Yea your right! Lol I need to make sure I get the right adapter.
Apple connectivity is a total mess. This(https://www.korg.com/us/products/computergear/plugkey/) could be better but really don’t know. Let me know if you find a cable that works.
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Lightning to USB Camera Adapter
Ok this is it. Basically with this adapter the DT has the same functionality as the that Korg Plugkey.
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I feel it will be a perfect way to bond with him on another level. I can show him the art of sampling and see where he takes it.
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Great idea to get him some hardware … 
I disagree … I would say that even a much younger child should have no problem to get decent basic beats out of a MPC after half an hour, if somebody has been nice enough to take it through the basics and started with some prepared programs.
When I decided to do some research on MPC and checking out, whether it would make any sense to me (just for the records … my musical education was classical … live performance oriented) … I stumbled over so many hints in the web that particularly the MPC workflow would be such easy that many could start even withoug having a look in the manual.
Well, first thing I thought was … marketing bla-bla. But after having the real thing in front of me, I just gave it a try without the manual. To get one of the programs loaded, hit some pads and then try to start “recording” worked out of the box.
I tried this principle of workflow with a youngster, who suffers a handycap, which causes him much problems to focus on anything, which lasts for some time (kind of hyperactivity, I guess). He never had something like this in his hands, but after some hours in the studio he left with a track and we had had lots of fun together.
Get your sun a MPC, maybe a second hand 1k. But if you are concerned about “little experience” don’t start on an Elektron 
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You’ve made some solid points and I’ll consider that moving forward. I have a month to plan this out and I want to make sure I get the right instrument. I’m very much leaning towards a Digitakt mainly because I know Elektron workflow better than the MPC but I also know then MPC is a “cornerstone” instrument for hip hop music. I can easily imagine him having fun making beats on the MPC. The Digitakt is more limited in many ways but also seems more focused on the sampling process which I want him to learn the most.
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This … “instrument” … I love those pads to play … if I compare my MPC pads to AR or Push2 … I would always prefer the MPC, and the MPC is what Roger Linn named “a modern violin”.
Careful with setting the “focus” for our children. Having three of them I can tell that they took very different musical paths. One went classic, the next rock/blues, the third even world/traditional. They didn’t follow my particular preferences ;), but we let them go and find their own way and supported them, where we could and when they asked
Well, let’s blame the hip-hop producers and not Roger Linn. Those hip-hop-ers just adopted a great instrument because it supported their particualar needs. It had this sampling, time-stretching, playing the pads, and gave them a complete “band-in-the-box”, which played the beat and supported the lyrics …
The MPC is much more … it’s like the story of misunderstanding synths. Some even nowadays think, synths are made to imitate other instruments, but they have never been invented for this particular purpose. As Bog Moog and Don Buchla put it they have been made to give the musicians the freedom to create and use sounds never heard before …
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If your son is on the beats probably MPC would be better. I don’t have it and don’t plan to get one, but i think that is a more suitable approach, like a DAW in a box. I really prefer my Digitakt for the kind of music that i make, and the more experimental side of the DT. But your son probably needs better a MPC, can slice, have synths, pads for playing and a lot more voices. On the other hand, Digitakt is a little pain in the ass to work with samples like a 30 sec old tune, chop it and make your beat. Nowdays it is more easy thanks to the trig preview, but is a weak point of the machine, even though a lot of people have made very nice beats on it.
Anyways you’re a nice father! I would love my father too see my machines as real instruments not as toys.
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DT is great but If the kid wants to rec/play beats via pads, don’t get a DT.
Or get an MPD controller with it, right?
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there’s a one-unit solution somewhere here…
No experience with MPCs, although that should be fitting the image of old school lazy/boombap hiphop beats of course. Does your son have a strong sense for that kind of brand image? The feeling you have for gear - even though completely separate from what kit can dó - does always also way in I think, perhaps even more for kids that age. Although, like I said, I don’t know how much more difficult the MPC is to get into.
Because that’s point two: I started off quite quickly with a DT, and véry quickly understood it. It’s so simple and hands on, especcially if you skip the LFO page in the beginning.
If you think your son would like the DT/Elektron as a brand, then I’d say it’s the perfect way to go - easy to start with and many years of life in it.
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True but the Digitakt is so much fin in terms of sampling, sample manipulation, sequencing, resampling… A dream for a teanager I believe 
You’re sure? I would agree to say this about the OT, though
I definitely agree with this sentiment.
Also don’t underestimate your 16 year old. You’ve got the spare time and neuroplasticity to learn very quickly at that age.
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VERY sure (I never tried and OT though )
That would be an amazing birthday present for anyone, let alone a 16 year old!
Some other folk have mentioned the importance of pads for beat making. I understand consensus is that the pads on the M:S are better for performance than the DT buttons, so that might be another option for you to consider?
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This … try it … there are quite some tricks under its sleeve for sampling and particularly sample mangling and sound design. I have an OT only, but if I compare the specs …
Interesting case in favor of MPC but in defense for Digitakt:
- it has great resaleability compared with the new Akai products;
- you can add a second hand Trigger Finger/Beatstep/MPD for a few bucks and have velocity pads;
- regarding the “hip hop MPC posing”: you will always have more character to your sound when you are not using the norm equipment for a genre.
- you guys realise that hip-hop/lofi may be just a phase, especially for teenagers and Elektron could go in so many teritories with ease.
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TBH there is no need for any defense. IMO there is too often advice by people kowing one side of the coin only and for that side they fight or defense
Just like saying “… don’t know the MPC … but the DN should be better… because I have it”. To me it’s a little biased.
So this means that tools matter more than the creativity of an artist … 
IMO it’s just the other way around … at least in general
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