I am looking to make my next purchase and I really want to add in a dedictaed FM synth to my set up. To anyone who has used both or has both, should I go Digitone or the Cycles? I currently run a Digitakt with a Moog trio of Mother-32/DFAM/Subharmonicon. Cycles seems like an ease into the FM world, but the Digitone seems brilliant. Is the learning curve so steep on a Digitone that I should start simpler with the Cycles? Just looking for a few perspectives here as I know I would love both, just want to hear from people who have used it. Thanks!
Haven’t used the dn but I love the m:c. It’s a lot of fun and very immediate. It’s my latest in a long line of fm (and pm) synths and while it’s great, it’s also the least “classic fm-ish” if that makes sense. The flip side is that it might be great for someone who doesn’t have any experience with fm.
The dn looks even cooler (though less instantly gratifying) and if I could afford one I’d happily have both.
1 Like
The person who would be doing the learning is you. The Digitone is rather similar to the Digitakt: are you comfortable with using the Digitakt?
The Digitone allows you to go into detail with the synthesis engine whereas the M:C has fewer but more abstract controls: which do you think you might prefer?
Why are you only considering Elektron devices?
1 Like
Digitone. Final answer.
6 Likes
Digitone.
I had the cycles for a few days, didnt like it at all.
Love the digitone.
Thats just my opinion though. The internet is full of them. After 7 replies you will have reached maximum contradiction, critical repetition.
7 Likes
You could read 100 posts of discussion, or you could just skip straight to the correct conclusion, which is buying the Digitone.
9 Likes
They’re too different for me to recommend one or the other without knowing what your aim is.
The Digitone is polyphonic, with super detailed sound design parameters. Great for (but not at all limited to) pad sounds. The filters make it possible to get nice subtractive synth sounds as well.
The M:C is monophonic per track (apart from the chord track, which is more just an oscillator cluster). But it also has quicker controls, and is better for (but again, not limited to) percussive sounds. It’s not as detailed as the Digitone, but I’m still finding new tricks, and I’ve had it for longer than most people.
That’s the key I guess, you kinda need to exploit the M:C, whereas with the Digitone, it’s all just there. Depends on what you enjoy more.
To be honest, if I had to sell one it’d be the Digitone.
2 Likes
I wouldn’t buy a Model:Cycles as an FM synth… its more a “machines” based synth that happens to use FM and wavetables to generate the sounds. Each machine is like its own type of limited synthesis with a more direct purpose the Tone machine being the one that is mostly a basic straight forward FM engine. You won’t learn very much about FM using the Cycles but you will end up with cool sounds and learn to twist crazy stuff out of the different machines. Digitone is an FM synth that is designed to be easy to use… so if you are looking to learn FM the Digitone will help you get there much more.
Personally I have a Digitakt and a Cycles and enjoy the combo a lot but I also wasn’t looking specifically for an FM synth with the Cycles.
6 Likes
Digitone. Nobrainer.
3 Likes
I have both, DN any day of the week…!
The MC is a very capable unit but not 1/2 as capable as the DN…
Also short percussive sounds from the DN can be sampled into your DT…so you can have FM percussion and 4 tracks of bells (or what ever you want) on top, the DN alows you to shape your patch with FILTERS which makes a hella difference to sculpting sounds… but even if you run the MC through an outboard filter you loose the ability to send the patch to the internal, plockable, reverb and delay “post filter”…which is a big deal I think…
2 Likes
Oh right, I didn’t notice you were possibly looking for something to learn FM with. M:C isn’t good for that.
1 Like
I like DN better than DT if that helps
I love my Digitakt and would like to consider myself very proficient in it. I’m glad you said this because that pushes me more towards the DT. And I just love Elektron. Elektron products are super well made and always have hidden functions that unlocks more music.
1 Like
After reading these comments I think the DT is the way to go.
I’m glad you made this comment. I really love FM pad sounds and the DT polyphony. I am a bit of a tinkerer and it sounds like the DT has a lot more parameters for me to noodle with. Thanks.
Thank you for this!
This was super helpful, thank you! I won’t rule out getting both in the future, just looking for right now. Looks like the DT is the way to go for me at this time.
Thank you! This was super helpful. I was leaning towards the Digitone based off of initial research and these comments really helped. I guess I was misunderstanding that the cycles was kind of a simpler form of the Tone, but it’s a whole different machine. Looks like I will be getting a Digitone soon.
1 Like
I was in a similar position to you and I bought a cycles to try and fill the gap/want for FM synthesis. While the cycles is great fun and I really enjoyed it, I ended up buying a DN and that was really more what I was looking for. The sounds you can pull from DN are awesome and really really vast. You definitely won’t regret it!
2 Likes
You could get a Cycles and a Modal Skulpt for less than the price of a Digitone currently. All depends on what you want.
It’s VA, but it sounds amazing. Good sequencer too.
2 Likes