Does anyone know if the Model Samples has the same low headroom as the Model Cycle?
I love the low headroom implemented on the model cycles it sound fantastic and each track fit in the mix very well
I would love to know if also the Model Samples works with the same concept
You should find it in the Technical Information at the end of the manual.
thank you but the technical info are very basic - I could not find the answer
Elektron never gives extensive details such as the frequency response of their devices on their specs. It’s kind of up to the users to find out about that stuff
I’m not entirely sure, but I always thought my M:S sounded a little punchier than my DT, with less effort. So maybe it is a headroom thing.
The low end sounds good on the sample, especially the kick
Owning both I will say that they sound different, the Cycles glues together and distorts in a way that the Samples doesn’t. The Samples doesn’t sound bad, but I think the Cycles does it better.
I thought there was some discussion about how the cycles and samples were only separated by the firmware. That may or may not be true, but I definitely read this in a couple of threads on here, or possibly reddit. I can’t recall if someone tried to flash one firmware onto the other, but something like that is in the back of my head.
That would mean that any difference in headroom is software imposed and not a product of the hardware, however we would of course need to default to some kind of official statement about it were such a thing to exist.
I have a similarly lo-fi concept of headroom on the Samples, yes.
I don’t tend to use them at the same time and honestly haven’t much or at all.
I can’t say whether it is tuned exactly the same with distortion and eventual clipping, but it degrades easily and pleasantly enough.
Perhaps I cant directly A/B them since the tonal character of what I’m working with is so different? Not sure, but I’m not really curious to either. Too much energy, they both sound nice and proper gritty.
Thank you all for feedback, it is interesting,
the model cycle is almost perfect sounding, I made a full track Autechre style, which does not require much additional processing - maybe a tad of EQ and Saturation and it could be good to be released…
But unfortunately the sound palette is quite limiting - I was thinking that this could be solved by adding samples from the Model Samples, but if they sound different, everything changes.
I wish all Elektrons had the same gain structure implementation of the Model Cycle
In my opinion it is the most unique machine Electron made - the internal clipping is magic - I owned briefly the Syntakt thinking it was a big step up from the MC but it was not nearly there sounding - yes more machines but sounding wise MC still wins for me
I totally know what you mean. Syntakt sounds nothing like cycles even though some of the digital machines might be very similar. OTOH Syntakt has its own sound, and I find its clear and punchy tone complements the duller Elektrons wonderfully (such as Rytm, cycles etc)
If the digital section of Syntakt sounded like cycles, it’d be a thing of beauty
Have you tried Rytm and cycles together?
yes I have both Rytm Mk2 and Cycles - sometimes I use them both for techno projecst but I found Rytm not well suited for IDM - also the RYTM gain statging is hard to nail down - requires a lot of work on the sample level, VCA level, track level and compression.
Thought this was a new Elektron when I saw the title : (
I had a Model Cycles around 3-4 years ago and remember the low headroom effect quite well. I recently had a Model Samples that I spent some time with, the year that I had it.
This is totally unscientific, but my impression is that the MS has a similar headroom effect, but less pronounced than in the MC. There may be several reasons for this. The sounds you load into it is one obvious factor, making it more difficult to identify the “sound” of sampler. It definitely has an overdrive effect if you increase the gain.
It does have a nice glued overall sound to it, slightly processed (in a good way) and with a nice low end. Where I live the MS is dirt cheap these days (like $150), so if you have the funds I wouldn’ hesitate to buy one and try it out.
I sold the MS partly because the pads were bad for my wrists, and partly because the Octatrack continues to punish me with “OT amnesia” if I spend too much time away from it…
Apart from the pads, the MS is a great little sample player. It’s fun and direct, and enables you to dish out cool patterns with little effort. The UI is well laid out and you have direct access to the important stuff. The LFO editing is a little clunky, but OK. It’s also wise to plan the sample folder structure upfront before dumping samples into it. It’s easy to mess up patterns if you need to reorganise and move samples around. But that goes for any sample player I guess.
My guess it that it heavily depends on weither or not one uses properly normalized samples.