Yeah, basically what the title says. I realised last night that the sampling part of my Rytm is more fun than the analog sounds, which tbh i find a bit limited, samey, and annoying compared to my Machinedrum. Looking at the Digitakt as a replacement, and also because it can record in the box (i only have Rytm mk1).
Any advice/opinions/flamewars would be appreciated.
Not quite, but very similar, the new DT adds some extra things and the loop handling is different.
But, youād lose sep outs, analog filter, analog drive and compression, which may or may not be important. Also kits, better performance stuff, 12 sample tracks instead of 8 (4 choke groups)
I went the other way, got rid of my DT after getting ARmk2, much prefer it.
Iāll second what darenager says!
I also went from digitakt to Rytm and vastly prefer the Rytm. The performance features (songs, chains, scenes, and being able to jump from pattern to pattern in different ways) make it a lot more fun/interesting for me to use. (and I really like the way the VCOs sound for melodic content). But, yeah, the digitakt is basically an improved version of the sampling part of the Rytm - so if you donāt use the sequencer or performance parts of your Rytm you might prefer the digitakt.
Is there a big difference between the Rytm MK1 and MK2?
Thanks
could you expand on the ābeing able to jump from pattern to pattern in different waysā part, how is this different than the Digitakt?
IIRC, the MKI sampler isnāt as robust as the MKII. If it were, Iād hop on a MKI right quick. The MKII donāt appeal to me design wise.
This is important, as the different loop parameter (length instead of end) allows for granular work, when combined with the higher resolution start point capabilities of DT.
But that higher resolution also means using chains are a total pain.
AR is great for grit
DT is great for granular and high freq sheen.
And as you mentioned, Rytm has a lot of other stuff going for it. For me the biggest benefits were direct jump, Perf macros, scenes, individual outputs, and kits.
Sure! With the Rytm you can set the sequencer to jump from one pattern to another in several different ways. 1. at the end of the current pattern. 2. Immediately, starting at the beginning of the new pattern or 3. (my fave) jumping over to another pattern but retaining the same relative position in the pattern or 4. temporarily jumping to another pattern while the pattern button is held. This allows you to really āplayā all your sequences in a fluid way and make varied parts and breaks in real time. For this reason (plus all the scenes and performance macros), Rytm is the first drum machine Iāve used that really feels like you can play it like an instrument while it is running a sequences if that makes sense. paste from the manual below:
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11.2 PATTERN MODES
When changing patterns, different modes affecting the way the active pattern will be changed exist. Press [FUNC] + [BANK AāD] to select PATTERN mode. The LEDs indicate which mode is selected. There are four PATTERN modes.
SEQUENTIAL changes patterns after the currently playing pattern reaches its end. This mode is the default mode.
DIRECT START immediately changes patterns. The new pattern will start playing from the beginning.
DIRECT JUMP immediately changes patterns. The new pattern will start playing from the position where the previous pattern left off.
TEMP JUMP works a little bit differently from the other PATTERN modes. It works like this:
You can also use TEMP JUMP mode when you are in CHAIN mode, but then the pattern you change to instead replaces the current pattern in the chain. For example, say that you have a chain set up like this: A01 > A03 > A04 > A02. When the chain is playing, and you are in TEMP JUMP mode, change pattern to A16 while pattern A03 is playing. The pattern will immediately change to A16 and once A16 has ended then the chain will continue to play from pattern A04.
this good stuff, thank you for your insights
The Digitakt has many more MIDI capabilities to sequence external gear compared to the Rytm.
Like some others who posted above, I upgraded from the DT to the AR. (Still kept my DT as a mobile unit though, still love it).
On paper the DT is better as a sampler: the sample startpoint resolution, extra lfo, base width filter and midi capabilities are awesome and better than what the AR offers right now (let hope for an equally awesome update for the AR).
But thereās just something about the AR that makes it feel/sound better to me. I use it mainly as a sampler, but the samples sound so much better going through the analog filters, drive and distortionā¦ The AR really makes samples feel like theyāre alive, and adds a lot of weight to them. I cant think of a better way to describe it.
I āupgradedā from DT to Rytm mk2 but kept DT. The latest update has me thinking ill never sell.
I now also own an OT and tbh the perf features/scenes of rytm have been going unused as its just so much complexity on top of OT.
Maybe once I get better with OT ill be able to use rytm more again but Iām starting to think DT+OT might be enough for a lot of my needs.
Gonna keep the RYTM tho cus its awesome and Iām not currently in desperate need of the $$$
so youāre feeling like the Rytm adds complexity rather than the octatrack?
thatās an interesting take on it
On top of ā rather than
I see, you know all manufacturers slice and dice up their feature set for the range of models they offer but I have never seen anyone do it as precise as Elektron, theyāve got the way they add/subtract and overlap features down to a science that just keeps the masses second guessing whether we need another model in addition to what we have endlessly lol
Itās all about price points. Different features come with a price.
The more you pay, the more you get. If anything Elektron has taken that concept beyond what most do (auto industry for example) and still managed to give each product its own soul, since not only do these boxes have different capabilities, they also sound different from one another.
this is what Iām getting at, with other hardware devs I find that you donāt really have to put too much thought into it, but with Elektron it really makes a difference. Iāve got 4 mpcs right now, and for good reason, but there is far more thought gone into the differences of the 3 electktron boxes I have, and adding a Rytm or octatrack would really provide something different in a big wayā¦ I love these digitakt or this threads cause these instruments are deep enough that you always learn something new about them that might reveal a need you didnāt know you might have
At risk of stating the obvious . . .
ā¢ You might be doing something wrong in trying to get long sustaining notes. Check the ālengthā setting under the Trig menu. This kinda tripped me up for a bit.
ā¢ One ātrickā that is unfortunate but helpful is that you can get a much snappier amp envelope by setting the LFO to exponential decay and attaching that to the volume parameter (and adjusting speed to taste). Would definitely be nice if they made the default envelope parameters more tailored to percussion somehow. I have hope that a 2nd LFO will be added. seems so easy to do. . .
If you want to do direct sampling (and resampling!) I think mk2 is indeed the way to go. Iāve never used the mk1 but it does seem like there are a lot of minor workflow enhancements that really add up.
Well its more just that rytm+OT is a lot of complexity for me atm if Iām wanting to use the perf features on both.
So rytm ends up being a bit more of a basic drum machine at which point the DT has closer feature parity other than the analog voice/filters!
DT was my first elektron and I really love it. Iāve spent the most time with it and hope to feel the same way with rytm and OT. But the formfactor and everything of DT is just so nice
I find my DT and OT are the ultimate sampler combo, but due to the complexity of these machines they both make me feel like Iām underutilizing them. They can all easily be their own standalone machine.