

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