I wrote this a couple of years back when I was noodling with a Model Cycles.
It’s really basic, I only spent a couple of hours on it, but it should enable you to play the Syntakt’s mono tracks polyphonically without the need for an RK-002.
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I’d definitely pay $2000 for a Digi or old school OT sized box (to accommodate extra IO) with all of the Digi machines in one place with 16 tracks.
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I own the E25 DT, and I’m genuinely disappointed with Elektron’s approach here. I’ve always paid a premium for their products because of their build quality, innovation, and long-term commitment to maintaining their machines. I own several Elektron devices—OT, A4, AHFX, ST, DNK, M:C, and now the E25 DT—but the value I once associated with the brand feels diminished.
I spent €1099 on the E25 DT at launch because I believed in Elektron’s legacy. Now, with the release of the DT2, it was immediately clear that legacy has changed. They could have atleast given DT kits to make life easier to manage sets.
Once again, with the DN2, any hopes for polyphony on the ST should be put to rest; despite being a great machine, Elektron’s roadmap with the ‘II’ series effectively makes the ST obsolete. No prep mutes, no kits, no chorus—it’s missing features that should have been there.
The DNK is my favorite synth, and I’ve spent countless hours designing sounds on it. I’ll likely purchase the DN2 for its additional tracks and polyphony in a compact form. If the DN2 builds on the DN without excessive menu diving, it could become a central piece in my setup.
Don’t get me wrong - all of the machines are high quality studio gear with a very clear and compelling feature set. It’s just that there are feature omissions that are so fing obvious cash grabs and CEO pricing ladder bullisht right now…
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exactly.
I just can’t fathom how the DN2 has a compressor with sidechain and the ST doesn’t? The ST has so many percussion engines it’s just baffling…
Might I add, a master compressor is more than just dynamics control. It also allows you to control your output volume between patterns making it so much easier to balance a live set.
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I’m sure for some people the FM machine in the DN2 is easy and even fun to explore. If it isn’t, that’s an expensive preset machine.
I’d need to hear more demos of the other machines (particularly wavetone), but if DN1 style FM tone machine is still center stage they could give it 32 parts at a 256 note sequencer and I think I probably wouldn’t like it at the end of the day.
Sure, if you want polyphony the ST isn’t going to make you happy, but I don’t often get that excited about polyphony without a keybed. YMMV.
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ST has been hovering around on my GAS list since it came out, but I never pulled he trigger.
This DN2 has certainly put a very unexpected spanner into my decision process, as I never had any intention of going anywhere near the original DN
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Yeah it’s almost surprising how consistent that sentiment is here. I think they would be great for performance if you select a track, then hold a modifier and it applies to the trigs already playing on the pattern. That way you could alter velocity or reverb or anything really and then it returns to normal when you let go. I would use them all the time if they functioned like that. They’re basically useless to me as they function now.
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I would also wish for a tape saturation fx, dont know how hard that would be - but it would be very convienient to have in ST and DN2.
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To be honest I have GAS for the DN2 however I know for sure that it won’t make my music (skills) better in any way. For me it would be a very nice further and overwhelming distraction from my not yet mastered ST and other Elektrons.
EDIT: Hopefully at least I will be able to control and master my order finger.
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I turned on the DN1 and i found out why i wasnt using it that much - its 2 x lfo, with a single target. No envelopes besides the pre wired to fm intensity and filter.
In analag 4 at least we had 4 targets. I use a lot of LFO to modulate other LFO.
I still belive the DN2 could be a funky machine, but i would make use of layering, and that brings its own complexity, because you have to configure your sound over several layers.
(Thats what i did with A4 also.)
I really wish the modulation would allow multiple targets per LFO.
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I want the same. Sorry its 2024 and I am pretty done with strategies that involves to cripple on features to sell all Boxes. Syntakt is the Percussion Box und Digitone now has the most capable digital Drum Synth.
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Same here brother! But I got the GAS baaaad.
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Second that. It is really annoying.
So many people get frustrated by this polyphony issue and I am tired of finding workarounds for something so essential or getting another machine just so I can play something polyphonic. They should open up and release polyphony for syntakt and digitakt. That wouldn’t make any of those machines obsolete at all, but would bring them more in line with eachother.
But since it didn’t happen for the digitakt 2 it will probably never happen.
The whole concept of selling multiple boxes makes sense from a marketing perspective, something elektron is best at 
, but not many want to jiggle with 3 boxes really. If they would at least communicate with each other in a way that lets say I save a project on one machine that its automatically saved and loaded on the other machine, then it would at least make a bit more sense.
Well, lets see what the elektron future awaits for us. Maybe Tonverk is the ultimate answer, but I highly doubt it
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This, and syncing of song positions for me on top.
I own and love the Syntakt but based on the feature set (more voices with polyphony and 3LFOs and comb filter etc) if I had to choose one right now I would get this DN2
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Syntakt is a more immediate and quick to lay down things. Doing sound design on the DN1 wasn’t the most fun thing for me, but I guess it’s a personal preference. I’d like a master comp on the ST though.
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That’s exactly what I was talking about with a fellow 'nauts friend today about the new DN2.
16 tracks on DTII
16 tracks on DNII
12 tracks on ST
That’s pretty often too much tracks, and too few uses for them within a single box.
I’ll be more than happy to send 2k towards Elektron bank account for a OT sized box with 16 liberally assignable track between a selection of digital DN/ST machines and even a simplified version of sample playback.
All the the new sequencer features and latest fxs, master compressor, 3 (possibly 4) lfos, and a pair of assignable outputs.
Ideally I’d also like 3 analog tracks from AR/ST, polyphony/arp at least on the digital synth machines, keeping analog and sampling monophonic if needed due to cpu capabilities, insert effects OT style (maybe keeping reverb as a send) and some kind of tracks interaction like layering/round robin and sending lfo to different tracks destinations and slide trigs.
I don’t want to fall into the “easy to code” trap, but that’s all stuff actually in use, scattared between various E-boxes, so I guess it could be just a matter of hardware requirements and R&D to design a bespoke UI to comply with the added complexity.
A box like that would be an istant buy for me at 2k or thereabouts, and from what I’ve gathered around here I’m not alone in thinking that way.
Just for the record, I own a DTII, a ST and an OT MK2 (for sale actually) and I’d like to buy also a DNII but in that case I’d part ways with the ST because 2 Digi boxes are just on the verge on being overwhelming, and so 3 would be really too much.
If I have to start over now I’ll probably go for Rytm MK1 + DNII, just to have a bit of everything (sample playback, analog machines, digital machines, polyphony) but I’m quite convinced that I’ll miss some of the ST stuff
Please Elektron, give us the one flagship box to rule them all!
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At the moment it feels like I’d be getting excited by specs rather than the sound or workflow of a DNII. The ST is such a good all-round package and I’d sure miss the analog tracks. I have mine hooked up to a Ju-06a for those times I really need polyphony, although I never feel that polyphony and the Elektron step sequencer are a particularly natural match.
I can admire rather than love the FM synthesis of the DN and if that is still at the core of the DNII then it probably won’t be for me.
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Why sadly? I can’t wait to get my DNII and ST playing together (with my DT as well, for that matter!)
I love the flexibility of using the Digi boxes together. In the past I’ve mostly used the DT to sequence my DN, but that’ll switch around now with the DNII, with its 128 steps, 16 available MIDI CCs, and 2 MIDI LFOs per track.
The ooooone thing that I’d really love in the ST is a compressor like the DTII and DNII have, with assignable tracks and sidechain source. But really for me, I am anticipating that they will all complement each other really well, in addition to still being super fun on their own.
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