I got Rytm - 1st Impression

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
103

They built a 1500 € machine that has bugs all over the place which dont get addressed thanks to OB - or just thanks to Elektron not caring about anymore, idk. They have Pads that are so badly calibrated that your fingers hurt if you actually wanna finger drum - you COULD eventually come to the idea of doing this if you have Pads that are normally MEANT for this, right?! :wink:
They limited the Rytms possibilities in area’s that are counter productive - LFO fix per part instead of freely assignable, its all digital its all easy to change! No EQ per part, which again would be easy to implement because this is all digital. No significant differences in the Hihat Machines is noticeable, the OH and CH sound the same, variation again only possible with samples ^^ And yeah, the Kit-Thing was just mentioned before, not so disturbing for me though. And on top of that you have a Bassdrum that looses lowend on cheaper systems when you make it sound a certain (808ish) way. Which is just too much for me; Acceptance Limit reached ! Im very disappointed.

I can see your point, i understand what you say and you have some very good arguments. But the Rytm is not my first Elektron machine and when i compare it to the rest of the machines - obviously to the MD which i guess a lot of us have, on way or another - i am unsatisfied because Elektron did not well here !! Especially if you consider how much you have to pay for it - 1500 € !! For 1500 € the stuff just HAS to be awesome, or at least: You have to see that the company cares for making it awesome. Which you dont see, i sometimes feel Elektron already forgot the Rytm ^^ I never cared for OB i wanted a machine that is cared of!!
Anyway: I KNOW they could’ve done better with the Rytm, but they didnt and - in addition to the problems with the BD - this feels like artificial restriction for NO fu**in reason!

But this wont be a problem anymore soon. I will sell my Rytm i guess and go back to the MD. It was way better suited for what i need, offers a lot more flexibility and as someone already said: the A4 can do analog drumsounds as well :slight_smile: Its just … i so damn wanted the Rytm to be Elektrons new statement of what a drummachine is, i trusted Elektron in making awesome products because they always did. I was so terribly wrong and i will NEVER buy any new product from Elektron without intense testing in advance anymore.

104

Dude. Seriously? You probably should’ve done that in the first place and saved everyone your grief.

105

perfectly said.

Wished I was smarter/faster or more intuitive with my OT and MnM. The MD and A4 seem to have faster workflows.[/quote]
hmmm interestingly with lots and lots of time on the MnM i found the A4
easy and quite similar :confused:

but yeah by the time i get the OT into shape, i’m bored and its bed time :sleepy:

106

subbz2k wrote
…1500 € !! …
…For 1500 €…
i will NEVER buy any new product from Elektron without intense testing in advance anymore.

Dude. Seriously? You probably should’ve done that in the first place and saved everyone your grief.

^^ Agreed. For me the Rytm exceeds my expectations on almost every level (only thing I’m not happy about is the limited audio input capability). 1k5 almost seems like a bargain :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: You can buy many Rytms for the price of one U47 mic or a Vintage Neve channelstrip…

And have no doubt AR will be updated by Elektron. It’s only what, two years old? I can easily wait 13 more years to see where things are going to be :kiss:

107

[quote=““xidnpnlss””]

Dude. Seriously? You probably should’ve done that in the first place and saved everyone your grief. [/quote]
Hes allowed to vent, everyone else does sooner or later,
You, of course, are not required to read it.

108

Not a good comparison imo, what will keep or even increase in value?

Its like saying, why buy a house you could buy 10 new cars, unless you’re Mr Atkins and selling a McLaren your going to lose.

109

Merely stating that 1k5 is a “prosumer” pricepoint in the industry… Besides, for this form factor and features, for any price, the AR is about the only game in town.

And everyone is allowed to vent, but why do it publicly? If you don’t research your gear purchases thorroughly, and end up with something that is not what you wanted, and you don’t return it to the seller within 30 days, well… It’s the consumers fault.

Our responsibility is to use our well earned cash to the best of our ability, corporations have no responsibility (as has been proved time and time again) outside of warranties, and IIUC the retailer selling goods has the 30 day return responsibility? It might not be an ideal system but it is what it is. Expecting anything else is a bit naive IMO.

110

[quote=““subbz2k””]

They built a 1500 € machine that has bugs all over the place which dont get addressed thanks to OB - or just thanks to Elektron not caring about anymore, idk.

OB IS part of the RYTM package, not in competition wif it. The bugs are just the state of play with all modern hardware releases from Elektron and other manufacturers too, they get sorted in good time as features are added… more complexity = more bugs. Early adopters get the benefit of having the freshest sounds available but have to endure some frustrations for the privilege

They have Pads that are so badly calibrated that your fingers hurt if you actually wanna finger drum - you COULD eventually come to the idea of doing this if you have Pads that are normally MEANT for this, right?! :wink:

The pads are too hard for me too, that’s why I didn’t buy one… yet.

They limited the Rytms possibilities in area’s that are counter productive - LFO fix per part instead of freely assignable, its all digital its all easy to change!

perhaps it will… hope so. the MD lfo implementation is a great way to work this imo

No EQ per part, which again would be easy to implement because this is all digital.

isn’t the signal path analogue? or do u mean for the sample section/effects?

No significant differences in the Hihat Machines is noticeable, the OH and CH sound the same, variation again only possible with samples ^^

Thats normal with real hi hats and analogue drum machines… it’s the same circuit used so it chokes like a hi hat chokes.

And yeah, the Kit-Thing was just mentioned before, not so disturbing for me though. And on top of that you have a Bassdrum that looses lowend on cheaper systems when you make it sound a certain (808ish) way.

how can anything be designed to sound good on shit speakers? this point is completely retardissimo. no one in their right mind would design a sound generator for people who don’t care about sound quality. . because if you do that you would compromise the potential of the unit. would you mix a record to sound good only on shit speakers? if the listener can’t hear a certain frequency band it’s because the reproducers can not reproduce that band accurately. they are the problem, not the source

Which is just too much for me; Acceptance Limit reached ! Im very disappointed.

fair enough.

I can see your point, i understand what you say and you have some very good arguments. But the Rytm is not my first Elektron machine and when i compare it to the rest of the machines - obviously to the MD which i guess a lot of us have, on way or another - i am unsatisfied because Elektron did not well here !! Especially if you consider how much you have to pay for it - 1500 € !! For 1500 € the stuff just HAS to be awesome, or at least: You have to see that the company cares for making it awesome. Which you dont see, i sometimes feel Elektron already forgot the Rytm ^^ I never cared for OB i wanted a machine that is cared of!!
Anyway: I KNOW they could’ve done better with the Rytm, but they didnt and - in addition to the problems with the BD - this feels like artificial restriction for NO fu**in reason!

oh but they will…

But this wont be a problem anymore soon. I will sell my Rytm i guess and go back to the MD. It was way better suited for what i need, offers a lot more flexibility and as someone already said: the A4 can do analog drumsounds as well :slight_smile: Its just … i so damn wanted the Rytm to be Elektrons new statement of what a drummachine is, i trusted Elektron in making awesome products because they always did. I was so terribly wrong and i will NEVER buy any new product from Elektron without intense testing in advance anymore.
[b]
good idea.

it takes time for these machines to be developed, that’s always been the case. MD took 10 years to get where it is now[/b]

I think you are forgetting who is the REAL enemy…[/quote]
:slight_smile:

111

Don’t understand this at all. Are you blaming the rytm for the lack of low end range on cheap systems? I can think of any number of ways to work around this in any event - quick pitch sweeps via envelope or LFO, layering the transient from a mid range kick with the analogue engine, etc., etc.

Also, am I the only one who think’s it’s weird to say that “I make a certain type of music, therefore I need a certain kick drum sound”? Do you not tailor your sounds to your track? Or if you hit on something inspiring while working with the machines as they are and doing sound design, tailor the track to the sound? I just can’t imagine sitting down to work thinking that I have to match up to someone else’s parameters - i.e. what’s hot right now - of what sounds are appropriate for my track. Maybe I just got old.

In any case, there must be techniques and equipment out that will get you the sound you want, if the Rytm won’t do it. Maybe it’s like using a standard Fender Strat to play thrash metal riffs or a Les Paul for twangy Shadows/country stuff. It won’t quite work - although maybe you might get interesting results if you’re not trying to just copy the sound - but in any case it certainly isn’t the instrument’s fault.

112

If we were talking about mixers and preamps and so on - yeh. But when it comes to synths and music gear, 1.5K is easily a “professional” pricepoint. Sound engineering is not the same industry as musical instruments.

113

Dude, sell it and buy a TR-8 and a holiday to Ibeefa.
You may even have enough change for a piña colada when you get there. :+1:

114

Man, the propa low end jus does not come through my TV with MTV dance blastin out, even with tha bass up full. They must all be usin inferior DRums.

115

[quote=“” invisible acropolis""]

[quote=“tsutek”]Merely stating that 1k5 is a “prosumer” pricepoint in the industry… Besides, for this form factor and features, for any price, the AR is about the only game in town.
[/quote]

If we were talking about mixers and preamps and so on - yeh. But when it comes to synths and music gear, 1.5K is easily a “professional” pricepoint. Sound engineering is not the same industry as musical instruments.[/quote]
1k5 won’t even buy you a Voyager, Tempest, Modal poly, Prophet6, let alone even the cheapest Buchla system…Heck, even Sub37 costs more nowadays… My opinion is that <2k is “prosumer” for a music instrument. Obviously if you think that something like the Roland Aira range is midprice, you will disagree, but to me that’s an “entry level+” price point…
Having said that, price brackets are not a measure of how much one can get out of any given piece… It’s mostly about the operator, as usual :wink:

116

If we were talking about mixers and preamps and so on - yeh. But when it comes to synths and music gear, 1.5K is easily a “professional” pricepoint. Sound engineering is not the same industry as musical instruments.[/quote]
1k5 won’t even buy you a Voyager, Tempest, Modal poly, Prophet6, let alone even the cheapest Buchla system…Heck, even Sub37 costs more nowadays… My opinion is that <2k is “prosumer” for a music instrument. Obviously if you think that something like the Roland Aira range is midprice, you will disagree, but to me that’s an “entry level+” price point…
Having said that, price brackets are not a measure of how much one can get out of any given piece… It’s mostly about the operator, as usual :wink: [/quote]
Ok, I see where you are coming from… but I tend to think of that as “boutique” gear - in other words, expensive professional gear. As in, most professional, gigging musicians dont need a Buchla modular.
But I’ll admit, 1.5 is probably the lowest pro pricepoint, and yeh its debatable. Actually its more like 1.7…
this is all just my opinion tho…
As for elektron gear being pro or prosumer… its a tough call

117

mmm i don’t think of elektron stuff as ‘pro’ even though a lot of professionals use them.
reasons are weak but stuff like no separate outs for each track on the OT and A4, cheap plastic encoders, clacky buttons and bass drums that don’t sound good on tv speakers means they are built to a price point likely to attract consumers as much as pro’s… so… ok prosumer it is then

118

confessional me thanks

119

:+1: Like

120

There are issues when the Soundpool is full and you want to load a sound from your +Drive that uses a sample that’s not in the Pool. Also previewing that Sound (before you load it) will play the sample that’s currently in the Pool slot, not the sample that was originally saved with the Sound. So if you’re in a new Project or have changed your Soundpool in anyway, then the preview won’t match what you originally saved.

I hope the fix for this isn’t Overbridge only.

121

One thing about the pads is that they are tough! I wouldn’t expect any damage or wear for a long time!

This doesn’t really make sense. As mentioned above, it is an all analog signal path, so an EQ send effect doesn’t make sense.

Personally, I think the whole white noise side of hats is not represented well enough, but im sure that can be addressed in the future since the white noise on the RYTM is digital. Furthermore, samples can provide that too. I was thinking to load a white noise sample onto the RYTM. Then you can have plenty of further options to sculpt the sound via the sample engine and add various filter choices.

Not sure if anyone has actually asked you this, but have you made sure to turn the compressor off?

It is not uncommon to use more than one voice/oscillator to create a kick. Drum sounds are all about layering after all. I remember creating the best kicks on the DRM1 MKIII by layering the Kick channel along with one of the drum channels. When you do this with the RYTM, it sounds great.

122

The sample engine could definitely benefit from a simple digital eq/filter; even just a high pass would be immense for helping tailor layered sounds.