Hi all!
I have a DT and A4, but I wanted an All in one box and Syntakt seems to be the perfect fit to me.
I was just about buying a new Syntakt but now with the 1.70 I have big doubts.
How they now compare without taking in care the price?
Are the 12 voices and the digital machines something to miss in an 1,70 AR?
Happy to hear from you. Have a nice day and sorry for my english.
Yes. And the FX block. And the ability to send Ext. In. through the FX. And itās smaller.
But the Rytm gives you Kits, sampling, lots more sequencer options, a compressor, pads, performances, scenes.
Iāve got both. I use them in different set-ups. I tend to make different music with them. Iād sell the Syntakt before the Rytm if I had to sell.
Iād say that it depends on what kind of music you want to make.
Syntakt has more melodic synth sounds (sy tone, bits, chord, toy) so if you work a lot with melodies then Iād go for the Syntakt. AR can play samples so it has obviously a much broader sound palette and is maybe better suited for percussive music (cfr bongos, congas, etc).
AR has also a master distortion, compressor, separate outs and performance mode, so if youāre playing live and want to limit your equipment AR might be the better choice.
Worth keeping in mind that some of the 1.70 rytm updates will probably make it over to the Syntakt soon
I prefer the sound of the Rytm and the fact that you can layer sample but I kept the syntakt. Smaller footprint, easier to operate, midi/cc sequencing, digital machines, itās just more fun. It really depends on your needs and preferences. In a studio environment Rytm is better, for a portable/focused setup syntakt.
Thanks for the answers. It is not an easy decision.
I asked myself the same questions some time ago. But I keep thinking that the combo DT + ST is a better choice (for me).
The Rytm canāt compete with the Digitakt as a "sampler/sample player and the Digitakt also owns a compressor.
When it comes to sound design, the Syntakt is also a better choice.
Since the āSong Modeā has been made avaiable for the Digiās, the missing āperformanceā feature is the biggest the only remaining issue for me. It also depends if you want to play with pads or not.
I also think (or hope 
) that the Syntakt will benefit from some parts of this update in a few months.
Donāt take me wrong, The Rytm is an amazing machine and if youāre focused on the ālive performanceā side, itās is a real killer.
Biggest missing item from Syntakt is Chord, imo
As always with these questions whether to get a digi or one of the flagships, my answer is: it mostly depends on the workflow you prefer and how deep you want to go.
The digis are better for getting ideas and happy accidents fast. The flagships are better if you know exactly what you want to do, then prepare and execute that with precision.
Syntakt, like all digis, is more streamlined and immediate, thus a bit easier to learn and operate. Itās designed for fast results and quick jamming. One of many examples where that shows is that it doesnāt use kits. This means you can jam out an interesting pattern, copy it, mess with tracks and parameters or control all, copy that to another pattern and mess further etc.
On Rytm, you would have to save the kit as a new kit before messing with the pattern, otherwise you lose your original sounds. That takes the flow out of jamming, but comes in handy for when you are preparing a live show or want to record a track/pattern, where you constantly change the same kit over time. You can also set up performance macros so that a chosen set of parameters change by a pre-defined amount when you turn the quick performance knob or press down a performance pad. Syntakt wonāt give you such precise control and preparation tools across parameters found in different pages.
I think thatās the fundamental difference between the digis and the flagships that should decide which camp youāre in, depending on your use case. Both have lots of potential to grow into, but the flagships go deeper, at the cost of a bit less immediacy. With the new OS, Rytm can do even more things that could at the same time also be a bit overwhelming.
Other obvious factors to help deciding: Syntakt has two LFOs, 12 tracks without choke groups, FM sounds. Rytm has samples, analog filters/compression on these, pads. Syntakt is smaller but has more funct+XY combos, Rytm is bigger but has a bit more buttons, meaning less funct+XY combos.
Edit: Since we have these topics āshould I get digi XY or flagship XYā constantly with the same answers, users could maybe search these before opening a new topic and see if thereās any open questions left. This question could have been posted in an existing topic comparing Syntakt and Rytm, asking about what has changed after 1.70.
lol, in my opinion the rytm is a lot more fun and the best live-machine in elektrons line up with the pads / scenes / performance macros, while i find the digis only useful in the studio because they have none of the above, no dedicated fill-button etc.
the main advantage the syntakt has for me is that goddamn swarm-machine, itās really unique.
I have Ryrm MK2 and I had Syntakt
Syntakt has more machines and ctrl all functionalities
The advantage or the AR for me are:
edit.
Thanks a lot for the reply. I checked if there was a similar thread but I canĀ“t find something like Syntakt VS AR. Sorry if I bothered someone.
Today a few ads got listed locally: āSyntakt + Digitakt exchange with Rytm onlyā and āSelling DT/ST to buy Rytmā
The new OS appears to be popular
Good thing I managed to score a black MK2 for 900 recently.
The Rytm was already worth it before the update tbh. I would say, go for the Rytm
Doesnāt seem to be as many around as OT vs. DT, but I found this for example:
The fairer comparison would be ST+DT vs Rytm mk2ā¦ that would put the ST+DT combo at a slightly higher price than the Rytm, but a better āvsā gauge, because neither the ST or DT come close to the power of the Rytm on their own.
Itās the extra performance aspects of the Rytm that make it so special, IMOā¦ the Perfs, the Scenes, Trig Mutes, Slides, Pad Mutes, etcā¦ these are the main differenceā¦ and thatās really before you get to the new features v1.70 has introduced.
The Syntakt is definitely the colder sounding of the two too (colder=good btw).
There is a small part of me that would LOVE the Rytm to be a proper 12 track machine (like the Syntakt) though, instead of the 9+3 approach with specific machines to specific tracks.
(Also, we all know the only real answer is to have bothā¦ )
I think the differences have been huge from the start. Yes they share the analog part, but thatās really it.
Rytm to me is more of a powerhouse drum sculpting tool. Layer, resample, etc. Thatās what really sets it apart from the Syntakt.
I guess the differences also come down to how you use both. If you use Rytm without samples and donāt use resample I think the overlap is definitely there.
Rytm is like having a Digitone and Syntakt in one minus the digital engines.
EDIT, I mean digitakt, not Digitone.
The answer is always the same 
you need both! And an OT! Best of all Worlds in three Machines. As much as I would love to see the best of those three put into one mighty package I think this is it. As far ad rythmic dutys go 
Thatās a bit misleading imo as Digitone doesnāt have sampling and is based on FM character with deep sound design possibilities, polyphony, an arp and flexible voice allocation. Rytm has none of that, Syntakt only the (limited) FM engine. ST and DT in one is more accurate Iād say, like @CCMP suggests.
The update makes the Rytm once again more interesting to me, but I canāt live without an 2nd LFO - the sound sculpting possibilities of the analog Rytm machines on the Syntakt are incredible thanks to that.
Of course itās possible to have additional control over the RYTM via the Digitakt and a 2nd LFO that way ā¦