ok, I’m on my third device. First two were mk1, now on an mk2. Every one of my machines broke down. Two exibited the same behavior, mute pads going on and off by themselves, and one got a serious mainboard issue, and had to go to Sweden to be replaced. (The sweet guys at Elektron sent me an mk2 as compensation, how nice of them!). Now the mk2 also has the mute pad issues, and it just doesn’t bode well for a premium device that is made for performing to have such a questionable performance record.
I do a lot of gigs, and the stuff does get it’s share of road wear, but i still feel a little let down. I had to bring it to a repair guy, who added some stuff inside to keep the contacts from registering vibrations as touch, but that brought the issue of some triggers sticking in. Just seems too much for a 1600e device.
I think i’m gonna have to reevaluate the opinion that the AR is the best drum computer on the market…
am I wrong here?
it’s just bad luck, there are thousands of AR owners who’ve never had an issue. I’m one of em. 2 mk1’s & an mk2. my current one is an mk1 from 2014 and it’s still perfect.
I’ve had 2 faulty (2nd hand) A4 mk2’s but again, that was bad luck. not to take away from the fact I’m sure that totally sucks for you, no doubt.
What is this ‘mute pads’ issue?
Nope. Went through similar thing some years ago.
Mk1 dead on arrival. Exchanged for mk2.
Mk2 buggy and weird pad mute behaviour.
Exchanged for TR8-S and DFAM. Never looked back.
I do wish they’d stay away from pads tho. not into em personally.
gimme encoder macro’s ala A4, & Ctrl-All any day of the week.
Sorry to hear, my AR MKII has been well behaved for years now. Sucks you experienced all this mess. Can definitely understand giving up on the Rytm.
In general pads are always prone to some faults. Some problems arrive with age, but sometimes straight out the box. MPC 1K had major issues with pads.
I hope some third party can do what MPC Stuff did and make aftermarket products for us Rytm owners.
A lot of people seem to value the jomox alpha base as a rytm alternative - something I’m exploring myself in fantasy - but I had to get rid of my mk2 due to it being unreliable and went back to mk1 with extra sheets for under the pads when they deteriorate
pads start muting on/off random while in mute mode, or activating different mutes on press (ie. i mute the kick, the hihat, bass and one other pad gets muted as well)
This is the second machine i have that developed this.
Do you gig/tour with your devices?
Sounds like a bad luck of the unit, send it back and get a new one. If they’re shipping broken devices they’ll surely replace them.
this is wear and tear, broken from usage. but it’s the third device, hence the dilemma.
gotcha, tricky one indeed. I can see why you’d be apprehensive.
How curious. The TR-8S doesn’t look very solid, unlike the Rytm. I was interested in getting a TR-8S but the the build quality didn’t seem good enough, and I was put off.
Its plastic. But then so is my SH101, which has been beaten around and still works just fine.
My TR8-S has been rock solid ever since I opened the box. Never had a problem with it.
Seen a lot of pros using tr8s
This is, unfortunately, a common issue with the MKII (can’t speak for the MKI):
It happened with mine, too. Following the advice of other 'nauts I wrote Elektron and they sent me a thin plastic sheet with instructions on how to install it between the pads and the contacts. It was a relatively easy fix and I haven’t had any issues since then. I’m not sure if this was what you referred to in your first post about taking your unit to a repair guy, but if not, it’s worth getting the sheet from Elektron, and you can do the repair yourself pretty easily. Adding it to mine didn’t cause any issues with sticky triggers.
hey, I’ve had rytm mk1 several times too. I think everyone knows by now that the mk1s are known for requiring you to hit the pads a little harder and therefore the mk1s are not particularly suitable for jamming with the pads. Personally, it doesn’t matter to me as long as I can use it to mute and switch.
I think elektron revised it with the mk2 version and I also had a mk2 and can confirm that to some extent.
I think, as the previous speaker said, you were unfortunately unlucky with the mk2.
So it’s still the case that rytm is still the best drum machine you can get 
My second ARmk1 is also starting to do this. The encoders are also starting to show their ages but it’s an old beast now, can’t really complain. I’ll buy a 2nd hand market mk1 when a good deal comes and wish for the best.
This seems to happen often but 3 units in a row is really bad luck… If you like the analog engine, the Syntakt+controller could give you this back. Not the same of course.
Ah. I see. Thanks.
Elektron should give a settings menu to deactivate pads and midi implementation to trigger pads with external controller.
The double advantage of giving a fallback for people experiencing the issue (imagine it happens one day before your gig…) and the advantage to choose the pads that feel right to you if you rely heavily on finger drumming.
I’d say it’s easy to implement, but apparently this is something that triggers some of the users (even when it’s obvious like this case).