The big question within that question is: are you comfortable with two PSUs, two midi cables and 2x2 audio cables constantly hooked up to that combo and where your songs are the sum of project files across two devices?
…or would you appreciate the freedom of working with just one unit where the entire song is stored in that unit?
I obviously have very strong preferences there because I routinely make music before going to bed and I keep the Syntakt on the bed table. With an ST+DN1 combo, music making would be limited to a dedicated studio space for me.
from my point of view, there are much more advantages with ST+DN
even if we ignore the ST advantages in analog engines and effects/eff track,
It seems to me that digitone2 has lost its intuitiveness, speed and simplicity workflow.
but, I would wait for possible announcements about ST2.
If we talk about what is available at the moment… for myself I would choose DT2+ST(+ optional Ipad/tablet win book for mobile OB and synths vst) or + Analog 4 mk1
Good point.
I tried to make a typical punchy kick on DNII and failed. Then went to presets and an amazing one was there.
I need to go through that preset and see how they did it.
It was easier to make snare, toms, clap/perc and hats that I liked.
I also figure I could sell the ST now (save all of my projects on PC) and buy it back later (probably cheaper) if I miss it.
I’m so new to it all and not a keys player so I don’t fully understand why the analog tracks on the ST are so coveted. I mean, they obviously sound good but blind; I couldn’t tell you if it was digital or analog. :-\
Right, there really isn’t a right or wrong here, but it comes down to workflow (and cognitive load) preferences. My creativity goes out window as soon as I try to get devices to talk to each other, so for me it’s an easy tradeoff.
But to be clear, that’s not a Syntakt vs Digitone 2 question for me, I’d still use both. Only one at a time.
You’ll have to wait for Tonverk then . Although I doubt it will have analog machines. Maybe an analog filter if we’re lucky.
While I’m often saying ST is more immediate on this thread, this doesn’t mean you can’t make tracks really fast on DN II. I’ve returned to using a blend of presets for more complex things like drums or complex pads and self made things like basses/leads and simple pads (mostly wavetone).
Cranking out ideas really fast I have to say. It’s a bit like when I started out with OG DN and didn’t care about sound design so I just used presets and wrote music.
But now I know how to program macros and love these on DN, where so much can happen with a few tweaks. DN II doesn’t have to be complex, you can decide to just stay on the surface. But if you start tweaking things, there’s more to uncover than on ST (also more to go wrong of course). Eight tracks of DN II is enough for me to make whole tracks this way.
I’m also recording track by track using song mode again, like when I started out. It wouldn’t work for every composition, but when it does, it’s nice not to worry about how to replicate FX stuff on OB single tracks.
could you please tell as the owner of both DN and DN2 about the difference in sound between them.
very strange, but I haven’t heard a DN2 demo that I liked yet…at the same time, I found a lot of demos with the DN1 that sounded great.
I have a feeling that with DN2 something has become worse in terms of even orig DN’s fm engines…
There’s some discussion and comments by people who’ve worked on DN2 about changes in sound in the “Introducing Digitone II” thread. Bottom line is: OG patterns should sound the same. There’s some edge cases where stuff needs to be adapted a bit (think it has to do with routing of filters and voice stealing).
To answer your question more directly: FM Tone engine and its sound haven’t changed at all and is definitely not worse. But there’s more options to change how it sounds due to more voices, new compressor, new ways of routing things like distortion, revamped (master) overdrive and new FX.
One thing that’s also obvious is that DN II is way louder than OG (and ST). The same was true for DT II. With both of these new machines, my subjective impression is that the sound quality overall is more clear and hi fi. I don’t know if that’s actually the case and what the reasons would be.
In short, it sounds fantastic, imo better than OG. If you hear any differences, that’s probably due to the fact that OG DN has been out for a while so there are more videos and tracks where people are making great stuff that’s actually musical as well. With new products like DN II, you tend to mostly get the same preset surfing and factory pattern demos everywhere. And the factory presets were better on OG imo.
thanks a lot!!!
Perhaps because reviewers focus on new engines and features, or decide to use many tracks, the result is different, even considering the fact that DN2 can recreate Dn1.
perhaps due to the fact that with DN1 there were only 4 channels, the approach to working with sound in this format imposed its own limitations, which people turned into an advantage…
…there are a lot of DN2 demos where people use a bunch of channels without paying much attention to the little things and turn the DN2 sound into noise with all 16 chanels of little things…
I’ve had the Digitone II for a couple of days now, and so far, I’ve come to a similar conclusion. It’s a lot harder to get the right drum sounds. I struggled to get a good kick out of it, and I still think the Syntakt kicks sound better to me and are much easier to tweak. Also, I haven’t been able to achieve a proper clap or hi-hat on the DNII yet. But maybe its just lack of experience.
On the other hand, FM Drum is very versatile, and I’ve already created sounds that I could never achieve with the Syntakt. It can sound surprisingly realistic.
To be honest, it’s an interesting experience. The DNII is basically everything I wanted, a lot of freedom in sound creation, plus polyphony and more. But I’ve noticed that with all the options, it’s much harder to dial in the right sound. With the Syntakt, everything is at my fingertips, and I can tweak each sound in seconds to at least get close to the idea.
I’m also really missing the ability to modulate delay time on the DNII. I use that feature on almost every track with the Syntakt.
My favorite so far is actually the Wavetone on the DNII. With PWM, Chorus, Ring Mod, Sync, Drift, and more, I’ve already created some nice synth patches that would have required layering on the Syntakt. That’s where track layering could have been handy on the Syntakt.
Can’t sound more analog than analog despite what Eldin Tyrell might tell you. But the Wavetone machine sounds excellent! It is in no way deficient, and will make nice analogish sounds easily. I think the Syntakt’s state variable filter gets a little squishier though.
I don’t have a DNII, and I don’t know what kind of kick you are looking for, but I’ve been curious about the DNII (hence reading this thread) and I find Skeleton Jacket does some pretty amazing stuff with drums on it. Granted it is mainly for straight up techno, so maybe that’s not the sound you’re going for, but for me those videos he released got me very hooked.
Edit: wanted to add that I am not recommending this instead of Syntakt. Got a AR myself and won’t live without those analog drum sounds.
I pulled syntakt out again yesterday night after some weeks with DN1, and well it sounds cozy, warm, easy going and just fun to play with. Still not on the bandwagon of DN2. That analog voices do something for me, thats just not there with Digitone. Who sounds Digital… Well i would love to have a DN voice in Syntakt for sure, but the overal Syntakt sound i do love more.
I’ve had and sold both the DN1 and Syntakt and recently got the DN2, it’s honeymoon period still but DN2 by far for me. Just more variety of sounds and the lack of polyphony and the crappy chords machine in Syntakt bummed me out too much.
Perhaps I was expecting too much of Syntakt and it was marketed as a drum computer, but the all in one groovebox is just much more inspiring to me.
Syntakt is one of the great disappointments so far in terms of development expectations, but it still is a lot of fun to play and sounds great… tons of wasted potential though with fx and machines and everything that they’re just rolling into DN2 and whatever else is next on the new platform. Oh well I’m sure it’s hard running a business
. Although I doubt it will have analog machines. Maybe an analog filter if we’re lucky.
