Well you weren’t kidding…
Got to jam on the DNII for 1 hrs for the first time. Exploring presets…
Insane jaw dropping sounds come out of the DNII.
Crazy how wild and yet how real it can sound. I definitely liked the drum sounds at first listen.
I do see now how immediate the Syntakt is in comparison. DNII can still be fast but there is an extra layer to deal with. The trade off for not being as quick as the extra depth/options.
Preaching to the choir, I’m sure. 
With a good project template, that could easily be addressed, right?
Sure, kits will also help. Trying to be devil’s advocate here. Sometimes it’s nice to just have the default work best for you.
I keep hearing you guys say the ST is more immediate than the SN2, but I dont see it lol. I immediately have them both going, similar workflow, similar immediacy. The only thing not “immediate” are things that cannot be, such as deeper human-driven sound design options inside DN2.
Thoughts on DN2 vs ST, after 2 weeks with DN2 plus longtime ST use:
Swarmer= SY Swarm +, Wavetone = SY Bits +++. FM Drum = the digital BD, SD, PC machines +++. (Noise grain! Hard sync! Folding!)
Recording polyphony on DN2: has its limitations but excellent for articulated chords with voice leading.
Syntakt has the immediacy of the classic 3-knob/voice drum synths, plus tons more power. A well-set-up kit (voice + volume balancing, template sounds for drums) on DN2 helps a great deal.
Subjectively, rides and hats, in terms of immediacy + results: ST CY Ride > ST HH Lab > DN2 Fm Drum > DN2 FM Tone >> ST Tone, Bits, Alloy
ST’s FX block: ideal for designing performance effects; DN2 FX, including comb filters: ideal for deep sound design.
DN2 is my first hardware FM, and I’m still in the early stages of exploring what it can do. Definitely keeping both.
I don’t have much time with DNII and am not as experienced as some…
…but for me on ST is to start making a loop/enter steps/song first. Then tweak/sound design after it is mostly programmed.
On DNII, I would do it the opposite. Design a sound or find a preset. For each sound. Then start a loop steps/songs. Or maybe a hybrid approach.
Each has its place. Sometimes it is fun to explore sounds and make something you normally wouldn’t.
That’s another great way to approach tracks: by doing some sound design first, then building sequences and fx patterns. Or, by sequences first and sound design later. I loooove the flexibility! I have attention span and focus issues so being able to approach this how I feel that day is very freeing for the artist part of my brain. 🫠
I find that DN2 has a breaking in period but I am getting faster.
It kind of does so much if are easily distracted you find yourself skating the perimeter of a vast chasm
Might be worthwhile to make a starting template kit, heck that feature on M:C might be the main thing encouraging a music-first approach
For me it’s true because there is only one page to randomize, so on ST I randomize until I find something I like and tweak that. DN II has wayyyy more pages to randomize.
For now I am keeping both, I do think the ST with the analog bits sounds better and different enough. Even just the three main analog tracks with Elektron sequencer (plus external input) is worth the $650-750 they go for now IMO.
Personally my gas for DN2 has reduced now that I have another fully featured polysynth in the arsenal. It makes sense to me to keep each machine in its own lane, and ST is a really strong and immediate drum machine, plus the analog filter and drive are great for roughing up other sources! Fantastic studio tool.
I’m absolutely selling the Syntakt now that I’ve used Digitone II a bit more. I like a lot about the Syntakt, but the Digitone checks off all of the same boxes and much more. I didn’t even know about “perform kits” until today and it solves so many headaches for creating full songs (with or without song mode). I definitely need to go deeper into understanding all of the machines, but I love this thing.
Having both the ST and the DNII too…is there anything you’d miss about the ST?
It dawned on me that I could save templates and sounds…essentially as a quick start setup…like ST has all of it’s tracks as default. kick, snare, hat, bass, chord tracks all ready to go. tweak from there.
I’m not sure, I know some people love the FX block but I never fully utilized it in the way others have. Although I think the track layout on Syntakt is quick and immediate, the kits on Digitone II (including any you make yourself) are very convenient and allow for more possibilities. I would say I might miss the analog tracks, but I think you can approximate some of those sounds on Digitone (plus you have 2 filters per track over the one filter on Syntakt analog tracks). Overall, the Digitone II just seems more capable of making broader sounds compared to the Syntakt. But I’m admittedly not a Syntakt expert, maybe others would disagree with me.
I have been debating selling my ST after using the DNII more. I have similar feelings overall.
Two reasons I’ve kept it so far:
It was the first groovebox that made sense to me and created a bunch of fun stuff on.
I’m not as comfortable/2nd nature on the DNII yet.
I only hesitated a little to sell my ST because I have a RYTM and a lot of the things that I like most about the ST are already on the RYTM. The DNII is amazing and ticks all the right boxes for my needs.
this is the funnest part of the Syntakt
it’s so good!
Yep. Having all those defaults there are nice to lay some drums down while you mess around with the DT or DN. DNII came yesterday and it was nice having the ST there for quick 808s and percussion.
Making drum sounds and tweaking them is a lot harder on DN II. If you know what you’re doing, you’re rewarded with more versatile results than ST machines can give you (especially true for hats). I tried to turn up hold and decay on two presets made with FM drums and failed to do that, despite trying all the synth parameters that say hold or decay plus the same on the envelopes. No LFOs assigned. Nothing worked. Never happened to me on ST.
Given the current prices in the used market the real question is:
DN2 vs ST+DN ?
