Mainly the fact that DT trig keys are used for trigs, tracks, mutes, keyboard, Digitone at least has separate mute/track buttons, so it feels a bit more like a bigger Elektron in use, to me at least.
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I would say Rytm if you are looking for it to add the dirt/character more or less a one stop shop for your production, that said feeding the digitakt dirt/character sounds great. Something about the digitakt filter really keeps character intact even when using pretty heavy handed resonance. Like if you have a 8bit or 12bit sampler and some synths with audio in for processing sounds a digitakt is pretty great for using that material and keeping it true.
My english is not so good but to me dull=transparent in this context. What i mean by that is probably that i think OT fx lacks some kind of character and excitement. I think the fx are good, precise and clean etc. Its just that i maybe like more dusty and dirty, strange and unfamiliar. But the greatness of OT is maybe not the fx but rather the maniac stereo sample/loop recording, slicing and playback possibilities. So yes it is very transparent. (stupid me)
Thanks for the clarification mate, I get where you are coming from (and your English is fine!). I guess for what I want right now, transparency is not so important, as I have lots of transparent stuff ITB, I’m looking for a bit of character. I’m starting to think OT might be a later addition to my set up, it really interests me, but I think an OT and Digitone set up will leave me with gaps that I can’t easily address (as an Elektron beginner). Maybe OT is what I need once I am have found a good dedicated drum/percussion machine.
Thanks for your input! Yes! I love the Digitone filter’s resonance (I assume Digitakt is similar), I like digital resonance more in general to be honest. I actually never used the resonance on my friends Rytm, because it was just toooooo much. I’m starting to lean towards a Digitakt and Analog Drive (If I get the heat, I might as well just get Rytm as it’s only slightly more expensive) for now, possibly upgrade to Rytm and OT in the future.
Anyone have any thoughts on the Analog Drive? It looks like it’s more of a guitar pedal? I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to these things, but might that be an issue with low impedance gear?
Edit - just realised Analog Drive is mono and has no dry/wet, so that’s a no go…
try to find an MDUW
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just to put things in a simple way
Digitakt = fast/flexible sampler, it is what you put in it
OT = dj style mixing loops and phrases, an 8 track recorder/playback device good for live dj style performing (it can be many other things aswell because of deep options)
RYTM = analog drum machine with some sampling possibilities. for sample playback its kind of overkill because you still pay for the analog engines and its still not quite like the DT. If you dont care about analog filters and overdrive etc. its kind of pointless. But stilll the fact is that rytm sounds good because of the analog stuff. EDIT, As always it all depends on the user. OT is way deeper and flexible as a sampler and production tool than digitakt but for me the creativity comes from the immediacy of the instrument and thats what digitakt shines at, soundwise as sample players they are the same. For sample based drum/percussion i think digitakt is the king. I could go on forever on the pros and cons of these machines, Thanks and be safe
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Haha, this made me laugh because I used to have an MDUW and sold it a long time ago 
Out of interest, what are the reasons for recommending it in this instance?
FWIW I am currently using the OT as (essentially) a drum machine in one of my bands. A HUGE benefit it has is the arranger aka song mode. I dont need to think about changing patterns and instead I can focus on crossfader fun, muting and unmuting, and just generally playing and experimenting. My tracks are in this order
Kick
Hat
Snare
Clap
Aux perc/sound (sweeper, white noise, etc)
Shaker loop
Some kind of sound (chord, white noise)
Master
I actually thought about buying a digitakt because I mean…itd be a fun excuse to buy some new equipment, and obviously at first glance it’s more geared toward drums. But it doesnt have an arranger mode and I don’t think it has a sort of “ctrl all” function (someone please correct if I’m wrong) like the crossfader acts as.
I also have a hydrasynth coming in the mail and plan to control it via OT. There are some songs my band leader has recorded that are pretty heavy on synths, and we dont quite have a proper setup for them.
I also want to get more experimental down the road and take an output from his vocal and live resample it to my OT and…drool I have lots of ideas. I can send midi out to my guitarist’s board so his delay is in time. If I want to be a real asshole I can control his FX with some LFOs.
It has Ctrl All but it’s far more random than OT. OT crossfader (and scenes) is far more deliberate and controllable than DT’s Ctrl All.
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How does the ctrl all work?
Being an owner of both a Rytm and Octatrack I can tell you it’s a hard choice. I live both machines. Rytm sounds great and love using the pads for its performance features and they’re actually pretty playable (mk2)
The octatrack on the other hand is so much more then a simple sampler. It’s a lot more unpolished then the Rytm and takes some time to master both functions and sounds (tweaking filters, effects, sampling setting setc.) but it is such a deep machine. It’s not as straight forward as Rytm, but it is damn rewarding.
Edit: I might add that I started my Elektron journey three years ago with a Digitakt and while it is an awesome machine, it pales in comparison with octatrack and Rytm (imo)
Ctrl all is nice but it feels more like an after thought then a feature especially if you compare it to scenes on the other devices…
The control all works by holding the function knob and moving a parameter knob. It changes that parameter for all tracks.
This sounds really fun! I agree with you that Digitakt wouldn’t really fit the scenario, but you can do most of this with the Rytm (kind of a Digitakt+, especially if you are fine with OT’s complexity) with a few key differences:
- The song mode on Rytm is less capable than the arranger on OT
- No time-stretching or slice mode on Rytm
- Rytm has analog engines, overdrives, compressor, “better” delay/reverb
- Scenes and performance modes offer a different style of crossfader… kind of like having multiple crossfaders, but each aren’t as fun as the crossfader individually
- And no messing with the guitarist’s pedals
Just some food for thought. OT + AR would certainly be more than enough to keep busy!
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I hear the song mode is gimped. In what way? I feel like I make pretty good use of arranger on the OT but I havent messed with mutes, or sending program changes to other machines via midi (which would he pretty crazy and actually…I might start doing that)
I don’t know the exact details, as I don’t have an OT (yet), but you basically have fewer options per “row”. You can set mute states and chain patterns and set various numbers of repeats on the Rytm, but you can’t change BPM between rows, set transpositions of patterns, or a variety of niche (but important if you happen to use them) options in the OT arranger.
In a live band situation, a lot of those probably don’t apply, since I know as a guitarist or bassist, I would hate to consistently be switching up BPM in the same song!
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Funny you had one !
MDuw maybe can respond to everything other machines can do ( no analog filter sadly) but :
Sampling (pretty easy)
Resampling (live ressampling and re re sampling that DT cannot do)
Percs, Tones synths…
ressampling of those sounds…
+
MD has control all and other features new elektrons have not as :
slides
trig position
mute position
song mode …
+
routables out
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The UW is pretty pricey though. More than a new (silver) mkii rytm and I think his budget only allows for a used mki
Both the silver souls are selling for staggeringly high prices
I think it is still possible to find one to the price of 800 900euros
or less for a mki
but maybe just not at this precise moment
Not UW. Maybe without the UW. I sold my MD MK1 (non UW) for about 550USD a year ago or so. Though frankly he got a good deal…