Rytm MKII - Is yours emitting ringing noise on hits?

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
#1

My mk2 seems to ring like a bell for ca. 2s - yes, like a plate reverb. Very annoying. I use an mk1 one with my producing partner for years and love it. Finally I got my money to buy an own device. Decided to get the mk2.

The mk1 is noisy and clicky, but it does not blend into the music. mk2 does… (long, repeating high frequency ringing as you hit pads or in fact just release a button.
Here is a recording WITHOUT any presets - the rytm is actually OFF - it’s just the pad hits and then different button clicks:

Now I am not sure, if its only my unit, but support initially told me, that it is within normal range.
Does anyone have similar problems? I did not really find anything on this issue yet.

Please share your experiences on that…

Analog Rytm MK1 or MK2?
AR Analog Rytm feature request thread
#2

I also have to add - which I am not sure, where it comes from - that the mk2 seems to ring like a bell for ca. 2s - yes, like a plate reverb. Very annoying. I use an mk1 one with my producing partner for years and love it. Finally I got my money to buy an own device. Decided to get the mk2.

The mk1 is noisy and clicky, but it does not blend into the music. mk2 does… (long, repeating high frequency ringing as you hit pads or in fact just release a button.
Here is a recording WITHOUT any presets - the rytm is off, it’s just the pad hits and then different button clicks:

Now I am not sure, if its only my unit, but support told me, that it is within normal range.
Does anyone have similar problems? I did not really find anything on this issue yet.

Please share your experiences on that…

Analog Rytm MK1 or MK2?
#3

Please record your problem with a standard preset sound (on a new project, so it’s guaranteed that no wrong settings or performances are causing this) and post it here, so others can compare it to their MK2 machine’s output.

Personally I haven’t read any complains here like yours.

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#4

I must be the lucky one… No bugs to report on my MK2, well not that I’ve come across yet.

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#5

Hi, thanks for your reply. I edited my post to put in an example.
Just to make clear, the rytm is OFF, no presets or output recording, just a condense mic vs. pad & button noise :wink: (As you can hear, I am not even really hammering them.)

(As you can hear, I am not even really hammering them.)

#6

Support and my sellers told me, that is actually normal.

A good example, how the obviously bad design becomes just normal and nobody seems to write or complain about it. I mean You design a sample player that is emitting a long and loud noise that is layering your sample sounds? Is this really really a good idea?

Disappointing quality…

4 Likes
#7

Is this only ambient/acoustic noise or does it come through on the outputs?

#8

Sometimes I consider trading up to an ARMKII…and then another issue comes up.

This one is just truly unbelievable.

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#9

It’s acoustic. It’s basically the unit itself resonating. I just tested this on mine and it’s there but it’s near silent. Like so quiet I can’t imagine hearing it over the Rytm itself, even at extremely low volume levels.

That said, it sounds much louder on the recording the OP uploaded. Wonder what makes his so loud.

#10

Thanks for your replies.

As I wrote: “Just to make clear, the rytm is OFF, no presets or output recording, just a condense mic vs. pad & button noise :wink: (As you can hear, I am not even really hammering them.)” So it is only acoustic, nothing comes through the outputs.

I recorded the pads from a close range with a condense mic and compressed the pad/button clicks -3db.
(I have to add though that I did this to make the ringing more as I perceive it in real life, since mics don’t seem to pick it up sensitive enough from my heads distance and I had to record much closer.
E. g. the first recording with my mobile did not play it back nearly at all. But that does not mean, it is not there. Of course nothing will represent a real life impression 100%, but I am not the only one who is surprised how much my mk2s case is ringing. Also, as I wrote, our mk1 does not do this kind of ringing at all… and I really would like (and expected) to love this model as well, believe me.)

Seriously, I would not complain and ask around, if I thought it could be normal. It’s like I bought a Porsche and it got the sound of my lawnmower… to me an obvious misconstruction for this price.

Maybe - and I hope, it has lower volume on other units (it does vary from unit to unit, as support wrote me). So I got to find the time to go somewhere I can compare to other units I guess.

#11

Maybe use the sound to meditate to so you can use this experience to let small problems go?

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#12

I know the sound but don’t know the origin - resonating case? springs in the switches?

If it’s the case, you could try opening it up and using “moon gel” (made for dampening drums) or some other material to help absorb vibrations of the case.

If it’s the springs in the switches… not much can be done about that

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#13

Thank you for you advice.

For some reason people tend to go to calm places for meditation, with as little distrubance and as much inspiration as possible. Thats exactly where I want to go while I am performing (and meditating at the same time).

This is disturbed by the noise. Might not be a big problem to you, but an essential one to me. Also I don’t like to pay for problems. So when I buy something that does not work as promised/intended I return it and don’t meditate. That’s how I let go of this kind of problems.

2 Likes
#14

You left out … complain on social media

#15

You don’t have to take this person’s problem seriously, but there’s no reason to mock him for wanting to post about it. Treating other people’s concerns as unimportant because they’re not important to you is a dick move. Just saying.

I’m thinking of buying a mk II rytm - has anyone else reported this problem, or is it just MultipleChoice’s unit with this issue? Support said it’s normal, so I wonder if everyone’s is doing this to some extent.

9 Likes
#16

I’m used to a certain amount of the trig key springs ringing in the old silver machines. Can’t say it bothers me personally but they’re certainly not quiet. Don’t know what the Mk2s are like, relatively. Can absolutely believe it would be distracting to some people.

#17

My AR1 does it as well, but other pad machines like MPC live are not quite either.
I usually record the steps and then do the sound tweaking on the running pattern. That way the “boinnnnng” does not interfere.

#19

Hi tenembre thanks for you reply.

I tried different devices by now and also talked to my seller (a major one). They all say it is normal to a certain (to me too big) extent. My unit was swapped as a guarantee-case, but I have to say, the new one is not much quieter. But sill - it actually IS a bit better.

I have to say, it is still disturbing me, since - as I emphasized already - I got routine on the mk1 in our studio (but its not mine effectively) and I bought the mk2 explicitly for its allegedly improved finger-drumming qualities. So to me this promise was THE primal feature I got it for, hence my disappointment.

Just to state that a bit clearer again for people, who try to decide, which rytm to get (mk1 or mk2).
The mk1 has much harder (and less sensitive) pads and a different button/pad “noise” - way shorter and less of a metallic ringing melting into the produced sound. Well, the mk2… you can hear on the recording. (I have to add here, that perceived volume or level of irritation might vary for different ears and of course units, but it IS there on all mk2 devices, just as you can hear it on my recording).

#20

Thanks for your reply, Augenadler.

Besides this ringing I really like the performance features, sound etc. of the mk2. Its hard to me to give it back completely, since I don’t really have an alternative solution (and we got an mk1 already).

So I guess I am doomed to wear headphones while I am exercising finger-drumming in the studio. On live performances it is not a big issue indeed, since the volume of the music is very loud and the ambient noise is high.

Hi panelist,

Elektron did not write me, how the ringing comes to be exactly, but they wrote me:

“I have talked to our developers about this and they also think that it’s best to talk to your retailer. They can compare it with another device to see if it’s within the tolerance level. There’s nothing you can do about it on your own without voiding your warranty.”

I tried damping the metal casing with my hand, clothes, sponges :smiley:
But nothing helped even a bit, so in my experience it can not be the casing, but has to be something inside. It also has to be lighter, since the metal casing itself is quite thick (built like a tank actually :wink: ) but the sound is quite high and very long very. Very much sounding like a spring reverb in fact, so could be internal springs indeed.

This seems to be supported by having to open it for damping the ringing, since that is the only thing voiding a guarantee, right? Well besides damaging the unit by force… don’t think that is a solution, but who knows :stuck_out_tongue:

#21

i have the same issue…it’s like a reverberant spring for about 1 second…even when i hit the pad gently.
No decorating performance for the product-designers…i hope they will fix it in future.
But that won’t help in our situation.
Now waiting for the response of the support!

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