Hey !
A little feedback after using DNII for nearly a year (bought it in January 2025). Before that I only used one or two OG DN to produce and play live my music.
Positive : more tracks, more voices, more polyphony, more machines. DNII really acts like a standalone groovebox. Since I got it, I never thinked a single time to buy an other synth. FM Drum is great ! 3 OP FM but mixed with wavetables and a wavefolder. The way the ratios are managed are different from the FM Tone (OG DN engine) and allow different stuff. Wavetone is very nice, a lot of great sounds, very different from the FM ones to get there. And Swarmer, while being very simple and limited, sounds so good.
Negative : DNII made me lazy ! OG DN is a very powerful synth, but not straightforward. You have to be clever to program sounds that don’t sound like classic FM. But it’s very rewarding and you have to think outside of the box to get the best of it. On DNII, I spend less time on sound design, because the 4 machines are straightforward paths to specific sounds. I think my sounds are now more efficients (from a production perspective) but also more classics, less crazy. And to be honest, I use FM drums 70% of the time for all type of sounds. I also use a lot Swarmer (because I just love the way it sounds, so characteristic) and Wavetone. But I barely touch to FM Tone anymore, the workflow of DNII doesn’t allow to quick and soft programming of this engine. Sometimes I check all the preset sounds I made on OG DN and I’m very surprised by the sounds I achieved with it (very complex, sometimes glitchy, sometimes organic, sometimes both, futuristic, dreamy, etc…). My sounds on DNII are not worst than the OG DN ones but they are different. If I had the room for it, picking an OG DN just to sound design the FMtone patchs on it wouldn’t be a mad decision. Sometimes I imagine an alternate version of the DNII with only one engine but far more open (something like an Hydrasynth) but I’m not sure it would have been better.
So, to be clear. I LOVE DNII but it doesn’t lead to the same paths than OG DN, while DTII is “just” a super DT with a very similar workflow and conception.
From my opinion DN1 is useful if you use the 4 midi part. They come to complete the only 4 original tracks to compose a pattern with Enough sound elements. It’s true that many people use only 4 tracks with the OG but maybe it’s depends from what kind of music do you play…
But I’m a big fan of dual setups (I currently use 2 BlastBeats) because I find it better to focus on one workflow, and double the possibilities by using 2 machines you feel equally comfortable with.
So I think I would just use 2 OG DN’s. You can find them for really cheap right now. And also, this would give me the option to treat each independently with external effects.
Yes, that’s a good point. More focused workflow, I miss the dedicated track buttons on DNII. Two independant ctrl all groups (and far more predictable ctrl all than DNII). Two independant chorus, delays and reverb. And each DN can have a midi track which acts like a FX track for the other DN. But if you want to make clubby tunes that require a lot of drums and variations, this setup will be pretty limited.
Got the Digitone II, but there’s no way I’m selling my original Digitone — I’m way too attached to it. Partly because of all the presets and sound packs I made on it, but mostly ‘cause I’ll never get tired of those four little colored buttons. They just make it feel kinda vintage next to its big, shiny new sibling
This is my experience of the DN2 too. I’ve realised that I prefer more focussed instruments and something like the DN2 gives me option paralysis. It’s one of the reasons I can’t get along with modern MPCs either.
I thought I would enjoy having drums, FM, and subtractive synthesis all in the same box but it hasn’t worked out that way. I still prefer samples and/or TR-style synthesis of drums, and I have a number of more versatile and (subjectively) better sounding subtractive synths. That just leaves the FM side of things… which the OG DN gave me in a more focussed and ergonomic form.
The only things I’d really miss are the sequencer improvements. Not so much the extra 64 steps but the way polyphonic notes are handled. I wish they’d find a way to port that back to the OG (individual note offsets, lengths and velocities).
Thinking of going to a pairing of OG DN and DT2, with the 4 MIDI tracks of the DN sequencing the modular and becoming sample fodder for the DT2.
I have been revisiting some of my last DN1 recordings lately and I really liked what I did there sonically.
So: While there’s promising midi controllers upcoming and I still want a nice and simple chord companion for my A4 the idea came to my mind why not give the good old DN1 a chance and use it for both duties. Is using the midi channels of the DN sequencer for CCing the A4 a proven, robust and useful setup? At the current 2nd hand prices it would be hard to beat in this case if you aim for a nice and most minimalistic setup, wouldn’t it?
Not really, the A4 has so much built in modulation already and has performance macros. I couldn’t really find a reason to want to midi control with CCs when the device is directly in front of me anyway. I do find it useful to midi control the performance macro knobs when I am sitting away from my AK, but that doesn’t sound like it fits your use case.
DT1 is great as a poly accompaniment to A4 though.
The reason why I’m thinking about a dedicated controller is mainly because A4s performance macros always affect whole tracks including locked sounds. When you think about changing the amp volume of the track’s sound while leaving locked sounds untouched this is impossible. I was hoping to do this with any kind of extra controller, though. Am I wrong here?
All the midi CCs allow you to do is alter a parameter you can already alter by hand on the synth, so I don’t see how you could set up an external controller to do anything other than what the device itself does, unfortunately.
Well… the amp volume, to stay with that example, can be altered manually without affecting locked sounds. The performance macros on the other hand, alter any selected value as a last layer (don’t find a better description) on top of everything. (including locked sounds)
