Introducing Model:Samples

Have you seen the lovely Stimming review the M:S…

https://youtu.be/pL8W70H9_94

starts out a bit sceptical, but all in all he makes it look more appealing than most other demos/reviews I’ve seen…

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Hello,

I have seen your other videos that you have made with a Digitakt & Novation Launch Control XL.

I have a Digitakt already and am wondering how much the Novation Launch Control XL helps in regards to accessing the various Digitakt tracks.

One of the things people seem to like about the M:S is that there is a dedicated knob for each parameter.

But I already have a Digitakt, so I am going to stick with that.

Oh, and I enjoyed this “On The Downside” video.

Thank you,
ie

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Very clever approach, sounds great.

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Thank you! When i started using midi controllers with the Digitakt it felt like a dream come true. I always wanted a knobby sampler. I highly recommend the XL for the Digitakt. You’ll need a daw or some kind of usb-to-midi converter though.
The m:s feels very similar than a digitakt with a midi controller but it’s a bit more simple.
I’ll have to say the XL + Digitakt still feels a bit better to me because you only have to turn the knobs one circle to go through the whole parameter range. On the other hand the endless encoders on the m:s are better for changing patterns without parameter jumps.

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Thank you for your feedback.

Since most of my questions on this matter are Digitakt related, I will not go into it further on this thread.

take care,
ie

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Yes, there is pattern chaining

21.09 is gold :yum:

Elektron is the registrant of the domain. So by all means they are officially in charge.

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IMHO his view is a little skewed, because he sees it/uses it in addition to his OTs (to run a few extra drum tracks as he said) and not as solo/standalone machine. Of course you would not miss stereo inputs, a sampling option or complete envelopes when you just have to reach out to your OT for that.

I really have nothing but positive things to say about it (though I want the damned sample lock feature :smiley: ) but I’m in the same camp. I use it alone for fun, but also in conjunction with other Elektron and Roland devices that have sequencing. So, I guess my views are slightly skewed in the same way. I’m one that will work around limitations because it appeals to me to do so, but I can see if this was someone’s sole device, they may be left wanting a few things. (but also maybe not in some cases) It’s really quite capable overall, and since it can also sequence MIDI, it’s quite flexible. You just really have to put some thought into how you use the resources available. For $399 though, I can’t find any REAL complaints.

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Indeed. Like you, I intend to use it alongside other stuff - including Octatrack and Digitakt - and therefore anything left wanting is available to me elsewhere. Still, I do think it offers a lot for the price and I’ve already recommended it to a few people who have always wanted to get into an Elektron sequencer, but didn’t want to spend the money or attempt the learning curves of the bigger machines - yet. In any event, I’m having a lot of fun with it.

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Feel free to pm me if you like.

I’d like to hear more regarding the sound quality. I can’t tell if it’s just the samples that come with it, but the Model:Sample seems to have a rougher sound than the Digitakt (which I like).

Is this just my imagination, or do people who’ve owned it a bit, and loaded some samples into it feel the same way?

Model:Samples sounds really good to my ears. Mind you, I’ve not done much of anything with the factory content, but I’ve been playing with my own samples with it all morning and am very pleased with the sound quality. I haven’t A/B’ed it with the Digitakt, though (maybe I should?).

I found the DT to be too nasal for my liking. I used my brother’s for a while, with my own material that I knew well. I think the DT has a more mid-rangey and digital sheen to it, which I didn’t like.
It was nice having the filter env to dig stuff out and make it pop but I got very bored very quick with the DT.

The Model although very limited in terms of parameters and quite quirky in some respects sounds better to me. It may be that single knob filter or the distortion I don’t know but I defo spend more time finding interesting patterns and sounds than trying to get samples to sit just right with each other.

But hey that’s just my pov and I’m sure many will disagree and that’s fine.

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Yeah it was noticeable in the first teaser video before we knew what it was (I commented at the time that I thought it sounded like an Amiga tracker) and the more preview vids came out the more obvious it was. It sounds as though they have chosen not to interpolate/antialias the sample when it’s pitched, so you get quite a gritty, old school sound. I like it!

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Now this may be hard for me to discern, as I’ve only imported samples from my old 8-bit, super-gritty-lo-fi PPG gear. Gimme some of that good ol’ aliasing magic!

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No, it’s the same engine as in Digitakt with the same high quality sinc interpolation.
The factory content that we have got from Splice is very processed, so any grit or similar comes from their inherit sound.

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Aha, thanks very much for clarifying. I was about to say someone would have to test the same samples back to back on DT and M:S to be sure, but if it’s in the factory samples that explains it I guess. Either that, or people doing more dramatic pitching with it than we’re to used to hearing on the DT. I would have put money on it being a different algorithm… glad I didn’t…

Mixing around, twisting knobs, abusing the ctrl all function…
The more i play with this box the more i like it. I’m very happy i got it even though i wasn’t sure before. Feels like a real instrument to me.

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