Does Digitakt output sounds that bad?

Elektron Gear Digitakt
#1

Hi there,

New here and I don’t have a Digitakt yet. Next week probably ! :wink:

I’m not fortunate so buying a Digitakt is a big deal for me. I was convinced to buy one until I had a listen to most of the tracks posted here. All compositions are great but I noticed poor quality in the mix of most of the tracks. Muffed sound. A very few sounds clear. No offense … !

Is the output of the Digitakt sounds that bad ? Those tracks who sounds clear, is it because they were masterized in a DAW ?

Thanks for your reply !

Cheers,
crispinemarto

#2

Non-pro people do not do mastering of their sound material as usual. So mixes posted here usually sound as crap. But that is not a place where sound engineers post their arts. So it is expected. Digitakt itself sounds no better or worse than any 24bit DAC without post-processing. So the answer is:NO, it is not that bad :slight_smile:

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#3

Ok. It’s a good answer … !
Thanks EugeneM !

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#4

From an ignorant ear- the Digitakt output sounds wonderful

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#6

Overbridge when available, allowing direct digital signal to your daw without conversion will give theoretically the highest fidelity, and also enable you to use your own higher quality DAC if you prefer

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#7

All right ! You got me !
Anyway, I can’t resist to buy it. This was my only concern…

Thanks a lot for your replies!

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#8

Digitakt sounds great! Punchy and clear. And like was said, when overbridged is on then you can multitrack in your daw with all the super effects!

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#9

DT output sounds good, what others choose to output through it is what maybe sounds bad

#10

Do you have a pair of good monitors? Or at the very least a great set of phones? That to me was one of the best things I ever did for my own music and listening / analyzing other people’s music.

It’s going to be a system where everything comes together to hopefully give you a reasonably un-colored response, Digitakt -> mixer? -> Soundcard -> monitors / headphones :headphones: All of these will play a part in how you perceive the sound. Me, I have a crappy mixer so I have to try and account for that, and I also am looking for something like an analog heat or some other device that can sort of act as the “glue” for all the sounds so they come together a little better.

And also we have to mention sample selection and mixing and mastering, I’m not that good at it at all, I don’t think anyone would disagree that they could stand to step up their game a little bit. I know I could! We are never finished learning. Never reach true perfection. That’s partly the draw right? That there is always something new to learn, we can be a little bit better with each attempt.

Anyways, Digitakt rocks, sounds frickin fantastic to me, and most of all it’s fun and the more you dig in the more you get out. Enjoy!!

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#11

Digitakt sound quality itself is fantastic. What is not fantastic is the lack of per track EQs or even the Digitone style 1-pole bandpass second filter for scooping out unwanted frequencies from the samples. This combined with the fact that a lot of non-pros are using it contributes to muddy sounding examples.

As of now it kind of forces you to think exceptionaly much about sample selection, that you have to find sounds that sit well together and don’t blur too much into each other.

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#12

Techno…But my favorite display of the Digitakt

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#13

Try to buy from the store that accepts returns and offers money-back policy for its customers. I’m happy with the sound quality of Digitakt and other modern Elektron boxes but it has its own character. If this is your concern, maybe it’s better to decide with your ears before following the hype.
Like for most of the electronic music production tools, the hype is carried by white middle class men, who do not worry so much about the cost of their toys. Also, Elektron is a nordic brand and the living standards of nordic countries are way above anything in the world. I personally hate the hype because its killing the planet and my wallet, so here are some tricks that I use to survive:

  1. Listen in the shop and deciding with my ears. Thats not possible where I live but I do some travelling from time to time, so I’m seeking out good shops in big cities to spens some hours checking out the gear.
  2. Buying from the store that offers at least two week money-back policy.
  3. Buying new gear from the shop with full warranty for at least two years. Second hand market is good for older gear but new gear is sold almost at the store price with no shop warranty, so whats the point.
  4. Buying older gear second hand. Part of the hype is that ppl are selling their perfectly working gear to buy shiny new stuff. Example: you can get perfectly working A4 with about half of what was the store prize. Most of Elektron gear is futureproof and will last a long time.
  5. Taking care of my gear and use decksavers, proper bags, dustcover etc.
  6. Every new instrument is a commitment. It requires my time and energy to master it. If I dont have these ressources, I wont buy one. Period.
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#14

Digitakt so needs that additional filter.

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#15

Digitakt’s output sounds excellent, I keep getting surprised by it.
If you know a bit about mixing, you should get a decent full sound out of it.

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#16

There’s a couple of things I hate about the DT, but the sound of the outputs isn’t one of them. I thought the actual sound of the unit was pretty damn good when I had mine.

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#17

Have you listened to the official elektron demos?

Why you’d form your opinion of a box without checking the official demos?
Here they are, reposted for convenience

#18

As with any piece of gear, just go to a store and try it for yourself! Nobody but you have your ears, your goals, your way of using gear etc. For instance I was GASing after the AR mk2 came out when I tried it on my local store, I decided not to get one. It’s just didn’t appeal to me.

#19

It seems like when it came out people were constantly remarking on how good it sounds. They thought it sounded better than OT and AR which pretty much means they thought it sounded the best out of any Elektron to date… (in mono :wink:)

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#20

10 years of audio engineering and I think the outputs sound incredible. On par with the a4. Despite being all digital it has a smoothness to it that the octatrack does not.

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#21

Nothing wrong with the Digitakt. If anything I have a problem with its extra saturation which makes it sound good but rather uncontrollably. Apparently there is some saturation applied to the outputs.

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