Digitone Keys owners - Are you happy with the ergonomics of the device?

Elektron Gear Digitone/Digitone Keys
#1

Dear Keys users,

I think the Digitone is my most valued synth because it sounds great and it’s just a very versatile piece of gear. I love pretty much everything about it. It’s also super easy to create some new interesting sounds. How do you feel about the form factor though? It doesn’t look that usable to me…

Right now, I also have a Take 5 which sounds great but I don’t use it that much… It has only one voice and that’s kind of limiting given the space it’s taking up :smiley: Same goes for my Moog Grandmother.

So I’m thinking of getting rid of the Take 5 and the Grandmother and replacing my DT with the Keys version and then to get some other multitimbral synth in a desktop format.

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#2

Is it that bad?!

#3

The octave buttons get in the way and knobs are a little laggy. Besides that I liked it.

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#4

The build quality is good as always with the Elektron boxed, keybed is Fatar and quite nice but light. The Take5 is probably better (semi weighted).

The buttons on my device started double-triggering so I to took them out and blew some air into the whole and back in and it was good.

I had a DN first and then went for the DNK. And after a while sold it and bought a used DN.
(Lost around 400 Euros on that… :grimacing: )

Why?

  • I loved the idea of the knobs above the keyboard. But I never used them
  • I loved the slim form factor so I wanted to put it under my monitor on the table as a controller for my DAW. In the end it did not really fit and again playing with it was uncomfortable.
  • Creating sounds with the DNK controls on the left side of the keyboard feels unergonomic to me.
  • The Digitone is not so much a “players instruments” but rather a sequencing miracle with a great sound engine if that makes sense. For that I don’t need a keyboard.

Now I am happy, I can play the DN with a different keyboard via MIDI if I want or just have it sit next to the Digitakt.

If you want to get rid of your synths maybe sell one and get a Digitakt instead and sample other synths and chords into it. I like poly synths more than monophonic. Too much space in my room for “just one voice”. I’d keep the Sequential.

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#5

I love mine. Top notch synth. Beautiful instrument.
I like the slim form factor as it affords plenty of room for things to go behind it on my desk. One of the better purchases I’ve made and I feel it really opens up the Digitone as an instrument in ways that the module just can’t. Having one button access to the mod wheel parameters is ace.
It’s kind of big, but I have the room for it. If I had the dough I’d buy another just to stockpile one.

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#6

Echo the above. Absolutely love the form factor. I disagree with the above statement about it not being a player’s instrument. The keyboard opens up a whole new performance dimension to the Digitone. The biggest thing for me was the ability to route modulation to mod wheel and pitch bend and have access to those. I’m no keyboard master, but you find yourself doing things you wouldn’t normally do when you have the keys attached. Also, I loved having the knobs on the left and keys on the right. This bothers some people, but totally makes sense to me.

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#7

I’ll echo that statement and say that @HotdogLothario said some things I was too lazy to type. Also, despite what some have said the octave keys have never been in the way and the knobs are in no way laggy

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#8

DN Keys is the synth I missed the most, I found it as ergonomic as the box version but with even more options (well, it isnt really much “new” options, but to find them right under my hand instead of hiding in a menu feels like they were new).
What I really find disapointing with it is how fast it get buggy when you want to modulate it via MIDI. I wanted to make it my main sound source as well as my main controler for my (mainly itb) setup : it failed. (Note that it may depend of how you’re making music, I may have used too many LFOs and modulation sources than what should be reasonnable for just “designing a patch”)

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#9

I love my keys, and echo the comments above. Of course the same firmware features are available for the desktop but they seem so much more streamlined with the keys. My favourite functions are:

Individual outs! I find this very useful as I prefer recording takes on my bluebox, sending individual tracks to other effects, and then mixing and effecting the stems in bitwig. I normally run tracks 1 and 2 through the master output and 3 and 4 through some modular effects.

Multimap. Works so good with the keyboard (I know this feature is universal but is so much more immediate during setup). Brilliant for drum machine tracks.

Additional knobs. Saves a bit of menu navigation - but also great when using the dn as a master keyboard for other stuff.

Looks cool (I think).

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#10

That’s the thing… I kind of hate sampling :smiley: Already owned two Digitakts. Right now I’ve got the Polyend Tracker, which I like, but I don’t see myself sampling another synth. It’s too much of a hassle for me. But yeah, I won’t sell the Sequential immediately. That one is just nice :smiley:

Bought a Bluebox a while ago as well and that might open up it a bit more.

Thanks all for your thoughts! I’m not much of a keyboard player so I’m just looking for something nice to play a few chords and enter some notes. And it looks like it’s also pretty easy (and fast) to change the midi channel as well.

I will give it another thought once we’re moving into our new house. I’ll have some more space there but the idea of having the Digitone Keys at the bottom as a master controller seems appealing. I could also put my Syntakt and some other desktop synths on top and have everything in reach. And that’s not really the case when I use the Take 5 as a midi controller, that thing is rather deep (in comparison.

#11

…it’s the same with the mnm keyboard version…u either love it, or hate it…

the a4 keyboardversion was not such a good design, if u ask me…

this slim naked keybed bone with the device just attached to it’s side is as uncommon as genius, in my opinion…

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#12

Yes, it’s a bit unconventional… Guess that’s why I want to try it :smiley:

#13

Hahaha… There you go :slight_smile: I actually own the Analog Keys and really like that one. :smiley: Don’t know why. It is so “special” and it has a lot of space for the controls and it was the first Elektron device where I finally understood the sequencer :wink: So as always it is a matter of taste. Keybed is pretty much the same as Digitone.

#14

Yep! Love the form factor. Always keep it at the top front of my desk with a keystep 37 in a shelf underneath…

#15

It’s a great full sized keybed in terms of dimension depth (clocking in at 90mm) which leaves a lot of space above the keyboard. Most MIDI keyboards are in the range of 100-120mm. My only struggle in ergonomics has been with finding a place on L shaped desks.

Totally disagree. Great response and feedback on the wheels. Having them baked into an Elektron device is a godsend for sound design and overall accessibility to configuring and using the 4 additional MW modulations. I think the octave buttons are brilliant.

The only lag I have encountered is on excessive use of the LP4 filter. You find this lag on the regular Digitone as well.

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#16

I only have it since a few month, as a replacement to my regular DN. It’s a good device, the keyboard is great, I had a keystep which I really didn’t like and it’s clearly not the same quality. The pitch and Mod wheels open up the synth, and it feels like something you actually want to play, instead of something you have to program in advance ( of course you can do that with every keyboard controller, but the waste in terms of space and mess with cables were a downer for me). Individual outs are a great addition too. I don’t regret that I swapped for the DNK version.

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#17

The Digitone Keys is the center of my setup. It replaced my Analog Keys when its screen died. I just wish the Digitone Keys has dedicated buttons for song mode and a way to record pitch bend and mod wheel. It sits permanently with my Digitakt and Syntakt and I use it to midi sequence/control other synth modules (various Dreadbox, Behringer and a Novation Peak). For my needs it’s the perfect form factor and a great UI. I recently added a Korg D1 used as an extra midi controller hooked to the Digitone Keys and I now have (almost) all my needs covered in a super compact setup.

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#18

The form factor is great. It would be great to have another octave sometimes, but it’s not a dealbreaker. The pitch and mod feel good and the keys are nice and weighty (but I liked the keys on my Prophet Rev2 probably a smidge more).

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#19

Because many people are talking about the Mod Wheel and Pitchbend: Maybe try assigning a nice MIDI controller like Faderfox to the macros instead of buying a DNK. If the additional knobs are what you’re after. I was thinking about DNK for a while because of that, but a Faderfox with knobs and sliders mapped to mod wheel, breath controller and aftertouch have cured that. The setup menu also isn’t that hidden on the regular DN.

#20

The main factor would be the included keyboard which uses the available very efficiently. The knobs are just a bonus :smiley:

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