Anyone else find the pads not sensitive? I had to whack mine pretty hard to get a sound out of them even after adjusting the setting. I ended up returning it because of that. Did I just get a bad unit?
You had a normal unit,
it is not a finger drummer’s dream like maschine or akai lastest mpd’s pads, but if you adjust the settings and drive the sound louder it gets the job done…
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yeah, Circuit is great if you dig the synth engine, but overall it isnt all that versatile.
Flipped a Circuit and a Sp404sx for a MC101 and a Circuit Monostation and I am loving the sonic sound variety I get out of it…with drums and sample mangling from the M:S it gets very very raunchy in a minute 
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Same. I couldn’t resist. The only bummer is that it won’t arrive in time for a trip I’m taking this weekend. That would’ve been a nice opportunity to get acquainted with the new box. However, it seems like the workflow is such that I’ll be up and running pretty much straight out of the box. I’m hoping it can be the take-anywhere sketchpad that seems to elude me. Failing that, at least it sounds like it offers enough of a different experience that it could be a great complement to the OT/DN/microfreak. If I could fill it up with all kinds of drum loops for later processing in the OT, I’d be happy.
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I got mine and I am enjoying it very much. My only regret is that I didn’t order two of them. I really think it sounds better than Digitakt (more low end) and the interface is better.
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The new $299 price is very tempting.
Even if I just loaded it up with short little FR XS and Dinky’s Taiko synth drum stabs, I feel like I could take it to a useful place quicker than other gear.
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I’ve had mine for a week or two and I think it’s a whole lot of fun for the price I paid (about £255 during BF sale). I briefly owned a DT and I nearly bought one again but I took a punt on the MS and I think I actually prefer the interface. It’s not perfect (tiny screen a bit fiddly when browsing samples and folders etc) but it has most of the good stuff that makes Elektron sequencing so great and I’ve had some very enjoyable improv techno sessions. I wanted to get away from the computer and it’s definitely helped with that!
Don’t go to far away from the computer, if you want some sampled sound… That’s why I bought an DT again… Keeps me away from the big screen…
Yeah I know what you mean. At the moment I’m just learning the workflow with a load of samples from old sample packs etc. I think, for me, it’s about separating the workflow into pieces. I think what I’m going to try is spending short periods using my soft synths and DAW etc to make a load of synth/drum one-shots and also drones, pads, chords etc that have textural/tonal change over time and then import them into the MS and do the composition and jamming part separately. If I sit with a DAW with 1000 plugins, automation options, EQs and whatnot then I just get option paralysis and it feels too much like work. I’m a web developer by trade so I want time away from the screen and to just enjoy the time with music. I’m not massively concerned about making “finished” tracks.
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I fully understand 
I am the IT guy, trying to get away from the computer as soon as I can.
Here it is DT and OT… And a mic
I’m still holding on to mine. While it does sound like the Digitakt would just be better overall if you can shell out the cash, it really isn’t. The Model:Samples has an interface that takes you to entirely different places, and I just like those places more than the ones I ever reached with the Digitakt.
I never use it stand alone, but there’s not a single track these days that don’t use a loop or two from my M:S.
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I have to say that (despite some controversy in the community) I applaud their efforts to bring the groovebox concept and the Elektron sequencing to a more affordable price point. I think if they did a digital drum version or even a simple digital subtractive synth version in the same form factor and price I’d be all over it. 6 tracks (or even 4) of digital drums or basic subtractive synth with the Elektron sequencing for around £300 would be absolutely killer. We live in hope!
A quick shout out to the midi sequencer and knobs that send CC which also make it a pretty decent midi controller for plugins and DAW channels etc. 6 sets of endless rotaries that are pre-labelled with common target parameters is actually very useful! I always had issues with the disconnect between my midi “knobby” controllers and whatever they’re controlling but the MS labels help to get past this.
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That’s a great idea, I was thinking of sequencing a soft synth but hadn’t thought of using it to map effects and transport. Do you have to map each non individually or is it pre-mapped? I assume the former. How labor intensive is it to do this? I know the cc mappings are in the manual but I have never gotten around to trying it yet.
Hey, Scot
I’m a big proponent of sample chains and have about 200MB of various chains I made for my Rytm. Have you worked with chains on the M:S much?
My thinking is that thanks to the sample length parameter (borrowed from Digitakt) combined with the whole integer sample start parameter (borrowed from Rytm, and without decimal precision like on Digitakt), the Model:Samples could be the best Elektron to work with my pre-made chains of various lengths, in terms of immediacy.
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I no longer have the M:S, but yeah, that was exactly my feeling, too. It was really easy to dial in a single wave or sound in a chain, making it a good vehicle for wavetable playback.
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That’s a great idea. I’ve been looking for the “perfect” midi drum rack/sequencer controller thing for Ableton and you convinced me to give the M:S another try. I was about get the Push 2 (again) for that but the M:S is way cheaper. Definitely going to order one today and give it a try.
Only issue I can see is that if I select a drum pad on the M:S, the drum specific device controls (sample start, filter, etc) won’t follow on Ableton since this would be midi-mapped to a specific drum. I’d have to create a script so that the device controls follow the selected sample pad. And all the Function commands are an issue, like muting tracks etc.
Here are a couple of quick demos I made for a sample set I made from my PPG Wave 2.2 and Waveterm. Some of these sounds are acoustic/electric sounds sampled into the Waveterm, played back by the 2.2 and then resampled for the Model:Samples. Others are purely PPG 2.2 patches made from my own patches and/or wavetables. I also did one big wavetable from waves I made on the Waveterm and using exactly the method you describe to select and play the waves back.
https://www.elektronauts.com/uploads/default/original/3X/2/2/22a6fc28fd3d4a99ca4865c43cc557cca9531a4c.mp3 https://www.elektronauts.com/uploads/default/original/3X/1/1/111a402293a3a2de4b7fe45686c8d7df97253f00.mp3
And another:
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That’s exactly what I did for my DT. So, I have a curated list of one shots of all those various types that I occasionally add to. As I’m considering getting an M:S, I’d just load that same bunch of samples into. Off the top of my head, I’ve got a go to list of stuff that suits my tastes of maybe 250/300 samples. Only takes up about 200Mb.
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