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I think we might as well make it official that Rohan Hill is a genius. No point in competition trying to figure out how Synthstromās doing stuff, cause if you donāt have a Rohan around, you canāt keep up anyway.
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Iāve been a smitten Dellie owner for over a month now so figured Iād say hello here 
Hereās my āreviewā
Rose: composition ~ improv ~ portability
Recording a jam into the sequencer is seamless and editing it is a joy. Love the screenless, tactile workflow. All-in-one package that feels great in your hands. Itās refreshing to be able to take it to a different room/out to the park/backyard, etc. to sketch a new song. And not just sketch a song - I love jamming down the foundations of a new idea and then context switching to another song where Iām tweaking the arrangement. The arranger is very powerful, I appreciate that I can automate parameters on such a long scale.
Thorn: My biggest gripe with it is that thereās no support for sustain pedals for the internal synths. Also you canāt use the mod wheel as a modulation source with attenuation. Makes the synth engine feel a little half-baked when using an external controller. Missing the sample mangling abilities of the Octatrack ā¦ but I knew what I was getting into there.
Bud: As noted above, the synth engine is going to get some solid updates. Besides wavetables, Iām hopeful about the FM updates and some tweaks to the envelopes. Looking at pairing this with just an analog synth and letting the Dellie perform the rest of synth duties. Would love to see some way to view automation of parameters on the grid.
Extra bonus candy: That QWERTY keyboard and the fact that everything is a XML file. I gel with the song-section-arrangement structure way more than I ever did on an Elektron device. I guess I am looking for somewhat of a āDAW-likeā experience in hardware. And boy did I find it 
I still have lots to learn about this beast and Iām quite excited to continue making music with it
EDIT: Want to thank @circuitghost for his reviews of the Dellie 
specifically your comparison to the Octatrack made me realize what I really wanted out of a groove box/sequencer
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I know, I know ā¦need to get my act together .
TBH, I think Iāve figured out that the Dellie does everything that Iāve (currently) got ambitions to do with music:
- Live looping audio instruments (external synths, bass guitar)
- Midi sequencing external gear via live record (not so much a fan of step sequencing tonal/melodic instruments)
- Natural drum sounds via samples
- Analog Synth/drum sounds
- Reverb/Delay built in
- whatās usually called āsong modeā (which seems to be āarranger modeā in dellie terms)
- organic sounds via FM
The only thing holding me up is Iām new to this whole area of sequencing ā¦ dipped my toe into the water with a Model Cycles 3 months ago and havenāt even gone deep with that as yet.
Prior to the M:C my only experience with automated music was a loop pedal and a drums pedal to go with my bass. A 800Ā£ investment in a dedicated hardware DAW is a big step.
EDIT: Oops, I tell a lie. I have dabbled in LoopyHD and Garageband on the iPad. Not the same a sequencing though.
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Sounds like youāve already made your mind up. Iāll offer my 2 cents anyways 
- Live looping audio instruments (external synths, bass guitar)
No limit on loop time! Iām still getting the workflow down, planning to eventually get their pedal to assist.
- Midi sequencing external gear via live record (not so much a fan of step sequencing tonal/melodic instruments)
I use the Dellie for this all the time and it excels! Itās very natural to go in and edit any missed notes (not saying you miss notes 
) or to add variation to your sequence. Often Iāll record a long improv jam and then when I go to arrange it, Iāll change the sequence slightly (especially near transitions)
- Natural drum sounds via samples
Got those. Also easy to map a controller to get velocity sensitivity.
- Analog Synth/drum sounds
I guess it would provide this. You may need to sample the drum sounds (although the Boards of Deluge pack 4 had some drum sounds). The Dellie is not known for being a great analog synth emulator but the synth engine does go pretty deep and gets frequent updates.
- Reverb/Delay built in
Some caveats: the reverb is send only (so only one reverb channel per song) and is not the greatest. I like the delay but itās not straightforward to get something like dotted eights.
- whatās usually called āsong modeā (which seems to be āarranger modeā in dellie terms)
Arranger mode is the bees knees. I use it more than song mode honestly. Automate parameters on a song level scale.
- organic sounds via FM
It definitely has FM. Donāt know how organic the sounds get but havenāt dived into that much. One thing to mention is that you can layer a multisampled instrument with an VA synth engine oscillator (canāt use FM though).
IMO, the Dellie would be a great introduction to hardware sequencing. It has a great combination of āwhat you play is what you getā with the ability to tweak (plocks, move notes either in rhythmic axis or transpose, add ratchets, etc.). As mentioned in the other thread, itās very visual (compare having all drum tracks on a grid in front of you to the OT/DT paging through different tracks)
Last thing Iāll say - it holds itās resale value well! Happy to answer any questions you may have
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Youāre more than welcome, mate
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Iām thinking whatās built in (as it stands, mostly FM) will get most of what I want, and Iām left the option of sequencing something external. I probably have an idiosyncratic definition of āorganicā anyway ā¦ I just favour sounds that are well away from overtly synthetic ā¦ like sawtooth with a highly resonant filter sweep. So thereās a good chance Iāll get a lot of what I want out of simple VA (favouring Triangle and Square over Saw).
Picked up a Deluge today at a very reasonable price. Not quite sure what to make of it now that itās arrived 
I knew there would be learning curve though and want to give myself a few weeks just learning it. At the price I paid I wonāt lose much if anything if I decide it isnāt for me.
Ah, we agree here 
I think the Dellieās synth engine will take you pretty far then.
Another thing I thought of - I prefer the isomorphic keyboard to the 1-2 octave chromatic keyboards that most groove boxes come equipped with.
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If thereās anything bad to say about the Deluge, itās perhaps that the synth engine lacks some body, even for a VA. Itās very good at thin, sweeping stuff, VHS kind of dust and dirt, pads and soft basses. But it doesnāt have that default rich character, which on the other hand, isnāt necessarily a bad thing. Itās great for layering and stuff.
The FX get slammed some for not getting the job done, but if you look at them as ways to enhance and polish a mix, theyāre great. Typical fx heavy stuff such as just one tone in an ambient cathedral, thatās not the Deluge. But just to add reverb to give some extra room to the mix, and delay to expand the sound, for that, itās excellent.
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Yes, I may get some advantage out of that, coming from bass/guitar ā¦ though Iāve surprised myself how much Iāve adapted to the traditional piano keyboard.
I just bought a Deluge after a few months of deliberation. The $100 price increase on the first of next month was the kick over the cliff I needed. Iām excited to see what I can manage to put together with this thing. The last year has been mostly consumed with time spent with Model:Cycles for DAWless and Bitwig in the DAW. I really like being able to be away from my PC (I work in software and from home, so more hours at my desk is no bueno), but Iāve started to feel the boundaries of the M:C more and more for actually producing complete tracks rather than just snippets and loops. Things like not having global filters, proper song mode, and lack of polyphony have started to become frustrations rather than creative limitations.
Iāve watched the loopop overview of the 3.0 firmware a couple times, but do folks have other resources I should try to watch before it arrives to get as much learning out of the way in advance?
Imho just relax. You learn the most while you actually using it.
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Ive not bought any non Elektron hardware in 2-3 years now and the Delugeās arrival today was a real harsh reminder of how lazy I have become. Within about 10 minutes I was thinking āwhat have I done?!ā but, went for a cycle and had some dinner and sat down with these videos:
Very well put together. Itās proper hand holding through some serious basics but I figured Iād watch these then tomorrow work through Loopopās 3.0 tutorial before loading in some samples and taking things for a serious spin.
The 3 āfor beginnersā videos though really helped with some of the basics and essential key combos and approaches. It doesnāt go near the synth engine and with it based on 2.1 firmware is missing all the fun goodness of the recent firmware bump but worth working through in my opinion.
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lol fair point - maybe best not to geek out too much too early 
Nice - Iāll check these out for sure. With Bitwig I use a script for launchpad controller support that definitely has some similarities to the way Deluge handles sequencing, so Iām hopeful thatāll make the transition a little easier, and Iām pretty familiar with the ā4thsā in-key chord layout from Launchpad as well. The whole āpad-grid-as-mod-matrixā part is what initimidates me the most right now!
Looking forward to hearing what you make with yours!
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I think the learning curve is reasonable. Itās pretty straight forward to make music ā¦ as you encounter things you want to know, look them up. The official manual (by Synthdawg) is pretty awesome; I also like the old manual for a little bit easier browsing:
@circuitghost great perspective on the synth engine and FX. I concur looking forward to make some ādust and dirtā patches 
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Donāt suppose anyone can explain this oneā¦
I load a Sample From Mars folder onto SD and do the load all from the Deluge. I can audition all 16 samples but canāt sequence maybe 4 or 5 of them. The rest can all be sequenced but for some reason a handful cannot!
It may be some odd setting Iām missing. I had to factory reset as couldnāt work out how to turn the white play head back on the chap I bought it from mustāve turned it off!
Sounds like a bug, but maybe, as a workaround, take a look and see if its related to file names of the samples ?
(Speaking as a lurker, not a deluge-owner)
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