why is this a good sampler? I dont get it
cant adjust the slice start/stop points, cant spread the slices across the pads to play chromatically like a keyboard? no choke groups?
feel like i fell for the hype and have been scammed? only had this thing one day but seriously wtf? what did i buy this for, LFOs? what am i missing here, why is this thing so loved ? someone explain to me plz , im lost
Its designed primarily to be a percussion/one-shot sampler. If your needs for sampling are more than that, then you didn’t do enough research.
The slicing is there to offer a compromise for users of the device that want to try to do other things with it.
The slice grid is automatic, so you’d need to prepare your imported samples beforehand/when you record your sample
I am sincerely asking this and not trying to be a jerk - did you do any research before you bought the device?
sure it’s my fault for buying the gear, i’m just wondering if i’m overlooking the limitations that i’m running into. didn’t realize this would lack abilities that i had on samplers from ten years ago , i have a syntakt which is awesome and just assume this thing would be on par with that in terms of use/innovation
It is, but not in the way you assumed it to be.
so how do you guys use yours, you take one sample and spread it across all 8 of your audio tracks as one shots and adjust the start/stop on each?
Mostly for percussion and sound design of sampled sounds on the remaining tracks
alright i think im just not wrapping my mind around this thing fully yet
(Some of?) the different modes are basically retrofits for things that users were doing complicated workarounds to achieve. I can understand how frustrating it must be to be blindsided by those limitations. If you want to keep using it the best thing you can do is edit your samples so there are gaps between the sounds where you want slice points to appear, preferably keeping them on a 4/4 grid. That will generally force the slicing algorithm to put the slice points where you would want them.
The Digitakt has a different “magic” to what you seem to be looking for. If you want the Elektron sequencer and don’t mind going very deep and learning a device, return it and go with the Octatrack, but judging from your post I would suggest you better look into something like the SP404 MKII and see if it fits your needs.
If you’re just exploring, then explore away; but if you bought it for an intended purpose that it doesn’t already do- I don’t recommend trying to shove a square block through the round hole
For most of the loops I use (drum breaks) the lack of adjustable slice points isn’t much of an issue. The slicing occurs at the nearest zero point crossing so there’s no issue with clicks either.
You can absolutely play the slices on the chromatic keyboard, just select keyboard mode in the slice machine.
Yeah, it’s not a modern MPC and it’s not going to those MPC things well. The DT is all about one shots, creative looping, granular, etc. I lean into it harder for sound design, as I find it easier to edit than MPC world
There are tools to help get one shots lined up for slicing (Octaedit I think. Edit: Nope! Octachainer). That should help you somewhat, and that’s where your choke groups will come from. Hope that helps!
The slice machine was a very recent addition, in fact machines on DT in general. Before that, everything was one-shot. So the reputation of DT is based almost entirely on that. It really is a wonderful machine if you focus on what it can do, instead of what it can’t do.
Sounds like you might want an MPC instead of a Digitakt. The Digitakt’s strengths lie in leading to unexpected places quickly, morphing sequences, live performance with developed muscle memory, MIDI sequencing, and snappy, bright effects. But it’s far from a one stop shop sampler and will definitely leave you wanting more if coming from the MPC mindset. As others have said, it excels when using it as a one shot percussion machine.
Not OctaEdit. Don’t buy OctaEdit, you will most likely be disappointed
Its OctaChainer, and its free, and here’s a link to it
Reading this thread makes me glad I didn’t impulse buy a Digitakt last week. I need to spend some more time figuring out if it’ll fit into my workflow.
When a lot of us got the DT, there was no slicing, time stretching, or song mode, and there was a single LFO per track – I still loved it back then. For me, the strength is more around the sequencer, and being able to parameter-lock and sound-lock within the same track. I use it mostly as a sample-based drum machine (kinda like it says on the box).
It might be useful to mention that sounds on each track choke each other. Tracks are monophonic, so for example if you have a sample on step 1 of track 1 that lasts 16 steps, but you place a trigger on step 13, it will choke the first trigger. Hope that helps.
It took me a very long time to figure out if it would fit it into my setup, I think I deliberated for over a year before committing to buying one. Ultimately yes, it fits in rather well, and I am very glad that I bought an MPC first - the DT (with the recent update) filled in some gaps.
Yup, i always check videos, read manuals etc.