Does Syntakt replace the MD?

What do we do with the old MDUW now? Worth keeping? They’re classic and beautiful, but I do wish its sequencer was a bit more like Digitakt’s (which I own)… and I do wish the Digitakt was really a drum synth too…

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Nothing replaces the Machinedrum.

The ST may be an homage to the MD, but its an ST and not an MD

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No

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…it’s a new take in the same direction, the concept of various synt/sound engines with their own dedicated sonic mission to fulfill…that concept started with the machinedrum and was continued with mono machine…
and came back more than a decade later with rytm for the first time again…
while u could aslo argue that ot’s slot concept is pretty much the same idea…

and then was made kind of common sense with the cycles and found some final destination now in the syntakt which is nothing but a selction of all their best concepts now in one box…only leaving the ot idea out of that equasion, since that will be the last option for some last next new groovebox concept they still have on their hand…inventing that in new way with some granular gimmicks maybe their last great take, still to come…
and as said, syntakt will never replace that cult machine, it’s sonic grand pa, so to say, that was discontinued long time ago and was invented by a totally different team, back then…

syntakt will further harvest the basic idea of a md and mnm…but it’s 21st century full on now…u know…

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No and don’t forget the MD is still being developed. Add a MegaCommand to it if you want updated sequencer options.

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…while once they add some more synth machines to it, like vowel/talk/spell ones and stuff like that, it will replace the mnm… :wink:

while in essence, yeah, it already kind of replaces the rytm and the cycles…a bit…and a bit more…

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It’s yet to be seen. There will be strong opinions for a long time.

I’ve seen a lot of ST hate, a surprising amount for a device that’s days old.

The MD for all its good also could be seen as a sub par decide by several.

Personally I think the MD is a modern digital drum machine that has stood the test of time the same way the likes of an 808 has. I think people will want “that sound” for ages, and with this, the ST is yet to carve its place out.

With all this said I truly believe the ST can replace an MD, as mentioned before yes, let’s see but it has all the potential necessary and is a close to the vibe I’ve seen yet.

I’ve mentioned before that you can do what you want if you put your mind to it. Blush response, Ess and many others can make the model cycles scream but, many make it sound like a toy. The same will be seen with ST. Personally I thought Bobeats butchered the arp 2600s sound much as he does with many things as great as he is, and I reminded myself that the arp was used on NIN’s hand that feeds and it’s truly down to who is willing to put something through its paces.

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MD is wayyyy deeper. LFOs for days, crazy sound design potential. I mean, this is pretty obvious, at least it was to me,

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My Syntakt is planned for delivery on Tuesday. I ordered it because it reminded me the Machinedrum/Sherman filterbank combo I was using 14 years ago. In my own specific case and for what I plan to do with it, I hope it will be a nice sustitute in a modern package and open new doors.

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Without freely assignable LFOs, ram/rom machines, layer/choke tracks, and song mode, it’s not comparable in my opinion.

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Freely

Assignable

Lunchbox

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Why not have both?

thanks!

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Yup…

I think we all agree that nothing will ever “replace” the MD as an instrument, but just for the sake of conversation, I’ll argue that the Syntakt should probably replace the MD in people’s shopping carts nowadays.

It’s difficult to justify the high prices that the MD commands in the second market. As amazing as it is, the MD is an older machine and you’re paying a premium for its popularity right now. The Syntakt has brand spankin new parts, all the latest Elektron sequencer features, a broad suite of sound machines that at least somewhat hearken back to MD sounds, plus a whole analog layer to achieve sounds the MD can’t even dream of. Also it’s smaller which is nice.

So yeah, if you’re someone who’s refreshing Reverb to find that magic MD deal, I’d say just grab a Syntakt and enjoy the present moment of the Elektron legacy.

(And if enough of you read this post and stop buying Machinedrums, maybe the prices will come down so I can get one again.)

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All this talk about MD has forced me to take mine out of the closet and go to town tonight. Personally I think the Syntakt is pretty sweet in it’s own right, but a replacement for the MD it is not. Until a Syntakt can do live resampling in 12 bit or have 16 freely assignable LFOs, it misses some of the most important features the MD contains. But does the MD have an analog DVCO pull from the rytm or chord machines from the cycles?

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Live resampling on the Syntakt would be…. a dream come true

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Look at the numerous updates that Elektron has done for their gear over the years. Keep your fingers crossed, right? :slightly_smiling_face:

I would not count on that, I think the idea of what a Syntakt is, is well defined from day one. I can’t think of the development/usability/UX madness it would be to add a feature like that without disrupting current workflow (and I don’t want the Syntakt to become another Deluge either tbh).
Maybe on a future flagship device, if at all.

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There is a lot of comparisons of specs, but I think it should at least be in the conversation, that they sound wildly different?

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