I’ve had the Polyend reg tracker and an M8.
Interesting I built muscle memory around using the Polyend and the pads and performance buttons etc did add live and expression into it all. The M8 on the other hand felt like awkward programming with not much way to play anything into it. Depending on your approach, bare that in mind with the mini.
Btw, Elektron sequencers are essentially hardware trackers too, but just so good having direct physical buttons to steps
Yeah it definitely has its sonical comfort zone and you need to pick the instrument that matches the sound you’re after. Just like you wouldn’t replace an electric guitar with a piano in a rock band. 
I find the Syntakt to sound good in many different genres, but it definitely has a techno proclivity.
That certainly explains it, and might also explain your anxiety and apprehension of gear full studios.
Sounds like it’s time to sell it for more than one reason!
For me it’s a creativity and expression thing. The Syntakt can take me to completely new places that I would never have thought of in the DAW. You hold Track and twist a knob and you can transform a song idea into something completely different. Those moments of “what the hell just happened?” don’t happen nearly as often in the DAW for me.
The other thing is being more physically and mentally connected to the process by playing with a real instrument. It just does something, like it makes me use my ears more intensively. Then there’s also the aspect of performing the music which I find rewarding. Uploading a jam on YouTube rather than just keeping your music to yourself - that feels more natural when doing it using an instrument.
Yeah, my dream device would be a portable Digitakt with stereo sampling and a built-in mic. The Polyend Tracker Mini is the closest thing to that.
For productivity I go ITB, either fully or recording in hardware jams to finish. It gives every option I need for every stage
I got the Octatrack so I can play my tracks live. Once complete bounce as stems or loops and put in the octa.
Sp404 though I bought for sampling and to use as fx box I’m also interested in DJ mode to make beat tapes.
Currently syntakt and sp are doing what I got octa for. Put track parts into sp, sequence with syntakt and add drums and sounds with syntakt then jam live
So I guess for productivity I’m itb but hardware helps feed sounds into those productions then at the end provide a way to play them live
Exactly.
Any large studio can be downsized with a little restraint. After a studio grows beyond a certain point, there is zero need to turn on every piece of gear for each song or project. However, I would advise investing in equipment that allows the various pieces of gear to be connected and ready to go (mixer, patch bays, MIDI interfaces, power conditioners, etc.)
This post made me realize something: as I “completed” my setup over the last few years, my productivity has gone way down—to the point where I’ve barely made anything at all in 2023.
So I just went downstairs, unplugged everything from the RK-006 MIDI hub, and brought the Model:Samples up to plug in next to my living room chair. That’s how I was the most productive before, and I’m sure it will work again.
Makes much sense, but you can escape from this trap and if you like the sounds of the Syntakt - here we go 
Hoping not to make an obvious and redundant suggestion …
On an Elektron sequencer we can go from Techno to Groovy with no problem. It’s only a question of using the p-locks and the microtiming facililties in a Non-Techno like style … if this makes sense to you.
As an example, which goes for many step sequencers, I created a simple traditional Irish Jig-like tune on 6/8 beat on a Metron/Voltera combi (these are Eurorack modules, allow Elektron-like p-locks, and are quite on the Techno side of gear). My audience said, yep, that invites to dance … that’s got the swing.
Just know, where in No-Techno style the accents are, how strong they vary, where typical articulations are used, and if you want to be “on-grid”, “driving” or “layed back” - but sometimes a “simple swing” setting may not be enough.
If I may suggest this … it’s a nice exercise …
Thanks great tips! Yeah I’m sticking to this machine, it’s my only Elektron left after selling my original A4. And if it doesn’t work on this album I’m writing anyway, nothing wrong with making a techno EP too!
Thanks for all the great replies, peeps. This thread went the way I was hoping. Ran out of likes to give yesterday, sorry if anybody feels neglected for their contribution! It has all been very informative.
If anyone is interested I have decided to arrange my stuff so that the computer is the boss and does all the sequencing and recording work. That way I can just use what I feel like at the time. This is the most low-effort way to deal with it at the moment I feel. Once I have enough money put aside I am going to get a smaller Jaspers stand so that it’s not so imposing in the room (currently using a 4 tier), and also an AD/DA with high line count (probably a Ferrofish Pulse 16), so that I can run all the outputs of my MD & MM into the 'puter at once, and a patchbay as well, so that I can put things through my external FX.
That’s all about £1000 down the road though, so in the meantime I have a bodged together solution with multiple interfaces and lots of digital connections that does the job but with half the ideal channel count.
Any more ideas and input are most welcome.
Instead of a bunch of interfaces I just use a patch bay. It’s not like I’m ever recording more than 8 inputs at a time, and routing with a patch bay only takes a few seconds. Might be another way to go (especially if you are a converter snob and can’t afford enough high end converters lol)
This is quite timely for me as I’ve actually been (increasingly) limiting what gear I use when making music - partly so I don’t get too bogged down in the process or managing too many moving parts.
It’s been a good excuse to dig into my 'takt and 'tone and I’ve been enjoying the limitations tbh. I’ve also been missing stuff (mostly from my OT) but having a focus with a slightly more limited palette has been helpful.
I don’t think it has any real impact on the quality of what I make, but it’s definitely helped me get more done.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to maintain a rich palette whilst maintaining this new-found freedom, but ironically it’s resulted in me ordering more gear 
My hope though is that I may be selling some stuff soon and I think what I’ll be left with is more conducive to me making the music I want to make with as few barriers as possible.
Over the years, I found that the “Digi” line was in my Goldilocks zone and ended up ditching most of my other equipment, or if not sold, it’s mostly boxed up and out of the way for a rainy day. Too much gear in front of me and I start getting choice paralysis.
I’m also stingy with what I want cluttering my brain, so I like to expend the minimum in learning new workflows and developing muscle memory, which is why the three Digis together seem to give me great flexibility with the least amount of learning new stuff.
I keep a couple of other things I like out and handy, like a MicroMonsta2 and a Circuit Mono Station.
But day to day, it’s the three Digis and I can just jump in and start making music any time, in a variety of configurations and stylistic focus with those boxes alone.
But I’m also wired to be a minimalist, especially hauling stuff around for live performances. YMMV
the problem is excess of choice, not gear.
but having more gear does not mean using it all at once, or using all of its bells & whistles at once.
i have some templates (empty or almost empty projects) with my to-go timbres and always start a new track with one of them. experiments with gear begin when i have a skeletal arrangement. problem solved.
For me, the paralysis comes from too many options. Not from having stuff set up or not.
Say I’m making a rad melody on a Digitone, and I want some complex drums to go with it. Do I use a track on the Digitone for the drums? Do I use a Digitakt or Octatrack, OP-1, an iPad App or Ableton?
All of those are great tools (I don’t own them all—just as examples). But all of them will take the drums in a different direction. I always end up getting lost in planning, rather than doing. And that would happen even with everything pre-connected in a studio.
A simple way to approach this is:
If you wanna be productive and release stuff fast use your DAW
If you wanna meditate, evolve, have a nice session for yourself use your hardware
Approach your hardware like it’s a Nintendo switch or ps4.
And when you finally know your gear enough, it will be easier to without any further issues transfer hardware sketches to daw.
I feel you thou, but it can be nice to separate things, your inner internet muscician vs your inner contemplative muscician.
My inner contemplative guy is the better producer but he’s way to lazy to record for the net, so the stuff I share are mostly that daw productive jerk. 
Really? Soundwise I would agree, but is this true for the composition as well? I mean for rhythm and groove?
Why not working like a drummer in a band. Have you ever seen someone on stage having a couple of tuned kick-drums, many snares with different textures, and playing each song on very different sub-sets? … I haven’t.
Most of the drummers I have seen worked on a well curated set of instruments, which matched playing stile and genre.
Why not doing this in electronic music as well? Listen to the sounds of the groove boxes, try the workflow, decide which is most to your liking, and stay with it for a while …
Added: My experience is that with drums rhythm and groove are much more important than the sounds. If the groove is great, better sounds can be used or improved later … but if the groove sucks, even the best sounds won’t save us
Right now I have a Digitakt and Digitone on a standing “desk” (plank on crates) with headphones, and I’m having a great time. I can hook up my iPad to grab samples when needed.
I agree with you about drummers etc having a set of gear that they use. I feel the same way I have a small set of basic samples (drums). The rest I create or sample from life as I go. I also play guitar, so I totally get how you can use a single instrument for every track without it getting dull.
Sample-based boxes such as TR8S and DT actually push you towards this approach, I feel. But if you don’t have the self-discipline, it’s hard to settle for a single kit! 