Move Up to AR MKII from Digitakt?

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
#1

I have a Digitakt, and I love the playfulness of it compared to an MPC or MV-1. I also got myself both the M:C and M:S for its more accessible and playful nature. Having toyed around the Elektron world, I do like its quirkiness although it comes with pain learning a new lingo.

My question is, shall I ditch all three and just get the AR MKII? It seems to be all three of my current Elektron boxes plus more (Performance, Scene and Song modes). I also have the Akai Force and although it has some powerful performance features (time stretch being the tentpole), I find it very rigid compared to the playful nature of Elektron boxes. What are your experiences moving into an AR from Digitakt or any of the Models? Is it a good replacement for my boxes?

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#2

I kept DT, mostly for the MIDI sequencer

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#3

imo you should keep DT and get an AR MK1

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#4

I really like my AR in tandem with my DT. Having 8 more sample slots and MIDI (like Bloop said) is great.

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#5

I really should not stockpile gear and focus on that one right in front of me. I don’t need the MIDI sequencer from DT (or at least not yet…). I have fear of gear-ititis and in the end I’m not really using the rest much. Also, I prefer a one-box solution and AR MKII seems to combine the best of all my current Elektron boxes. :smiley:

#6

I just sold my Digitakt and bought an ARmk2. Absolutely loving the move. Desert island machine for sure.

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#7

What was your reason for the move?

#8

Keep in mind that after the latest 1.3 update for the digitakt, it has now surpassed the rytm in certain capabilities such as the second LFO and second filter which is great for eqing. I doubt the rytm will be getting these features due to the analog signal path, and the 1.3 update greatly enhanced the sampling and sound design capabilities of the digitakt.
Just something to consider, as after the update I feel it’s now worth owning both the rytm and digitakt, as they now both have unique features between them.

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#9

True. 1.3 is really nice but the Rytm’s sounds are not that shabby especially the synth/sample layering with resampling. I guess I’m trying my darndest to give myself no reasons for keeping all those boxes if the Rytm can do if not all, most of it anyway.

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#10

I made the digitakt to ARmk2 move pretty recently. . Definitely was the right one for me. I sold my digitakt a little bit after the new OS came out, but didn’t look back. The workflow of the AR is just much more fun to me. Obviously the workflow is similar to Digitakt but having separate pads for inputting notes, song modes, performances, scenes, and all that jazz just makes it feel much looser and quicker to build things out on. I liked digitakt as a simple and trusty drum machine but when I tried to really lean into it or make tracks mostly with just it, I’d get frustrated pretty quick. On the at: The filters sound great, The mono synth is surprisingly awesome and between the engines and the sampling, the distortion and compression it does approach that all-in-one box zone that I never felt like I could get to with the digitakt. Obviously there are millions of ways to make music and everyone’s set up and goals are different. Sounds like you are already mostly convinced. I doubt you will be disappointed!

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#11

I recently went from the DT to AR2. The sampling capability of the AR is nearly identical to the DT - they cover much of the same ground. However, the AR has many more features and feels more like an all in one solution.

Of course, DT’s latest update has brought some great new features, which the AR is missing. But the reverse is also true. Elektron are careful to make sure no one box does it all. But for me, the AR2 is what I wanted my DT to be.

#12

That’s the feeling I get. As Elektron of course they want you to have all their boxes and in a way they got me there. I love the Model series as they’re really fun, inexpensive yet powerful enough. The DT is powerful, but as a mid-range I feel it’s more suited to complement a bigger rig.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Gonna dig deeper to make sure I’m not just gonna buy an AR for the sake of it.

#13

Agreed. I got a few tracks up and I like what came out of it, but similarly was kinda frustrated it took a lot of steps to get to it. AR seems to bridge that gap, but they do make you pay handsomely for that! Surprisingly the Model series is a lot more rewarding and if I could go back, I’d skip the DT altogether.

#14

I made a similar decision/move and got an AR2 on the back of having the Digitakt, but kept mine.

The AR2 feels alive, it’s a performance powerhouse and it covers way more ground than I originally anticipated it would.
Obvs the Digitakt is no performance slouch, but the AR2 is next level.

My key reasons to ‘upgrade’ to the AR2:

  • scene mode
  • performance mode
  • synth/sample layering
  • the built in dual-oscillator synth engine
  • the sound of it! (Inc the master dist/compressor)

Also, you said you have the Akai Force… I just got one too and I’ve been sampling my AR2 into it, as well as sync’ing and recording AR2 performances into clips… working great so far. :+1:

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#15

I own both and both are keepers.

Also we can expect a huge FW update (hopefully this year) since it’s a flagship model …it would be unfair if not!!

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#16

My reasons for casting an eye on AR is identical to yours. Just watching videos on the Scene/Performance modes blew my mind how interactive this machine is. Why would you sample into the Force? Just as an option? I thought the AR was already performative. I’d probably use the Force to prep samples and send it back to AR.

#17

for me as a DT+DT user it would be nice to have an AR cause of the seperate outs!

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#18

Such nice people. :slight_smile:

#19

Many reasons… I’m new to the Force, but I’ve been doing something similar into Ableton.

  • I record clips because the AR2 is so live-perfomance based and I want longer (than 4 bars) clips that catch the movement from the AR2 (scenes/perf/mutes, etc)… and I’ll record multiple 8, 16, 32 bar selections of it (as well as odd numbers like 10, 14, 20, etc, so it’s always moving/developing in a track).

  • I can use external fx on these tracks… and use the Force’s XY, for example, on the AR2 sounds.

  • It lets me use the crossfader on the AR2 tracks.
    These clips/loops can then live in the Force (I have a 1TB drive in it) and used on other tracks quickly if I need them.

  • I have a few kits in my AR2 that I really really like, and I like to try and keep my sounds/kits consistent. Sampling the individual hits into the Force/AL, let’s me create drum programs that mimic the AR2, so I can work standalone with the AR2’s sounds in the Force (or on my laptop w/AL), then expand on that back to the unit itself if I need to.

I do like a bullet point list. :joy:
But yeah, there’s probably more I’m forgetting, but this gives an idea.

Besides this, I love just sitting down with the AR2 ostandalone and getting into it. It always generates new ideas for me. I have the same experience/feeling from the A4mk2.

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#20

I kept both DT and ARMK2

Latter is not very good for controlling other devices via MIDI (I have four other and I connect my piano to Digitakt to play and record them using its autochannel).

Also you might need to have a separate sampler for non-standard sounds, voices etc. In my opinion it’s better to keep those on a separate device

Oh yeah, and you might want to sample something external, again, your other synths. Not sure if it’s cool to have those sounds on AR pads, it seems conterintuitive to me… actually it’s almost the same as previous point