Should I Buy A Digitakt

I was even going to add “Mk2” but then thought that that might seem too specific a reference lol. I think the Mk2 is much more user friendly with the few extra buttons it has (but of course it’s still an OT)

1 Like

The more reading I do the more I’m very attracted to the Polyend Tracker. Any PT users who’ve had OT/DT/Deluge care to comment?

the mpc is a sample mangling monster/ sequence mangling monster as well… If I were you I would look into the specific features it has that lend themselves to glorious sample and sequence mangling…

I have an Deluge and understand how you’re not vibing with it but can still appreciate the great things about it…

the DT is exquisite at mangling and the combination of the DT/MPC One is a match made in heaven… not to mention the Elektron and Akai sequencers really, really, really, compliment each other.

1 Like

I was just going to suggest taking a look at the Tracker after some of your later posts. :smiley:

It slices, and has much more sample manipulation potential. If you don’t mind the tracker interface, it’s an excellent option. I miss mine actually. I like the Digitone Digitakt pair, so I went back to that. The Tracker is a great option though.

Interesting stuff. Honestly never considered any of the MPC range, no idea why!

So what model should I be looking at for a standalone box?

There’s a huge MPC thread in this forum.

if you wanna run tracks out of the mpc into fx pedals and other external fx boxes I’d go for an mpc live 2/the speaker on it is surprisingly nice to use ( I thought it would be useless)… the live 2 has several outputs that are great for getting up to all sorts of mangling shenanigans…

that said, the mpc one doesn’t have the extra outs but is still an extremely viable solution because of it’s easy and fast resampling capability, and extensive sample editing and export options, so really it’s very quick to use external pedals with only the master outs of the mpc one as well.

on the mpcs, the sample freeze per pad feature which you can use to print fx to your samples on a per pad basis over and over again with different fx of which there are many + the mpcs sample layering capability, + pad linking + sequence track exploding + the looper+ is worth the price of admission alone… and shuffling samples back and forth between the mpc and the digitakt is a treat!!!

the MPC’s deliberate handling of samples and the Digitakts unpredictable happy accidentalness fit together like a hand and glove

Thanks for the detailed reply man, much appreciated.

Quick question: I actually prefer the look and extra buttons on the One. Anything I should know about the One that maybe I’m missing as at the moment if I bought any MPC it would probably.be that one.

A battery. The Live has one. Your Deluge has one. The One does not.

1 Like

But you can add ins/outs via compatible interfaces, mixers (Tascam Model 12) with OS 2.10.

1 Like

Overall I prefer the Live to the One. Mainly for the connectivity. But I did prefer the smaller pads on the One, as I did with the Force. *maybe look at the Force too.

Splice samples via Wi-Fi is handy too, if that’s of any interest to you.

The headphones output on my One was bad. It wasn’t broken but it felt like the headphone could pop out easily. They didn’t, but a few people mentioned the same concern.

Couple of MPC questions:

Can you turn looped waveforms into instruments? Does it do that willingly or do you have to do workarounds to make it operate this way?

Can you modulate start/end/loop points of a sample?

Yes and yes.

Yes but not with the finesse/ease of Elektron.

MPC One is great for production, I highly recommend you try the free MPC Beats which is virtually exactly the same as the MPC One except for the hardware, but you can easily map a midi controller to the knobs/pads. If you like the software you will like the hardware.

Personally I find the MPC fine for simple/more traditional stuff but not as fluid as other gear for some things.

No answers to your latest question but for me this workflow comparison opened my eyes. My conclusion / insight: I don’t want a MPC: MPC Live 2 vs Maschine + | The Ultimate Comparison - YouTube
“Maschine or not?” is a quite different question and I don’t want to raise this topic in this Digitakt thread.

This was what convinced me to avoid MPCs.

I think this is no longer a Digitakt thread.

1 Like

Thanks for the perspective, I shall watch that later. An initial question though, given you revealed your own preference: the Machine+ is double the price of the MPC One. Is the user experience so much better on the M+?

Side note: I appreciate the concern that the course of discussion has deviated somewhat from a pure Digitakt enqujry. Whilst I would argue it still is, because the Digitakt remains the box I desire, therefore the subsequent comparisons put that choice within the context of available options. That said, if a moderator wishes to move this to a more general area of discussion I would understand.

Ah, I misunderstood, I thought the auto-normalizing and lack of slicing by transients had ruled it out.

Having read through the thread, I don’t think you want a Digitakt.

I Love my Digitakt, for three years I made dawless music with only Digitakt, anybody who gripes about no song mode is missing the point of the Digitakt, it’s a beautiful creative instrument and not a by the numbers drum machine single shot thing. Last year I added Digitone to my setup and I continue to make in the box(out of box?) musics with no computer, just these two boxes.

But It does not sound like this is what you would like to do, so despite I usually emphatically shout YES! Buy A Digitakt!, in this case I say no, sorry I do not think you would like it. I think Maschine might be the way forward for your requirements, if not the MPC Live. However if no hardware is around to suit your needs, perhaps you should deep dive into the world of software samplers, there must be out there the thing you really need!

Good Luck in your Quest!

1 Like

You are welcome!
I wouldn’t dare to say that the user experience with M+ is so much better to justify the price difference because I’ve never used a MPC. However after watching the video I recognized why I feel (!) that M+ / MK3 workflow is quite intuitive for me.
On the other hand I like Elektron’s easy understandable workflow, sequencer and the handling of Digitakt as well. So the question was not OR but WHEN which device. GAS… :wink:
And while Digitakt seems to have a quite mature firmware after ~ 4 to 5 years IMO M+ firmware is only ~ 1 year “young” with room for improvement. Elektron’s Overbridge is a further topic that has no equivalent in Maschine universe.
Not to forget that Native Instruments eco system comprises Maschine HW, Maschine “DAW” and powerful but not cheap Komplete 13, Expansions etc.
So it’s not easy to compare Elektron and Native Instruments eco systems.

EDIT: Independent from the platform one can make great or bad = boring music with Maschine, MPC, Elektron or whatever. It’s similar to the question “which camera?”: The photographer takes the picture, not the camera.

not even close

also, I agree with most of what Darenager said except that imo using the hardware doesn’t feel like using the software to me, I can’t stand the software and don’t have it installed on my computer anymore, but I love the hardware… so you’d have to see how it feels for you.

but… I can’t iterate enough how dope/Lit depending on your age the Digitakt is… in my setup the digitakt and mpc are side by side and virtually one instrument at this point.