New Elektron Box 2016

It’s probably going to be a combination of FX pedals in one box with looping capabilities and maybe multi tracking. I wouldn’t expect any official info until the fall.

I thought the same thing. That’s probably an amp, as someone pointed out

Yeah could be. It looks like a box of some sort on a table, but yeah similar height for an Amp and knobs etc.

The shape of the New Electron Box appeared in my toast this morning. It’s coming.

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:3lektron: :elan: :bread:

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Whatever it is, this thread has helped me figure out what kind of recording environment I’d really prefer. If whatever this is that Elektron’s got coming isn’t something along those lines, I’ll find my solution elsewhere. That’s the only thing I’m missing in my workflow, a proper piece of equipment to record stuff without a computer in a non-medieval way.

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it’s a portable record machine for sure

some kind of elektron version of a zoom h4n

-FX
-seq
-multitrack (4 channels)
-Mic & inputs (phantom power)
-overbridged
-battery powered

quote me in a month

cheers

I seriously doubt the “battery powered” point. If there’s going to be analog filters and ob, batteries seem unlikely to deliver adequate power for a reasonable use time. I’d love to be wrong though!

I agree with you on this.

The more I think about it the more the sequencer aspect also seems unlikely.

  1. Every Elektron box already has a sequencer and they want you to buy those also. I could see this box acting as a master clock, sure.
  2. But then the more I think about it, the more the idea of a straight-up recorder with mic inputs (or even built-in microphones) doesn’t work.

For one, if you bought two Analog devices you’d already be at 8 simultaneous tracks. This is not trivial from a CPU/RAM horsepower standpoint. (And then you add FX, which we all seem to agree is part of the package.) Investing in this type of architecture would be really costly, although I guess perhaps things have moved on a bit since my day.

For two, and perhaps most importantly, the workflow for capturing an acoustic performance is fundamentally not suited to the type of hardware Elektron builds. If you record a guitar part, or a voice part, you need to do many takes rapidly. You need to punch-in, trim, and comp takes. And sometimes you fly them around to different parts of the track. Working with actual performances using anything less than a DAW would be immensely frustrating. Anyway, the out-of-the-box electronic community has evolved a workaround for this anyway: it’s called sampling. Capture a quick moment of performance, mangle it or clean it, trigger or loop it, and repeat. You wouldn’t want to sing Beatles songs into an Elektron box, would you? What if you make a mistake? Start over? What if you want to redo the second chorus? (Cue Cenk: “Hold down F2, then press scene mode twice. Hold the Record, arm, and track buttons simultaneously for the track you want to overdub, then adjust the cue point using the rotary encoder…”)

What do you call a portable field recorder with mic inputs that plays nicely with your hardware synths? A sampler. For this reason I’m not convinced this is the direction.

This, we know, is a studio device. Could it be an audio interface + hub for Elektron gear? Well maybe, but anytime you put mic inputs on something other than a sampler you would have to see this more of a front-end to Ableton if the goal is to capture actual performances. There are plenty of audio interfaces on the market made by companies who don’t offer such a unique brand of synth.

What if it’s really just a gizmo that can mangle live audio but does not purport to “record” or “sample” it. :wink:

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Yeah I mostly agree with you on this. Recording is the one place where DAW normally makes more sense than hardware. Less fiddly/more space + cpu. Especially for anyone that edits/comps etc and tends to use a lot of tracks. But if Elektron have made a recorder I’d guess at it being more like an evolution of the Op-1. Or with some forward thinking effects + audio sequencing/looping twists. Curious to find out but I feel like an idiot for visiting this thread/commenting so I’m done with it now til there’s news.

elektron long-ass thread maker, analog.

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I don’t entirely agree on this. If you took the tape recorder from OP-1 and made that its own concept, and developed that to the max and beyond, you’d get something fundamentally different from a sampler, yet extremely useful to any kind of musician and compare it to nothing that’s out there now.

Or perhaps that’s what the Octatrack is. Hmm hmm.

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Yes, exactly. Despite all the statements that this will not overlap with existing product, our most common speculations just sound like Elektron decided to break off a part of the OT’s audio tracks side and elaborate on it further.

I really like that idea if theres some neat tricks elektron style.

Im so interested to know what it is

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What’s the point in teasing people about new device months before they launch it… Pretty annoying to keep people guessing this long.

Make it public already!! :slight_smile:

What are you talking about? This is fun. This whole thing summons that old childhood spirit of Christmas and presents under the tree thing. This is exciting to me, and I’m happy that my favorite gear company has the playful spirit to play these games.

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Sure, it’s fun for a while. But it’s been three months soon since they started this “rumor”.

I think it would be a lot more fun if I had the device in my hands rather than keep guessing what it is for another three months.

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We have all seen those jam video’s in which the Octatrack played a big role, right?

So now it’s time for a device which can record the whole thing, while recording you have the ability to use all kind of effects and play with it as an instrument on its’s own.
Everything recorded can be edited via Overbridge later on.

Seems like a logical step to get other people excited as well as keeping it interested for current customers.

There are to much fx/filter boxes out there, so in order to get people excited, you have to be original, but also practical, what could be of use for a lot of musicians, what will inspire them. There are still al lot of bands who record their first ideas on for example oldschool analog 4 track recorders. Most of all because of the type of sound and because your are somewhat limited to what a iphone/ipad/computer/daw can do. So you can focus on making music and be creative, just play and record…

ANALOG TAPE just fits in there pretty well

A playable recording device with a soul.

For producers, vocalists, guitarists, you name it…

I want one…

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I just want to thank @Ess for peppering this thread with little hints to keep the fun alive in the guessing. You’re a champ, sir!

“That’s ANALOG bam-a-lam”

“To clear up confusion, that’s our warehouse. Our office isn’t in a garage”

Dog needs a bone, however small…