Introducing Syntakt

Hi Dave, saw your gigging setup; how has it changed with the introduction of the syntakt? You previously used the DT for all things Drums, (had 2 for a while as well right) and used the DN to synthesize a bunch of sounds as well. Has the ST taken over the Drum / Percussion role and if so, how are you using the DT now? I’m assuming you’re using the Octatrack as a performance mixer / some longer samples maybe.

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DO you have your own climate chambers? or do you outsource the process. being a company of your size that would seem like a big investment.

I remember engineering gear knobs in the automotive industry i spent a month at our climate chambers trying to find a suitable glue on plastic parts that would not squeak at certain temperatures…

People don’t realize the vast amount of time it can take to verify seemingly mundane stuff.

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Super interesting to hear any info about what goes into making these machines

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No, so far we use climate chambers at external test sites. It’s on my list of equipment that could be worth investing in, from my point of view we only need to test dry heat and its enough with a small one, so it doesn’t need to be a very expensive chamber (well, depending on point of reference of course :zonked:).

Oh… yes automotive is another beast when it comes to complexity and testing :drunk: I worked with machine safety before so I know the drill with extensive and rigorous verification :ecstatic:

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Increasingly enamoured with the Syntakt - well done, team.

No sass, but those calling for polyphony etc…it’s a drum machine, focused but also has a real breadth of possibility that invites experimentation - I understand that this invites a sort of ‘oh push it a bit further’ but think you’re then just looking at something else.

Not in a position to buy at this moment, but know a drum machine is in my near future. I’ll either pick up a Syntakt, or if it ever surfaces, do an A/B comparison with Korg’s Drumlogue.

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100% agree. Been a real treat getting to read various posts offering some insight into how these machines are built and tested. Would love to read more as genuinely find it interesting.

It’s hard not to be greedy and ask for more!!! Especially on design decisions/omissions though I suppose much of that would still be in commercially sensitive territory. Wouldn’t want the Elektron guys to make rods for their own backs here!

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The 12 voices are much better than the 8 of the rytm
Having digital and analog is great :+1:
Side chain is possible!!!

If only had a sample engine and a proper song mode and a few extra FX it would be the perfect all in one.
Still looks fantastic though

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Get the OT; it adds all of those things :smiley:
That’s what I’m looking to do.

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The Octatrack the one Elektron device that has no peers.

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Already have owned one…
it’s only 8 tracks and has no synth engines?

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True, but a great sampling engine, songmode and extra FX. Potentially 8 if you route via neighbourtracks. OT and DT is a good combo already, but OT and ST seems even better due to less overlap!

No synth engines. But a world of synth samples at your fingertips

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I’m keeping things minimal for studio gear at moment. Just able to do those couple things would have made me sell up and buy the syntakt asap…

Still looks great though may end up getting one anyhow

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Since product development is all about priorities, one useful exercise when you’re suggesting adding something to a product, is imagining what could be removed, that would have similar scope.

So if you were the product designer of the Syntakt, what feature of similar size would you remove in order to gain the sample engine? Or what would you trade song mode for?

Sometimes that exercise helps you realize that it’s really hard to fit everything in one box, and still have the same target audience. In this case, it seems they are focusing on three things: drums, synths and jam performances. It’s really hard to take one feature from those three focuses in order to add something that would add benefit in another area.

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Decided to get one. I love working on one machine lately, I did few tracks with the AR only and I think the ST will be great. Now I just need to find one in stock !

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Well overbridge and a DAW is another solution!

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This message prolly gets lost in the stream of praises , future update demands and complaints …but i just wanna ad that i think they did a great job … The Digitakt always was my favorite of all Elektron boxes and i feel they’ll follow up on that with the Syntakt . Weither or not it’ll be a keeper , time will tell , but based on the manual , youtube clips and my own experiences with the DT i do think they made a “your whish is our command” device . So much stuff in there that people were asking for on this forum . Will buy this when available again , and i hope i’ll have as much fun with it as i did with the DT the last couple of years . Thx Elektron for listening to us !!! :slight_smile:

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DT I’ve always used as a self contained groove box. When Digitone was released I first started to use it as an extra layer for DT grooves. After some time it grew into DT and DN working as one unit most of the time but I do still create grooves mainly with one of the two and then maybe add a few layers with the other. So they don’t really have a specific task. DT actually does a lot of melodic / inharmonic stuff as well. Sometimes the kick comes from digitone (or a layer), or hihats etc.

ST will be used as a self contained groove box. So you could think of them as decks in a way
DT+DN is a deck and ST is a deck. Between its 12 tracks and FX block etc. It’s more than enough for me to create what I want from it.
The octa is mainly used as the crazy live loop mangler it is and sometimes for extra percussive layers. Mostly for long sets I’ll start using the looper side more. For shorter sets it mainly adds rhythms. I do have grooves created in it as well with some longer phrases recorded with synths but somehow I keep going back to the digi boxes for groove creation.

It’s still evolving :slight_smile:

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Lovely little thing. Bring on the music!

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can you feedback the delay an reverbthrough the drive and filter into itself?