Hi.
I know a lot of people are tired here of all “what to buy posts”, but tbh, it’s getting very overwhealming just to build a minimal setup and I’m not in the circple of people who are into this stuff. Hard to find a community to share ideas and get advice…
I’m at apoint I’m properly confused and working under budget constraints…
I’m definitely into playing with samples, timestretching, granular, making ambient from noises and such… but then again a sound source not dependent on samples would be, great? Would love to dig more into ambient more, but also try more with drum beats, experimental hard electronica…
In the future after getting some basic pieces I’d like to play with pedals too.
Digitakt - I realised maybe it would be best to go after a sampler with wide versatility such as a used Digitakt (with 1.50 update it seems even more amazing). I’m worried though about sample size being only 30 seconds? Am I overthinking this? I could still loop and use song mode, if I got that feature right, to create a more complete track. My main worry though is that I will be dependent on samples, so after I get a hang for it, where do I go in terms of budget mini synths that I can sample that won’t have a another cumbersome workflow like another Elektron box (Digitone)
Model: Cycles - roughly in the budget, worried it’s not much about ambient and pads but still versatile. Also the fact that I would probably get the feeling that I neeks a pedal very soon, and keys. (Curently owning NI M32 which supports only USB). It cannot sample though, so I would again need to get a sampler (like a Microgranny), which would be the budget of a used Digitakt
Octatrack/Analog - Octatrack, as from what I have read eliminates almost all limitations from Digi, but then again, it eliminates a couple of houndred euros from my pocket.
And Analog four, I’m reading that people either love it or hate it, MKI used goes around for 500 euros which is in my budget, but cannot again of course sample.
Bonus: My main idea was to go for Nunomo Qun MKII, I have been reading and dreaming about Elektron box for years and I can finally afford one, and stumbled upon this little gem, which seemed like a mini/budget Elektron device, it has everything in one, but no particular thing is that great?
TL;DR: not gas, but a first timer, trying to do my research about Elektron devices, but it all seems so confusing.
So I started off with the samples, then the cycles and those gave me a tatse and made me realise all the good things that are missing from them, I then went Digitakt and everything made lovely sense and I still love it and use it loads, Digitone I love but don’t use as much, then I decided that I was going to give the Octatrack a try because having a total of 1gb on the digitakt was bumming me out a bit (it’s amazing, I love it but it’s still sometimes slightly inscrutable), got the syntakt which I love, then I got an A4mk2 and I hated it, I just could not get my brain around it and I didn’t really want to.
TLDR: get a Digitakt, if you appreciate the workflow, then maybe you can consider changing it up to an Octatrack (or keep them both because they are both very good at different things even though there is plenty of overlap).
Also there are technically infinite samples, everywhere to use (whether that’s prechopped single notes or just some garbage from youtube).
It hasn’t really to be honest, but the limitation is there and I’m aware of it. I’ve definitely deleted everything off my Digi library before because it’s very easy to load in a load of 808s with different decays and stuff but it really clogs things up for me.
Hi. I only got into Elektron just over a year ago. After a few years working through some of the usuals. The first I got was the Digitakt (of course). Clicked immediately & started my current eco-system, such an immense production tool. The Syntakt followed soon after… then the Digitone. Then an Octatrack mk2, which i returned quite quickly (I wasn’t quite ready). I then added an A4 mk2, followed by the Octatrack again (it was nibbling at my soul). I sold the OT on again after a few months, as ultimately, I wanted to be less about performance and more about producing. I found Ableton, Simpler & the Push 2 worked better for what I wanted. I’ve just added the Rytm mk2, at the expense of the Syntakt & Digitakt. So working with the DN, A4 & AR now. I didn’t really want to part with the DT, but the AR now covers for it really well. As I said, Ableton & Push are my slicing, time-stretching go to at the moment (I know the OT will probably knock on my door again in the future though!).
Ultimately, I’d say go for the DT. It really is an amazing instrument and tool. You get a fantastic entry point to the Elektron world (I’ve never owned or used a Model: product, so can’t comment on that). Sample length has never been an issue, and there are plenty of workarounds if you do get a moment where it is.
I’d say the Digitakt is the best bang for buck out there if using and playing samples is your thing.
Hope that wasn’t too boring, and helps a little!
Sampling on DT is limited to roughly 30 seconds. It can store and play longer samples, the constraint there is total data size per project. You will not regret getting a Digitakt. A4mk1 is a great deal as a four-voice monosynth that is terrific for drums and percussion, but, as you point out, no sampling.
Ok, lets do this the easy way. Its not confusing at all.
First of all forget model cycles. Its crap. You’ll hate it.
Now wipe A4 and octatrack off your list, sure they are cool, but based off your OP there’s better option.
Eg digitakt. It will do everything you want to do, including psuedo synthesis. Go try one in a shop if you can. Beats, samples, ambient, synthy noises. Done. If you have a laptop or ipad then apps will be your friend.
After having used OT mk2/mk1 x3, AR mk2/mk1, A4 mk2, AK, DT x2…
I’ll offer an opposing opinion.
Don’t go with the Digitakt.
To me at the current prices it’s not worth it and I don’t like the form factor or the workflow. The performance features are also very limited compared to the OT, or Analog boxes. It doesn’t have Accent Trigs, Parameter Slides and a lot of things that make the Sequencer even more fun.
A4 mk1 is great
if you want a synthesizer. It can also be an amazing drum machine.
It has performance Macros, parameters slides, accents and is one of the most powerful synthesizers out there. It has separate outs via Overbridge too, which is a very nice bonus.
And even though it has the old-school screen, it doesn’t really matter if you use overbridge. Also the trig buttons look and feel nicer in my opinion.
If you invest the time, this could be your one and only synth… (you can always add an iPad for samples if you want)
OT mk1 is also great
Can be found for as cheap as a Digitakt and is so much more powerful. Again, if you commit to it, it will reward you. And I would say it’s actually especially good if you are a newbie. Because you don’t have much other gear to distract you from learning it.
Digitakt.
Get a used Digitakt.
You will love it
Dont worry about 30s of sample time. You are over thinking that.
as for a sound source? grab a cheaper mono synth.
or use the DT using single cycle wave forms. Looped they are like synth tones.
Throw a couple down on a few tracks, tune em to a chord, resample that shit.
It is a fantastic instrument.
Digitakt! It’s so immediate, yet deep. You can keep on growing and exploring with it for a lifetime, I reckon. Great for beginners and power users alike.
I’ll throw in that, quite apart from the capabilities of a particular box, the Elektron sequencer is something you’ll need to learn with your first Elektron box, whichever you pick.
This is not trivial. It’ll take time and patience just to “get” the Elektron workflow. And it’s very much worth it, but the fewer other features getting in the way while you’re figuring that out, the better.
Thus I would say get the Digitakt. You’re already familiar with samplers, so most of the non-sequencer features are going to be familiar to you. Also, between the Digitakt, Octatrack, and Analog Four, the Digi’s sequencer is the most straight-forward.
Later, once you have the Elektron workflow in your blood and crave more, you’ll have a much better sense of what capabilities the other boxes will bring to the table. And everyone loves the Digitakt — they’re always in demand and should sell easily.
I would absolutely stay away from the models line currently. Too many issues and a taste of unsupported products make them not worth it (especially at current official price… Which is 400 euros).
I would suggest a used Digitakt if you can find one below 500 euros, it is pretty worth it.
You’re presenting yourself to be a Thinker (1). Tracking with that, you already know what you want, and are crowd-sourcing “did I miss anything?”
Octatrack MK1 + Nunomo Qun MKII
Digitak is going to spoil you then frustrate you after you nail it quickly then find yourself at the limitation hump,
whereas
Octatrack will do the opposite - stymie you with “learning curve” initially then blow your mind with how much you can do with it.
Im guessing that you already suspect as much, but it really depends on you.
Personally, I went after Octatrack (and Elektron ethos) like it killed my father and I wanted revenge. I got the Ask Video series on Octatrack and played with it everywhere.
On tour it was my IEM headphone amp on stage, then later on at the hotel I was figuring out Mission Briefs and working through problems others encountered.
It’s not that Octatrack was / is hard, I’m just insane and RDGAF, or maybe Autistic.
Blah blah blah…
Pick one
Commit
Music
(1)
Alessandra, Anthony. “Thinkers… the Great Analyzers.” The Platinum Rule for Sales Mastery, Platinum Rule Press, New York, NY, 2009, pp. 29–38.*
I would start by asking what your level of experience is with making music, and whether your goal is to make songs or just have fun noodling around/making cool sounds etc (both are perfectly valid in my opinion).
I’m asking because it doesn’t sound like you have a clear goal for any of these devices, and hardware is an expensive and challenging way to learn - especially the interface of the older Octatrack and Analog devices (the Digi/Model devices are easier to learn).
That’s not to say you can’t do it, but if you are jumping in without having made finished songs before, and without knowledge of music theory etc, you might find it quite challenging/frustrating. Especially if you’re working with a limited budget and the hardware is a big expense.
Because that’s what I did. I used to play an instrument as a kid, and during the COVID lockdowns, I decided that I wanted to pick up electronic music as a hobby that would get me away from sitting in my home office and staring at a computer screen all day - and started with a Digitone.
It’s been a lot of work to learn, and quite frustrating at times.
I now have a pretty solid understanding of how to use the device (what you can do with the sequencer, how the synth engine works, etc) but that doesn’t mean I am productive with it.
Now that I have an understanding of the instrument, I have to actually put that into practice - which relies on composition and music theory, and that’s arguably a lot more challenging.
It’s one thing to have learned an instrument and played music with it, it’s another thing entirely to compose it.
And over the past couple of years I ended up buying the Cycles/Digitakt/Syntakt along the way, partly due to my frustrations - because I felt that maybe this box achieves what I want, as it gets past the four-track limitation of the Digitone, or mangling samples seemed like fun, or maybe what I needed was a stripped-down synth engine compared to the complex FM of the Digitone - when it’s really been my own knowledge/experience that has been holding me back more than the box itself.
As my knowledge has increased, so has my realization of how excessive this kind of setup is for where I am at right now. And I’m starting to question whether these are the right devices for me at all.
Fortunately music hardware seems to hold its value pretty well - especially if you are okay with buying used hardware to begin with.
But it can be difficult to part with. There are days when I think I should sell all my hardware and pick up another Model: Cycles, and learn that one device inside-and-out - because there are people here doing amazing things with just that one box.
And some people have the opposite problem: where they don’t stick with a device long enough to really learn it. You’ll find many accounts from people here that have bought and resold things like the Octatrack many times over “the fifth time I bought an Octatrack, it finally clicked!”
Honestly, I don’t think hardware is the best option for this.
You can do it of course - even pseudo-granular using LFOs. That’s a lot of fun with the Digitakt, and the Octatrack seemingly takes this even further.
But frankly I find hardware samplers to be a pain to work with.
Unless you are sampling directly into the device from other sources a lot (which I enjoy) actually transferring and managing samples is a huge pain.
Some people take to it just fine - though I get the feeling those people have already built up sample libraries over the years, where they know what specific samples/packs they want to load onto the device for a given project.
If you have an iOS device (iPhone/iPad) there are many inexpensive apps like Tardigrain, SpaceCraft, Borderlands, Fluss, Quanta that can do things like granular much easier/better than the Elektron boxes. And it’s great being able to sample ambient sounds directly on the phone to manipulate them right away.
As much as I wanted to use hardware to get away from sitting in my office and looking at computer screens, doing things like this on a mobile device like a phone/tablet feels quite distinct from working inside a DAW on a computer - and the workflow is a lot smoother than using hardware where I have to think about managing storage/sample memory etc.
If nothing else, it’s an inexpensive way to get a start and find out what you actually want from these devices.
I would highly recommend that you do not buy one of these as your first foray into hardware.
I get it, devices like these can be very appealing.
They’re tiny portable boxes that seem to offer a lot. I love the idea of having a fully portable setup comprised of pocket-sized devices.
But most of the demos/jams you see with devices like these are from people with decades of experience making music, that have already built up cool sample libraries they can pull from, or the knowledge of how to take “found sounds” and turn those into a song, etc.
Or their synthesis knowledge is enough that they can make just about any synth be a variant on their sound.
I was also surprised to find that a lot of the people doing reviews/demos/jams with these kind of devices actually does that for their day job as well - working for a synth manufacturer/retailer.
I don’t doubt that their enthusiasm is genuine, but it’s a bit different than what the average person doing this as a hobby is likely to get out of it.
The reality is that for most people, devices with minimal interfaces like these are going to make it extremely difficult to learn anything.
But if you already have the knowledge of exactly how you want to manipulate the samples/synth engines, then the interface of a device like that is just going to be a slower/less-convenient way of working rather than being inscrutable.
Lot of good advice and thank you for taking your time.
You’re right that I may have not a clear vision, but I’m willing to take a leap and explore, to make it “fun”, and I think that’s one of my main motivations to get hardware and to try something new. I’ve been doing minimal things in ableton and learning stuff even how to utilize it’s stock instruments, or even how to just create something from noise. Yet when I try to dabble a bit more into a VST or something, my PC begins slowing down, can’t handle much anymore and IO is finnicky which can crash my projects.
I know it’s an istrument, but it doesn’t feel like one currently, while with that in mind I’m absolutely going to utilise it and I’m saving up for a capable laptop.
With that said, I’m really looking for a minimal setup. Maybe a pedal and effects down the line if I get into it. I’m looking for something that I can commit to, and to give me to learn and explore.
I share your sentiment about people with experience and making videos and so on, as well as that you won’t find it to be the same as on the demos, and I’m also vary of the fact that boxes like Nunomo may be too convoluted for beginners, I think that’s why I’ve mostly given up on it.
I’m also vary of the fact about managing samples, that’s why I’m coming to conclusion about buying a budget synth and a sampler with good storage option (such as Blackbox, which again seems frustrating in other places).
With that said, I have no idea what those options would be.
Used from another country is 500 minimum, in Croatia, about 650 minimum. Thing is, I have no issue buying Elektron used, but when I can’t see it and have to pay upfront, it gets tricky.