Hello, I’m looking into buying a MachineDrum, as I’ve always wanted to have one but missed out on a few good opportunities to get a MKII UW+… I already own a Digitakt.
Thanks
ad 1: yes, like any other device than can send MIDI notes
ad 2: depends: the MDUW ROM machines are somewhat different than the DTs sample engine. First and foremost it is 12bits only.
ad 3: the common consensus is that MkII is the preferred version, main reasons are 64 instead of 32 steps and some PSU issues on the MkI.
You can control MD with DT too.
I’d rather use it this way, or both.
MKI have a 32 steps max sequencer.
UW can record / mangle in realtime, with rec trigs.
+Drive let you have more than only 1 project with 128 patterns.
Maybe wait til Elektron puts out a models:drums and get the best machine MD mk2 uw+ from an idiot who doesn’t know this yet. 
THanks.
So if I sequence the DT with the MD, would I not be able to mangle the sounds form the DT? How would that work?
Why is it better to control the MD with DT?
The MD sequencer is dated, only one note per step, not chromatic, no conditionals etc. DT has a lot of the latest Elektron sequencer functionality. MD does have potentially 16 midi tracks vs 8 of DT. MD is useable if working with single note per step.
You can still mangle sounds from MD to DT or the other way using audio in…but I don’t own the DT so will defer to others on this one.
I believe the power supplies for the mk1 are hard to come by these days- that’s the biggest reason I could think of for getting a mk2.
Samples sounds great in the DT and in the MD, but they sound wildly different. I loved the sound of samples in the MD- they sounded crispy.
You can absolutely control the MD from the DT, it’s a great way to apply the more advanced sequencer features to the magic of the DT. One method I would suggest is to midi link the patterns across your machines and use the DT to sequence more constant sounds(kicks/snares/whatnot) meanwhile locally sequence the more dynamic sounds with heavy p-locks.
I’d definitely recommend getting a +drive model. It’s an inspirational machine that will lead you down a rabbit hole. Even if you’re planning to do ALL of your sequencing from the DT, it’ll be useful to have multiple snapshots(currently called “projects”) where you can explore the sound sculpting capabilities of the machine- a few scratch projects to design cool kits, export them, and then import them into the snapshot where you’re going to do your purposeful emissions
The MachineDrum is my favorite Elektron- it’s an amazing piece of kit
With the DT, MD can get a lot of the function support from DT. Conditional midi trigs, extra LFOs.
MD has 16 distributable LFOs if you arent using some, they can be assigned to other tracks.
My fave is CC-able retrig, and you can assign LFOs to retrig and rtim…rampable retrig!
I think the MD still crushes! Awesome companion for a DT
Midi out of dt to midi in of md + midi out of md to midi in of dt. Utilize both sequencers on either box as necessary.
I do this with mnm/dt combo.
Thank you so much for all your great advice, guys!
get the mk2, there´s a lot of advantages… look it up first…
MD is great!
MD is still one of the best machines around.
And the UW can be all sorts of fun.
UW MKI vs non UW MKII? 
I’d choose UW MKI I guess, if sequenced by DT or OT…
I own the MD and never had a strong desire or big reason to externally sequence it.
32 steps vs 64…$ vs $$$
Love the sound and speed of the md but sample management via the tm1 did my head in! If you get one, get the mk2 and +drive model!
I used to have the DT and MD mk2 (non UW) and it was a pretty amazing combination, so many possibilities the deeper you dive in. Got rid of the MD after sampling the hell out of it into my DT and am really regretting it.
The immediacy of those MD sound engines with the newer conditional trigs and sequencing of the DT bring out the best in the MD if you choose to go the non UW route.
The differences:
SPS-1/UW MKI (Classic)
32-step patterns.
Output S/N ratio: 91 dB
Input impedance: 100 Ω
Dimensions: 340 x 176 x 68mm (including knobs)
Unbalanced inputs/outputs. 1)
UW specific:
2 MB RAM
2 RAM machines
32 ROM slots
SPS-1/UW MKII
64-step patterns
Output S/N ratio: 100 dBFS
Input impedance: 9000 Ω
Dimensions: 340 x 176 x 63mm (including rubber feet and knobs)
Unbalanced inputs/balanced outputs.
UW specific:
2,5 MB RAM
4 RAM machines
48 ROM slots
thanks to all!