Introducing Model:Samples

interesting that people here seem very eager to jump down the throat of those who are criticizing this thing…

this thing seems kind of pointless to me except for the suggestion of a new line of synthesis based products. the I/O looks like a nightmare.

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From a business perspective it’s a smart move to get into a new market segment offering something less expensive and with a simpler workflow. Since it shares part of it’s feature set with the Digitakt the time to market for this one was probably short, which is good for business too.

I have a Digitakt so I’m not interested in this one. I don’t have a long commute to make beats on my way to work and I don’t travel enough, also an external battery pack is probably forbidden on a plane anyway. But I think it won’t be productive to be angry just because there’s a new toy that’s not for me.

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Everytime I see this little guy I’m tempted to buy it…but I have digitakt… will the dt get the chance parameter as an update

I’m actually about to buy a DT this week. I will wait until tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure it will be a DT.
Its my first Music device (only had a few Pocket Operators).
I was deciding between OP-1, OP-Z, Digitakt, Digitone, Oktatrack, Deluge… for months…
For me, the new Model:Sample isn’t interesting at all for the same reason the OP-Z is not interesting:
If I dont have the ability to put in my own (or brought) samples (easy/fast) I feel pretty limited.

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Battery pack has to be purchased separately :frowning:

It seems like loading in samples on the M:S is the same as on the DT (both use the Elektron transfer software). I almost never use the input line for samples unless I want to grab a quick clip from YouTube. Other than that, much rather prepare what samples I want to import in Ableton, maybe do some tinkering there, then import them over to the DT.

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agree but let it be something original. It’s a sample playback machine, so innovate on sample playback

A new take on round robins, a new take on velocity layering, algorithms to find syncopating pairs from your sample library…

Chance and polyrhythms are losing their lustre. Automated 20th century compositional approaches :wink:

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not sure i understand the distinction between “Chance” and “Conditional” trigs other than the name. what’s the deal here?

Conditional triggers are still present in their usual implementation.

Chance just puts a knob assigned to % that can be either quickly accessed without a menu, or “ctrl-all”'d for wild results.

their interaction is documented in the free pdf manual

chance

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Let’s see now. Used Digitakt 420-460pounds, M:S 399-420pounds.

So for almost the same price, with the DT you would get

  • better looks :slight_smile:
  • better build quality- metal case, bigger and better screen(ultra crisp oled vs lcd), bigger step keys(50mil presses), hi-res encoders
  • true sampler function - input sampling, input through for other sources
  • full size midi ports with separate midi thru(2x sync)
  • Overbridge 2.0 functionality - full streaming of 8 voices to pc, full vst control, total recall, sample management
  • 8 sample tracks instead of six
  • sample slot automation
  • on top of that 8 separate midi tracks for midi sequencing
  • midi CC, program change, chords sequencing
  • more control over the filter in DT
  • Compressor
  • overdrive effect per track

DT can also be powered by cheap portable battery

weight difference DT=1.45kg vs M:S=0.814kg

Size difference:
DT - 21.5 x 18.4 x 6.3 cm
M:S - 27 x 18 x 3.8 cm

I’m sure i missed a couple of other differences.
Both machines are relatively portable and immediate to use.

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Damage control.

It’s not like those at Elektron can put the product down or comment on its weaknesses even in a constructive light. You’ll be hard pressed to find people already on the Elektronauts forum gunning to buy the M:S, especially when they’re still charging a relatively premium price for a not-so-premium implementation. Anyone here is used to the pre-M:S product lines; it will be interesting to gain a new demographic of users.

This was absolutely the right move for Elektron to make. It’s the box that new users have been wanting from them for years, and rounds out their line of samplers nicely: Ocatrack for deep programming, Model:Samples for tactile simplicity, and Digitakt as a happy medium. The fact that people are whining about this really baffles me.

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Some users don’t have want or need for all that, and the Digitakt doesn’t have knob per function usability. No real reason to compare them in this fashion :man_shrugging:

This isn’t the box for me but I can see how some people might love it. Certainly can’t imagine finding the time or energy to get upset about it!

Still, I do hope the DT gets some nice updates soon.

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I believe that crunch/elk-herd will work with Model:Samples. It’ll let you manage and transfer samples with the unit with a different take on the interface than Elektron’s Transfer app.

crunch/elk-herd runs in the Chrome browser, and will work on Android mobile. All you need is a USB cable!

(Alas, it won’t work on Chrome for iOS, because Apple has hamstrung Chrome: It is forced to use the Safari engine underneath, and Safari doesn’t support WebMIDI yet.)

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If you want much less stuff in a box for the same price then good for you. My post was a response to guy asking why would you get DT over M:S

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i meant user specifically, wouldn’t expect elektron themselves to diss their own brand new machine. i just feel very sensitive to anything i can perceive as like, delusional fanaticism on the part of users.

not intending to get into an argument here, just surprised to see everyone fawning over this. i do have to say it’s amazing that elektron is getting into the lower price range market though, excited for more useful machines (IMO) in this series!

It’s not really fair to compare used Vs new prices is it? Assuming the MS drops to around £300 used that’s a difference of about £150, which is significant if you’re on a budget and you don’t want the extra features and complexity of the DT.

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@Anfim Yeah, sure I agree. But this is the reality at this point in time. Get new m:S or get second hand DT.
When we start seeing used M:S ones at around 300 maybe in a year or so, then the used DT price will also drop by some amount.

It’s a pretty cool box, but here are my frustrations:

A lot of what makes this cool and immediate could probably be easily added to existing boxes. For example:

  1. There is an open feature request to allow the RYTM to switch tracks just by pressing the pads. Just imagine how much more immediate the RYTM would be with that functionality.
  2. Tempo per track. Seems pretty easy to add to RYTM.
  3. Control All. Seems pretty easy to add to RYTM.

I’m not expecting Elektron to give me this stuff for free. I would pay for these features in my existing boxes.

But, I only have room for so many instruments and only so much bandwidth for learning new machines.

Also, what about environmental sustainability? Encouraging people to consume more and more physical products when the same amount of money could possibly be made from software updates to existing boxes seems wasteful.

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