is it worth upgrading from the OG Digitone?
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To be honest, I’ve mainly explored the presets so far and haven’t dived into the new machines yet.
Until I had it, I struggled a bit with the number of tracks since I’m working fully dawless (Moog, Bass Station etc. are single sound sources). I’m also not a big fan of sampling and using the Digitakt mainly for drums and some transitions.
With the limited time I’ve had it, I immediately noticed that I’m able to add many small sounds and variations that were quite difficult before with only four tracks. It feels like a live setup for me for the first time.
If you have the budget for it, I would definitely say yes, now 
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For me, yes: more tracks, filters, engines and effects. I think it’s sounds great. It’s almost like a groove box with 16 tracks and drum engine.
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I like the OT DN but love the DN2. Mostly because I dont use other sequencers, just the DN2 for sequencing my eurorack and Move. And, it’s great on it’s own just coming up with sounds and sequence ideas. I made a pretty decent mini song using just the euclidean mode on 4 tracks…with LFO’s and other fun stuff.
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Oh nice I need to try it out and then consider sell my OG Digitone. Probably wait for Polivoks 8 to come out.
what you lose (imho):
- relative simplicity & quicker workflow in some places (dedicated buttons for SYN2 for instance)
- more functional (predictable?) ctrl-all if you use that a lot (influencing same parameters across all tracks)
what you gain (sooo, so much):
- new engines obvs
- lot more routing options
- arguably the most robust sequencer in any elektron to date (transpose, super powerful note edit, arp, euclidean…)
- kits!! perform kit!!
- the kb / chord mode / chord memory my goodness this shit is good
- 16 tracks!
- ctrl-all exclusion
- track swap is godlike
- more lfos
- more “Personalize” options
- prepare mutes + imho generally much improved muting vs the system on the mk1
… I must’ve left out a bunch. It’s an incredible machine.
i’m using it as an all-in-one arranger & sometimes trigger it from a midi keyboard, it’s prolly the best Elektron to use as a keyboard instrument atm. love it.
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I love the OG and will keep it forever, but I have actually not touched it again by itself since I got the DN2. It’s the same, but so so so much more: I use it all the time, usually as a standalone instrument: it’s just that capable and fun.
I now use the OG DN as a hub for a station made also of the 0-Coast, the Strega and 0-Ctrl. I’m using DN as sequencer, FX and voice and it pairs like a dream with the Make Noise Easel.
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After selling my Digitone II in the autumn, it’s back in the fold again. It’s funny how some pieces of gear can suck you right back in, isn’t it? Reuniting with it yesterday felt surprisingly warm and familiar, and it’s pretty incredible to have it in my hands again.
The idea that it’s probably Elektron’s most fully realized machine echoes very clearly in my mind whenever I sit with it, because the need to have other things within reach just evaporates like dew in the sun. At the same time, though, it’s probably also a machine - aside from the Tonverk, maybe - that can (for me at least) create friction in the creative process, precisely because it has everything right there at hand while also being so deep. It’s always an interesting balance - functionality vs. simplicity of use - and it’s a dimension I often stumble over a bit, because I want to have lots of options without feeling constrained by them. On the other hand, I don’t want so few options that I end up having to chain multiple instruments together, because that also often introduces friction into the creative process. So for me, it’s a very delicate line.
My point is that I can absolutely see why many people choose to stick with the original Digitone (or, in the Syntakt scenario, a Model:Cycles), because the simpler version, despite offering a smaller palette of possibilitie, also, paradoxically, offers a kind of freedom of expression. The path to actually expressing yourself in a real composition is shorter, instead of getting caught up in all the little details.
Anyway, those were just a few scattered thoughts. The Digitone II really is a fully realized monster, and I absolutely love the fragility of the tones that come out of it. I’ve got it hooked up to a Tonverk, and 2x Dirtshaper really brings out a whole new side of the machine.
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With a machine as powerful as the DN2, I think you need to spend a certain amount of time exploring all its possibilities without actually producing anything, in order to rediscover that spontaneity and simplicity later on.
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I’ve been keeping an eye on the DN2 since it came out. Now I’m really hoping that Elektron will make sample playback possible for the DN2, just as they will for the ST. Then nothing will stop me from giving Elektron even more money.
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Seriously @Elektron , you have created a dream machine ! I love it ! Thank you so much !
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Digitone feels like playing video games. I love it.
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DFAMMING the Digitone II - again!!!
Edit: one more …
Edit II: Whoops one more …
Edit: I just released a Soundpack with 16 DFAM Patterns, better than these examples. Check it out: https://ko-fi.com/s/efdb9b3a68
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Amazing.
Is it possible to get in this ballpark with the Digitone 1 do you think?
It’s definitely the least crippled elektron instrument out of the newer generation ones 
But yes, that’s why it remains my favorite, aside from not having samples it is the most versatile elektron device imo. I see it as a kind of musical swiss army knife
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the OG DN can absolutely get deep - the FM engine is the same core architecture and that’s where most of the real complexity lives. what the DN2 adds is more routing flexibility, more voices, more modulation destinations, but the fundamental FM operators doing interesting things to each other? that’s identical.
what you lose going DN1 is mostly the extra routing headroom and the second screen. the constraints can actually be a feature depending on how you work - same reason some people still swear by the original Digitone even now.
the “swiss army knife” framing is interesting though. i think FM synthesis has always had that quality regardless of generation - the way small changes in ratio or index cascade through the output harmonics means you can cover a lot of ground with very few controls once you internalise the logic. it’s genuinely one of the more mathematically elegant synthesis approaches, which is probably why it rewards deep study more than most.
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There’s also FM Drum is different. Despite its name, it’s useable for any kind of sound. The DFAM sounds from above are Wavetone. And Swarmer can do also a ton of different sounds, including realistic strings. And then there are the comb filters, which together with FM Tone opens up a world of phyiscal modeling sounds:
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Thank you, I think yes. Kinda. DFAM uses Triangle or Pulse wave, and FM with Triangle or Pulse wave. In this case, I’ve used a Triangle Wave, and FMmed with an LFO (so it’s a low, static note). White Noise can be created with Feedback. Although it’s possible to do a complete DFAM with just Wavetone on the DNII (2 OSC + Noise), I still did split it up into two tracks to give the bassdrum more heaviness.
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Absolutely incredible sounds here, unlike I’ve ever heard coming out of an Elektron machine! So this is Swarmer->Comb Filter, with some LFO modulation?
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That is some phenomenal ear candy! 
Never heard timbres like that out of digitone before. Just goes to show just how sonically far it can be stretched
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