So I love my takt - and the rytm seems to be sooo awesome. What do you loose when you move from the takt to the rytm? Apart from the nice screen, it seems like all the feature of the takt is on the rytm or am I missing something?
8 midi tracks with cc/nrpn out. etc.
The Rytm does have midi out, but it is very basic, so no sound- or p-locking on the midi channels.
I own an AR Mk1. Started to control my Summit with it but wanted to be able to control the Summit with more of the advanced Elektron sequencing features. So I bought a Digitone to gain that.
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The workflow changes. Thatâs a really big thing. If youâre not a fan of the synth engines, itâs a hurdle to getting to where you want to be.
As a default, all the synths volumes are up, all the sample volumes are down. If you prefer working with samples and running them through the filters- then you will have added another hurdle to your flow without some workaround system.
AR from my experience was a great box, I just really didnât dig the synth engines- as a result the entirety of the times Iâve owned the mk1 it was always on the chopping block
Edit:
I LOVED the Digitakt. I still say it was the best thing Elektron did(excluding possibly the MD(UW)) the analog Rytm works perfectly as a standalone box- despite my feelings towards it a couple of my favorite tracks were made exclusively on it. But satisfaction, for me, was rare on it. The synth engines on it were usable, but not ideal. Too heavy sounding
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I was wondering about these synth engine⌠and how they would improve or not the workflow⌠they seems like a weak take on synthesis - as it seems so limited that might has well use a sample with a lot of tweaking possibilities, like I use on the dt and I mean compared to a real synth engine like my mopho. I have to say that Iâve been using the dt a lot like a synth and drone as well as using the midi extensively to control a typhonâŚ
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Granular sample start/length capabilities.
Rytm has less resolution there and uses âendâ parameter in place of âlengthâ
Good news is this makes working with chains easier, and if you take advantage of that, youâll get far more sample âhitsâ out of your 128 sample slots in a single project.
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Iâm coming from a MDUW perspective-which might pollute my take on the engines. The parameters on that were so wild that you could wildly affect the percussive sound being generated. I love to explore rather than hitting a general target for the percussion. Wild > controlled.
So I was very disappointed as certain engines, when I had it, offered only subtle alterations to the engine rather than extending from the west to the East like the MD. If you like the sound of what youâve heard of the AR youâll probably dig it. If you like the idea of the capabilities of these engines, then you might be disappointed.
I found the synth engines generally useless- their flavor I couldnât gel with and they werenât as dynamic as I was used to.
You have to trust your ears for whether itâs a sound you like vs what you can imagine it to be.
Thatâs at least my experience with it
Edit; the performance macros were super cool when I had the gusto to program them
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Thanks thatâs an awesome point of view. I didnât quite like the sound I heard from the AR but I though that since they are synth engine they can be endlessly tweaked (like a normal analog synth), so this definitely give me a good idea of that the AR is not.
Shoot thatâs another big blow as I love the granular exploration on the DTâŚ
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Perhaps I wasnât imaginative enough with it⌠but the synth engine isnât that deep with it. You run that risk with any drum synth. Itâs always a precise selection of which parameters to offer for the intended sound. Otherwise youâd go full tempest which many people were upset that the parameters werenât limited enough(others rejoiced that it was basically a 6-part full synth)
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I also thinked to upgrade my DT to the ARMKII but I work more with sample and I think AR is not an upgraded DT but a different beast for a different type sound. The analog synth part is net very interesting to me and I will keep my 1200⏠and wait the next elektron product. Still rocking the DT with overbridge !
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Iâd imagine nothing less from Dave Smith 
Iâd love to try the tempest some days⌠seems pretty quirky yet powerful.
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To me the main reason not to try the rytm is the fact that the resolution for sample start is only 128 steps, which means its not possible to record a long sample and âchopâ it precisely using sample start parameter locks (which the dt just got a lot better in with the latest trig+yes update).
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Digitakt , with its ctrl all is sometimes interesting, but not always, so i couldnât repeat the good staff often enough to call it performance. It is for me one trick pony, i made an album with it, but i have no interest in repeating all that again. . Also, the filter isnât great sounding one. Midi tracks have one lfo and p-locks, but entering notes without external keyboard is not fun, so midi sequencer is fun, but without any kind of dedicated little keyboard a4 style, is not so much fun. Form factor is also strange one, little tine metal box with two rows of 8⌠i dont now, didnât like it much, feels strange and crippled. Screen is nice, love the yellow 
compressor was useful but (sometimes) piercing. Reverb and delay great.
From all of that above i came to conclusion i better buy rytm, Big proper UI, analog filters, sampler, analog drum synth engines, analog distortion, compressor, pads, with individual outputs ( never had drum machine with ind. outputs, so happy finally i will have that!! ), scenes, jump mode (i have a4, which has more advanced sequencer than the DT, so i was crippling it with DT ) , and what not.
All that said, i have my DT on sell right now 
You would also loose some space, as AR is bigger ^^
And the 1 Pattern â 1 Kit enforcement, that a friend of mine finds amazing on his DT, while I find it largely more convenient to be able to share kits among patterns.
In the other hand AR has analog filters + distorsion + compression, and these make IMO the largest difference with DT, even on mere samples.
And the Song mode is very important for some. I personally have a thing for the Direct jump.
If you donât like AR engines alone, think of it as a bonus for your samples, a way to make them better!
Before ruling the Rytm out, try one if you can!
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Yeah I live far from an urban center so I canât rent (or even touch) and AR so my only option is to buy and sell gear to try things out, which is not too bad on the <1k price tag but for the 2k price tag it makes it more challenging. Argh Elektron why do you make it so hard to choose from one device to the other!
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You can also get a used mk1, and resell.
Like this one that went for 500$ !!
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Yes, crazy priced!
if OP is not aware of it, AR mk1 can NOT sample on its own at all, just so you knowâŚ
I personally love my ar, tried a DT briefly, but it gave me nothing new and I returned itâŚ
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Indeed, worth mentioning it.
And you canât have all tracks in OB, unless mk2.
But soundwise itâs the same as mk2, so a good idea to check if itâs fine or not
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I own a AR MK2 and I thought several times to sell It for a DT/OT
For me the reasons to own a AR Mk2 are:
Analog filters
Sampling like Digitakt
Scene and performance mode
Kit and Song mode
Analog distortion
Individual Analog outs
Weak points
Sound engine is very ugly - I almost never use it
Pads are useful only for mute, trigger scene or performance but not great for playing sound
Analog compressor is not great
Delay and Reverb are mediocre.
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