Depends if you want the analog sounds and velocity sensitive pads or not.
I seriously love my Rytm mk2… awesome drum machine
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Minimal & dark techno?
tr-8s + octatrack
feed both with vcv-rack samples 
Anyway, for dark minimal techno a digitakt alone should be good to go.
I sell my Rytm without crying.
I take a DT, happy…
But as you wrote are two different machines.
The Rytm has a sort of DT inside if you use samples, plus analog synthesis.
I really prefer the clear digital sound, AR is not for me, too fat and wild.
But it’s a condition that someone love.
I can said that with DT you can create some “synth” sound starting from noise or sine wave or else. I try to use it not only to play samples but also as “synth” with all his limitations, by the way.
Listen to the sound (very different) , think how you will use, see the price…
How important
… is Midi sequencing
… is the price
… is portability
… are analog individual outs
… are playable pads
… to you?
You mentioned not having plans for playing out anytime soon. So scene/performance macro control is probably less important, right?
In terms of what works well for me, I got both. Wouldn’t let go of either one.
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rytm, without question
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I never tried the rytm but I have a DT. I think the rytm is more fat and maybe more suitable for techno or minimal because of the analog engine.
But, the DT is very powerfull too. You can use lot of analog drum sample and original percussion to make cool groove. I know the rytm can sample too but I think it’s not as powerfull as the DT.
If you listen people on this forum you absolutely need tons of expensive gear, but believe me, you can make a full track only with the DT. Check some videos of Dave Mech or Ivar Tryti (I absolutely love our prolific @eaves / Ivar Tryti's music, and thought it would be cool to have all in one thread) making cool beat only with the DT 
Hi Hans_Olo
Great Nickname btw (new Mandalorian series does not suck, check it out if you haven’t already).
Appreciate your questions to help me pin this down. Here are my responses:
… is Midi sequencing
Nice to have it. The bigger appeal for me is Overbridge. I.E. It is a very nice factor for the DT, and I believe support for the Rytm MKii is down the road according to the Elektron site. I’d be psyched just to get the tracks to show up seamlessly in Logic Pro X via over bridge so I can record/arrange out the gate.
… is the price
Workable either way. I can only afford one though. So whatever I get needs to last a long while. At this point, I no longer have pads, midi controller outside my iPad and Minilogue XD (which works well as Midi controller - w/out pads of course)
… is portability
Not a big deal. Working in small studio at home
… are analog individual outs
Would be cool to have at least 4 (or more) outs. I want to connect it to my Minilogue XD, and then of course direct into LPX via USB. (Also have audio interface - Komplete Audio 6).
… are playable pads
Great to have as I got spoiled with Maschine MK3 pads. Would love playable pads that I could use with LPX. I’m not sure if it’s possible to map Rytm mk2 pads to LPX For DT, I’d obviously go a different route.
Scene/performance macro control is a nice to have. I got used to scene management with Maschine, so I have a base start for the concept. Would like to explore that more as I could build up to it (I.E. I do want to eventually play out - think future proof gear).
Elektron scenes/performance controls are not at all the same as scenes in Maschine.
Scenes in Maschine allow you to group the play back of patterns.
Elektron scenes/performance controls do not affect pattern playback.
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Thanks. Will read up on that.
Thanks Lapse. Appreciate your insight. That’s one of the reasons the DT interests me (regarding “synth” sound and that I can bend a sound/sample loads of different ways). I’ll be checking out some Cuckoo videos today to listen to the Rytm.
On your comment on selling the Rytm w/out crying? Can you tell me what the pain points are for you?
For me, I’m selling my Maschine MK3 because I got lost in loop land and had too many issues to count with integration to DAW. As soon as I started playing with LPX, it became apparent to me that I seriously need to change my workflow (I.E. make song vs. patterns/get away from laptop a bit more).
Definitely targeting price also, but that’s an easier weight to consider due to the huge price difference.
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If you are interested in live performance/manipulation then hands down the Rytm. Performances and Scenes are crazy powerful and can change a simple 1 bar loop into infinitely varied sounds…
Thanks Blaize.
Appreciate the videos of Dave Mech and Ivar Triti.
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They are both pretty amazing machines, DT is nice because with midi sequencing can pair it more easily with much more gear and breath new life into them with midi LFOs. Rytm has built in Analog sound sources… so if you’re looking at a solo item it could be better. DT is super good at capturing the character of whatever you sample in imo, Rytm is better at instilling its own character on things. Personally I think a digitakt and a nice synth to work with in conjunction would be the direction I lean in.
Sweetwater has B-stock Rytm II for something like $1150 right now. Definitely worth it even if you’re unsure on keeping it.
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I just picked up a Rytm mk2 and have owned a Digitakt for a long time. If I had to choose I’d take the Rytm. The only big plus I see with the Digitakt is dedicated MIDI tracks if you need those (and price of course).
I picked up one of those inexpensive Sweetwater b-stocks and couldn’t be happier 
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If we only consider the sound …
- AR: analogue synth with dedicated circuits to generate percussive sounds, combined with sampling
- DT: sampling
If you don’t need or want analogue sounds, go for the DT.
I use the AR because of its analogue sounds and I love to have the sampling option in the same machine as well. Some analogue sounds of the AR are so good that I don’t want to miss them, and vice versa … best of two worlds …
-Overbridge is not decision relevant. Both DT and AR MK2 support in to the same extent. Midi sequencing was bolted onto the AR OS and has limitations compared to DT’s implementation (e.g., polyphony, program change messages, …)
-while the pads on the AR MK2 are nice, they cannot hold a candle to Maschine MK2’s (which is what I used to have). I’m still not sure whether this is due to software (e.g., the dynamics curve implementation) or hardware
-as has been pointed out before scenes/performances don’t directly translate to/from Maschine’s. Your options (while CTRL-all is very cool) on the DT, are limited compared to AR MK2.
Judging by what you wrote, I’d say sequencing of external Midi devices is the deciding factor. If you can live with AR MK2’s rudimentary implementation, I’d say get one. As a standalone device I feel it has more to offer than DT, even though it’s not by a huge margin.
I had NI Maschine like you, Studio first and Mk3 after, all sold.
I now have a Digitone and I like it, I then got a second hand Digitakt I tried it but I did not like it much a lot as using it as a drum machine.
I then got an AR MK2 and I really love the analog sound, the combinations of synth and samples, the analog overdrive and compressor.
Having said that, I found using and programming Digitakt super quick, much quicker than Rytm, and DT integrates very well with Digitone.
The sample management on Rytm is not great and coming from Maschine I noticed I was missing a lot the speed of managing and assigning samples and the Maschine workflow.
Furthermore the pads on Rytm are really inferior to Maschine, so for finger drumming it is definitely not good.
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Appreciate all the feedback from everyone, and the feedback on Maschine pads vs Rytm pads (shame that pads aren’t high fidelity from what you mentioned). On “As a standalone device I feel it (AR) has more to offer than DT, even though it’s not by a huge margin.” - if it’s not a huge margin, I’m thinking to go with DT for quicker programming, lighter on the wallet, and learn the workflow and then decide on AR or not.
Current thinking is to get a DT, pick up a Akai MPD 218 for pads (or use my iPad), play around with integration on Logic Pro X and Minilogue XD. Also considering a digital recorder or even a TE PO-35 to bring in samples.
Let me add that “huge” off course is highly subjective and that the difference in price is worth it for some and not for others. Either way, at some point you’ll start lusting for the other one anyway.
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