Syntakt without hesitation. I always said to myself that if I had to start again on an Elektron device, it would be the ST.
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I’ve also studied Digitakt and know it’s powerful. Unfortunately, I can’t afford more boxes for now, so I will only buy Syntakt. And with time, who knows…
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I do.
Those inputs combined with the FX make a GREAT rationalization for a future purchase 
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Even though I own and enjoy my digitone, for an all round machine I would absolutely love to see this turn into an “I bought an analog four mkII and never been happier” post. Here’s a helpful video from eaves comparing the two which almost had me lean the other way.
I think my biggest hesitance with syntakt would be that it does everything except polyphony, I like digitakt as a sampler so I’m not that worried about whether the synth can sample or not, but analog warmth with no polyphony in a thousand dollar synth is heartbreaking.
Just my .0005 cents worth.
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Syntakt is a perfectly good choice based on what you’ve said about your wishes. Don’t let all of our chattering distract you, we like to talk. And do check in with your experiences as you work with it.
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cheap: Digitone
not cheap: Gotharman’s LD3
The ST is something that sounds great on paper, excellent specs, but I have yet to hear any demo that made me sit up and say “I need this.” I also don’t particularly enjoy programming drums, so much there is lost on me. My workflow would probably be to let Digitone handle chords and melodies, then cover beats some other way (loops, software, multi-tracking, etc). It can do such crisp and clean plucks or drifty, glassy pads, there’s plenty in there I’d want to work with.
Both boxes have similar drawbacks, with lack of kits. But I wouldn’t fall into the trap of “what it can do” if you don’t like how it sounds.
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I’d probably recommend the Syntakt unless you are specifically looking for a synth voice to play with keys and sequence external gear, or as a tool for sound design.
I see it as a good companion to an existing setup.
I started with the Digitone as my entry point for both Elektron boxes and FM synthesis, with the intent of using it as a groovebox. While I don’t regret it, that’s really diving in at the deep end.
FM synthesis is complex enough by itself, and trying to fit a song into four tracks while dealing with things like voice allocation can be frustrating/confusing if you’re new to this.
Part of where I have struggled with the Digitone is the interface.
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There are about 52 different parameters to define a sound on Digitone - split over five pages and five sub-pages (the exact number of parameters depends how you count it).
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With Syntakt, that number is 34 - with most of the controls on four main pages (eight parameters per page).
That’s a lot easier to learn and use - but does not mean that it’s limited. -
Compare either of those to a synth like the MEGAfm, which has 32 faders for the four oscillators alone - and plenty of knobs/buttons dedicated to everything else, like its LFOs. It’s much more direct and hands-on.
Now I’m not suggesting that you pick up a MEGAfm - especially not as an entry point into FM synthesis. It can’t do a fraction of what the Digitone does.
I’m only trying to express how complex and menu-divey the Digitone interface can be when designing sounds.
Maybe some people take to it better than I did, but as a result, I don’t find it a very inspiring machine to improvise on - unless I’m using it to play a sound that I already crafted.
It’s something that I have to set aside some time, sit down, and really focus on, when designing sounds.
None of this is to say that you shouldn’t buy a Digitone.
It’s a great synth which can produce sounds that I love - and there are a lot of amazing performances out there that use only the Digitone because it’s so powerful.
But it takes a lot of work to get there, if you’re wanting to do the sound design yourself rather than buying packs - which is perfectly valid too, if you’re wanting to make music with great sounds someone else put the time into designing.
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I moved to the Model: Cycles next, which was the complete opposite experience.
It gives you access to the full(?) Elektron sequencer, 90% of the controls have a dedicated knob or shift-function, and six tracks are a lot easier to work with than four - even if they’re monophonic.
This obviously brought some pretty big limitations.
But working within a limited set of parameters is what really helped me to learn the sequencer/workflow - and finding creative ways to work around those limitations can be part of the fun.
But ultimately, the M:C does have much more limited sound design potential - which is why I replaced it with a Syntakt.
(though I still have some lingering regret over selling the M:C rather than holding onto it - even if the ST can do everything the M:C does)
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The Syntakt is a great balance between those extremes, and a bit underrated as a synth.
I think the reason it has a reputation of “everything sounding the same” is because a lot of people use the basic chord machine playing minor chords for their synth voices, and have not explored that in-depth, modulated it, or tried out other machines for that task.
Sound design is not as complex as the Digitone, as each machine gives you a starting point and its own set of controls to experiment with.
But it has a lot more machines than the M:C, and gives you full control over the amp envelope, filters (with an envelope), two LFOs, and the analog FX block.
With those tools, you can turn many of the machines into a synth lead, bassline, pads, a growling drone, etc - even the analog tracks.
That starts to give you a wider sound palette, and gets you in the same territory as some of those classic FM sounds - while doing its own thing as well.
It’s a lot easier to build a song when you have twelve tracks at your disposal, rather than four.
They may be monophonic, but that may not be important for a lot of music.
And with some MIDI tricks or careful sequencing, it’s possible to play multiple tracks like a poly synth (you could even use three of the analog tracks).
No arpeggiator like the Digitone though.
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Syntakt. It’s a great jumping-off point for other devices.
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@Scyphozoa Many thanks for the comprehensive description, comparison and explanation.
When I say I prefer the sound of the Digitone I guess it’s because I’ve heard the work of other people who have dedicated months/years of work to it, pushed it to the limit to get the perfect result I heard. This requires knowledge, time, will, creativity and patience. That’s why I decided on Syntakt. It won’t be easy for me right away, but it will certainly be easier than on Digitone (as a standalone).
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For me the Syntakt is the only true standalone unit between the two. Digitone is amazing but its the perfect accomplice to either the Digitakt or Syntakt or any other groove box you like.
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The chord machines was when I decided to bow out from considering the ST. It would take so much longer to dial in the chord and inversion than to just play the thing and record that. I imagine you can do cool stuff with that using p-locks or automation, but programming chords that way seems like unbearable tedium to me.
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You can always have a Polysynth sequenced by a MIDI Track from the ST and the ST will also handle the Audio of the Polysynth.
I have Syntakt, Digitakt and Digitone. I bought Digitakt first, then added a Syntakt and then a Digitone.
I love all three but if I was forced to just pick one, it would be the Syntakt. Don’t be misled by the more industrial hardcore stuff you see on YT. This little box can do gnarly in-your-face aggressive sounds all day long, but it can also do a bunch of other stuff right out into super mellow, lo-fi gentle warm ambient. It is really versatile, and with 12 tracks it’s perfectly possible to make great music without any other hardware at all.
If I could pick two Elektron boxes, not just one, it would be Syntakt plus Digitakt. They go together so well (and the Digitakt would come a close second in a ‘pick only one box’ situation), Syntakt drums and mono synths (plus the Chord machine) with drum/percussion samples on Digitakt plus softsynth chords/FX sampled from my iPad make for one hell of a sonic palette.
Digitone is also a wonderful little box too, don’t get me wrong, and there are certainly people out there who can do everything with a Digitone alone (check out Cuckoo’s live gigs on YT, the guy is insanely talented and makes a single Digitone sound like an entire rig of synths and drum machines…. it is incredible). But for me (and I suspect others), Digitone is a bit more of a specialist machine that complements other hardware beautifully but I’d find it a bit more of a challenge if it was all I owned.
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Before I bought the Syntakt, I assumed the same thing… p-locking different chords and/or inversions (including with different roots) with the Chord machine struck me as something that would be really cumbersome and I’d be unlikely to do it if I bought a Syntakt.
Funny thing is… now that I own the Syntakt, I do exactly this with Chord machine all the time, and it’s great! Totally different to playing with chord progression ideas on a keyboard of course, it’s more random than that for sure. But it can be a really fast way to get to an interesting sequence that works. It’s now becoming one of my favourite things on Syntakt… not what I expected at all (and in a good way).
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Digitakt.
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I bought a Syntakt as my first Elektron box and then bought a Digitone as its companion. I recommend that order.
If your goal is to make complete, or close to complete tracks, it is way easier on the Syntakt compared to the Digitone.
The Syntakt makes a great all-in-one groove box but its limitation is that it is a collection of 12 monosynths. The Digitone is an excellent multitimbral polysynth. It can do percussion, but it is challenging to deal with its limitations.
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Here’s an example on Digitone, when I heard this my jaw dropped, I couldn’t believe it was just Digitone…just beautiful. Later, in another video, he said that it was very difficult and complex to make that song, he had to push it to the limit.
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He is very good. Maybe for an expert you could get better music out of the digitone. For a beginner Syntakt is much easier to get something usable. Assuming you want a groovebox rather than a polysynth.
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There are so many points in favor of either of them, and there is no right or wrong choice. The best advice I can give is: buy either of them used. That way you can resell if without a loss if it turns out it wasn’t for you.
As for my personal preference, having owned and used both the Digitone and Syntakt in standalone (and even having made a comparison video between the two), I would ultimately pick the Syntakt between the two if your goal is to make full sounding tracks. While it’s certainly possible to do that with just 4 tracks and 8 notes of polyphony, I found it to be a much more programmatic experience on the Digitone. You have to cram all your drums into one track, and you have to use clever tricks like using a kick as an arp for basic things like a snare and kick hitting at the same trig. Maybe that’s not an issue for you, but to me, it definitely shifted the focus from “just making music” to worrying about how to program the sequencer.
Just to give you an example of a real struggle I had to deal with when making music on the Digitone in standalone: I had to set my track 1 to a 2X resolution (32 trigs per beat) just to be able to get all drum trigs hitting reasonably on time (using nudging to tilt them off the standard grid) and use arps for both hi hats and the kick (4 on the floor beat). And then I had to maintain copies of the pattern for drum variations, meaning things got a bit more restricted when it comes to variability. None of this is impossible to handle, but, again, it shifts the focus from “just making music”.
Because the Syntakt offers 12 tracks, you can space things out much more freely and the song ideas evolve more naturally as a result. And you can use 2-3 tracks for chords, just copy the sound over to the other tracks and program the notes across the tracks. Yes, this is the one area where Syntakt becomes a bit programmatic, but I find that a lot easier to manage than having to cram in all drums into a single track.
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