Hey, might have the opportunity to get my hands on a Black Rytm MKII for a reasonable price, I wonder if It obsolete somehow when owning a Digitakt?
I hade the OG Rytm waaay back and really liked it but had to sell it at the time and didn’t feel I missed it until this came up!
How similar are the Rytm & DT today and what would be the pros/cons for the different machines?
I think you will have an enormous amount of overlap, and u can do most things the DT can do with the rytm.
main disadvantages on the rytm mk2 are:
main advantages of rytm mk2:
so basically it’s way more limited from the current state of DT in sample handling but it still can do a lot, just don’t expect it to do everything DT does.
the benefits are obvious though if that’s what you’re looking for. it’s a synth that you can use in many ways, not only drums.
Thanks for a thorough +/—walkthrough!
My hopes with it is to use it as a more “one-box-only”.
But I’m not sure how easy the Rytm is to make melodic sequences?
With the DT you just push [FUNC] + [TRK] to reach chromatic mode and you can also choose in what scale to play, is this somewhat similar?
How direct is the sampling on the Rytm compared to the DT?
on rytm you have only chromatic mode, no scales, you can play on the pads 12 notes at a time, no way to fold scale like on the digis… but the pads are velocity sensitive, not everyone likes it though…
same process afaik, you can resample any track or incoming audio from dedicated inputs with a dedicated resample button, so yeah it’s pretty much the same.
btw, just to understand the shortcomings of the rytm I’d suggest walking through the feature request threads, you’ll get a pretty good idea what it can’t do at the moment and if there’s some dealbreaker for you in there, of course these are focusing only on the disadvantages, they don’t reflect what it can do, which is a lot!
(this one is pretty old so start somewhere from the middle)
You can do entire tracks on the AR. It’s a great machine for mixing samples with analog sounds. With the DVCO machines, you have to be careful about the note range since they can’t play high notes, and tracking can get a bit wonky. But those sounds can be thick and give your melodies weight. And you could always sample the VCO to a pad and pitch it up (at the cost of some mojo).
Direct sampling on the Rytm is easy. I sampled some chord chains from my DN to the Rytm and used that to build a song. The only sticking point there is the resolution of sample start time. Only having 120 (edit) resolution means you need to make sure your samples line up, or you’ll either have starting silence or lose some of your transients
Rytm is pretty great for standalone music making. It’s got such an awesome and distinct sound — the combination of the analog filters, distortion, and compressor is really unique and gets you to a place that Digitakt can’t touch (in my opinion).
That said, I agree with @cogsy that the Rytm’s DVCO machine is not the best for melodic stuff. Pitch tracking is a little wonky and the provided synth parameters might seem odd/frustrating if you’re trying to do traditional sound design.
On the other hand, if you embrace the DVCO and other Rytm machines for what they are, you can get some very cool results. And then add Scenes, Performance macros, Direct Jump pattern changes, etc. etc. and you’ve got a stew goin.
I wouldn’t. I’d get a used A4 instead.
there are a few other advantages the RYTM has over DT:
In general I slightly prefer the DT. As far as sampling, the latest firmwares give it a big leg up. I apologize if it was already mentioned, but a big feature there is the ability to set the record length. Combined with the slice machine, that can speed up sampling-heavy workflows.
All the other stuff mentioned about the RYTM is really nice, though. It just has a much steeper learning curve and is a lot more about setup, preparation, and learning its ins and outs. The DT is a lot more about helping you move fast, making the most of your samples, and getting out of your way, which I find more fun.
Very true. The new DT firmware is a game changer, with slices, Werp, and time stretch. So many fun tricks. I just think of Rytm as a badass old school sampler with lots of analog goodness and tons of character. It’s all about that distortion and compressor
wait what? DT doesn’t have velocity mod? I thought it’s common thing for all digis/analogs…
@Skyddsrum I forgot to mention one more huge advantage rytm has, it’s the fx track. you have one lfo for the fx but you can use trigs with locks and slides to create additional modulation for fx params.
you can do something similar on DT with midi loopback, but imo having dedicated track is huge advantage.
Yup, NO velocity mod…Syntakt seems to have it but not Digitakt.
DN also has it, what a weird decision to omit such a great feature…
I sold my rhythm because of the overlaps wit my DT and because I did not gel with the analog voices that much. Pads kinda suck 
IMHO. Too stiff and not do accurate. This thing is very bass heavy and there is no base filter. If you like the analog sounds maybe checkout the Syntakt.
I have used both. I kept fhe rytm, because I like to completely control the sound design of the drums . The Dt has a lot of advantages in sampling section and the midi tracks, especially with the last update. Although rytm has the scene and performance mode, which is very helpful for live performances and in addition you can use analog engines and samples together in the same track, which can create great sounds. It depends on you, what suits you most, the purpose that you want it and your rest gear-set up that you have.
it’s 120. Otherwise yes to all you said.
You can get some higher tones, in tune (well, more so than the DVCO) out of the Cowbell and Rimshot. The waveforms aren’t as rich as the DVCO, but they’re a usable option for some sound design choices.
I agree it’s bass heavy. Every track has a switchable filter, so you can eliminate some bass - but you might have to get into sampling your basses if you also want to filter down the top-end.
The Syntakt also only has one filter on the analog channels, so for that specific “filtered analog bass” role, the Rytm’s technically more flexible (due to sampling). (I have both; I think they’re both amazing. I’ve not tried using them together tho’ as I like multiple small set-ups rather than one big one).
I sold my DT to stick with my ARmk2 and haven’t regretted letting it go, even though I did really like it.
The way I looked at it, if you think of the DT’s competition in terms of what compliments the Rytm, there are better units to pair it with… notably I’d say an Akai MPC or a Roland SP404mk2. Both of these give you stereo capabilities and a lot more functionality that the DT doesn’t (especially when you think of what it does that the AR can’t…).
So not needing anything else on top of the AR is completely valid, but for that DT space, if you do want a +1 device, there are better options IMO.