Hi all, I’ve had a Digitakt for about a year and recently grabbed an analog rytm. My thinking was that I’d be able to make better drum sounds and be more hands on with my drums than in the Digitakt. (Digitakt is great but I don’t like the ergonomics of it as much as the Rytm)
Anyways I’ve had the Rytm for about 4 days so far and while I love the ergonomics (and added features like performance and scenes) The analog sounds (especially the kick) just don’t do it for me. I’ve since moved to mainly using sampled based sounds on the rytm.
While it feels a little strange to pay so much for essentially a super digitakt I’m mostly ok with it.
However after looking around on the web it seems that Analog Rytm’s tend to have a bit of quality control and reliability issues. I’ve definitely had my rytm lock up on my once or twice and have had it take a surprisingly long time loading or selecting samples sometimes.
I’m planning on selling my Digitakt but I’m wondering if I’m accidentally paying money for a partial downgrade.
If the analog sounds aren’t doing it for you I don’t see any reason to keep it over the DT. Otherwise that’s like an extra heap of cash just for ergonomics.
Don’t forget the Rytm has kits!
which is much better for multiple patterns using same sounds.
This is better for mixing a track… also has performance macros and scenes…
Trig mutes, and slides and accents are great too
The slow down selection of samples is probably because of overbridge it was greatly improved last update I contacted support about this. It happens when USB is connected even if not using overbridge I’ve never had mine lock up only had issues selecting samples…
I sold my digitakt then re bought it because missed the control all and extra tracks…
It is essentially a super digitakt so it is similar. you pay a lot extra for the analog engines and pads and the extras maybe a bit much in comparison tbh
I would give it a bit more time to decide if you can… I’m keeping both
I say keep both. Another way to look at them is for different sound depending on your vibe when making music. The Rytm has its Analog warm tone that gives new life to samples, along with the awesome dual vco synth engine. The Digitakt has the crisp, pristine digital hi-fi sound when you need it. Also, of course you can use them together for 20 tracks total (16 sounds at once). Just my opinion, and why I think having both gives you more variety and different tones in sound.
I own (and love) both the DT and the ARMKII. They are different flavors, just like recording through an API or SSL desk vs a Neve. I think the DT sounds amazing for big, fat, thick and juicy (clean) sounds. The overdrive and filter go from subtle and smooth to big and beefy. On the other hand, the ARMKII’s effects and distortion are quite heavy handed. They can really break up the sound and can get super dirty quick (best to use sparingly). The ARMKII’s analog bass sounds will shake the room. If they were genres the DT would be like super fat 70s disco / 80s R&B… the ARMKII would be like gritty Trip Hop, Boom Bap or Drum and Bass.
P.S. - I use the “Bass or Low tom” instead of the “BD” for kicks (try it). Just take your time…you have two massively great sounding weapons of audio production.
You just got it?..im still getting my head arround it and learning new stuff…Takes a while to edit performances and scenes into kits…but once you make the effort and see the potential you start to see the AR is quite a layered beast…and the DT is limited compared.
Try mixing in just a small amount of the analogue engine with real samples, and dont forget to resample and layer sounds…it takes a while to get your head arround the analog engines, for a while i did just leave tracks as just a sample or just the analog voice not thinking bigger, it’s when you think of the sound in mixed layers of the two combined you will feel and hear the limits of the DT.
I started with about 10 samples of kick drums that are resamples of real kicks run through the high pass filter, so it’s just beater smack from a real drum kit, blended with the boom of the analogue kick mixed in it’s heaven…and having 2 “engines” on every voice it’s infinitely more tweakable…you can plock per step whether the sample, analog engine or both trigger, randomise that, assign that to scenes…have performances set that just increase the decay of only the analog voices, reverse just the sample…bit reduce just the sample while the analog stays clean…blah blah blah…thats just the kick! Layering the dual vco analog voice with nasty digital single cycle waveforms will give you a mean monosynth bass…I could go on
I would say it’s going to take a while to stop thinking about the ARMKII like it’s a DT…and start to push into the depth of what sets it apart…so until then don’t feel remorseful, you have the best drum machine on the planet…and a cool little sampler to play along with it, that you can fill with anything other than drum sounds.
This seemed as good a place to drop the question as any- if i dig my rytm mki, should i upgrade to the mkii? Anyone managed to convince a fellow owner to swap your mki for a mkii + cash?
I don’t need the sampling-in necessarily or display upgrade, mostly curious about the analog sound. I assume the saved programs will import without difficulty?
If you’re not after the sampling capabilities, there’s little reason to spend $$$ on going from MK1 to MK2. The analog sound engines are 100% the same. There are some useful usability tweaks. Of course if money is no concern at all and/or you’re obsessive about always having the leatest and greatest, some of the new features, extra buttons, etc. are nice to have.
EDIT: there is one important thing I missed previously. While sampling may not be a big deal, internal resampling is really handy to enhance the sonic palette of the AR and something that takes a bit of effort (as in I won’t bother) to replicate with the MK1.
I’ve been thinking of upgrading my mkl to the mkll for a while. Ergonomics look amazing and the built in resampling could really take the box to a whole new level of awesomeness. RYTM is my second favorite Elektron box, great desert island kit.
The Analog engines are very versatile but I think they take some time before you get to know each of the engines.
Gain staging also has a huge effect on the sound of the engines. Try turning them down a bit and turning the volume up on your mixer. They can sound really aggressive and distorted easily. But once you learn them they can sound very smooth, clean(ish), and dynamic too.
