Can anyone who owns the TV comment on the form factor?
I use the DT and DN2 and love the form factor. Been eyeing up the A4 for no reason other than it seems cool to me.
I think if they bought a new synth out that was closer to the TV fork factor I’d be happy with the smaller size with the little keyboard on the front plate.
Is it fast to jump around on? It looks beautiful to me
I like the new form factor. OT was always a bit too big for my place on the desk and the DT feels a tiny bit cramped for my arms/hands postition sometimes. TV is right in the middle.
3 Likes
It’s the Goldilocks of the Elektron line up, just right.
4 Likes
Why do you need comments on the form factor, aren’t pictures better than comments? Legit question.
3 Likes
In my experience, pictures sometimes don’t convey how big or small something actually feels once you start using it.
Like, the SP404ii is a big bigger than the DT, but for some reason the form factor makes it feel smaller to me. Maybe because it’s tall and skinny instead of square?
4 Likes
Thank you for that legit answer.
1 Like
Feels just right to me. Read a comment around announcement that the keys on the left were a bad idea but it’s still so compact that it’s not awkward to play in the slightest.
2x8 is easier to read still for me though than 1x16 when placing trigs on or off beat but I’m sure that’ll fade…
3 Likes
Feels about right. I like my wrists to lean a little on devices and this works. Not too far of a soan for single handed control.
The OT deserved to be big, but the TV is just right.
I like it - of course none of my existing DIY or purchased elektron stands will fit it, but besides that … it looks good, feels good.
I imagine my cufflinks would do huge damage to the screen on the new MPC Live 3 with the trigs at the top of the box, I mean WHAT? 
1 Like
TV is my smallest Elektron, and I like both the size and density of controls. I usually wear men’s L size gloves, and don’t feel cramped on the TV like I did with most Eurorack modules.
I previously had an A4 Mk1 and now have an AK. I love everything about the AK except its size. I’m sometimes tempted to get another Mk1 again for when I don’t have room to bring the AK out, but I doubt I’ll ever let the AK go.
I don’t think there is any chance of this happening, but if Elektron brought the MD and MNM back in a TV case with the smaller TV buttons, that would be great.
1 Like
Long term Digitakt user, used the Tonverk extensively at the weekend and I think it may be my favourite form factor. It’s very familiar coming from the DT but immediately feels more useful. It looks great with a Digi-box either side of it.
The biggest improvement for me was in record mode being able to hold down a trig key and then play a chord on the built-in keyboard. Playing the Digitone II straight after really tripped me up when I wanted to programme some chords.
I’d programmed a rudimentary pattern and then was ad libbing some lead lines over the top on one track. Being able to play the lead line and mute and unmute other tracks at the same time was another great improvement of this form factor. Sure you can do this stuff with an external keyboard, but as a stand alone melodic focused device I think they made a very good choice.
Something I did which worked well was to record some automation into an otherwise empty sequence for the lead track, then play the ad libbed lead line over it. That way you’ve got the immediacy of making the lead up as you perform, with the complexity of evolving sounds as the filter sweeps and certain notes have blasts of fx etc.
6 Likes
Hehe, ah the Elektron factor. I keep thinking I’d like DTII and TV because of the form factor of both. I can see the advantages in Digitakt with the 2x8 grid for rhythmic programming.
Uh oh this was my fear hah… DTII as drum machine and TV as the synth? (I’m not sure I’d go in for DNII.) Then again, with this new language being the future of Elektron boxes, I’m thinking it needs a bit of time and a few firmware updates to see what the shape of this will be long term. Not sure if it would be confusing or easy to have the two generations side by side.
Yeah that’s the open question on what they do with the new platform. The obvious candidate would be a synth that could use the sub-tracks for drums and then others for poly playing. The machines could be either drum synths and I guess maybe they’ll use the incoming granular effects etc to make this a box that’s more wavetable/analog based to make it different from Digitone. Total speculation on my part though…
To answer your actual question…
TV is nice, and the advantages of having the input keys seperate from the keyboard is one very obvious plus. It’s also cool for one-shots eg: layering 2 sounds on the same step. Comparing this to other grooveboxes I’ve had, it reminded me of how the Circuit line allows you to hold a step on the sequencer and input notes. It’s ideal in a sequencer heavy workflow that also allows polyphonic playing.
I must admit you get a decent sense of scale for it when looking at the devices on videos, but it feels slightly smaller when you see it in real life. But it’s well proportioned and laid out imo. It’s almost identical in width to the Polyend Tracker+ which I sold off late year, but it’s a lot taller so it stands off the desk, and a bit less deep vertically. One hand goes on the left for notes, and core functions eg: func/menus, and then right hand for commiting a func action, or tweaks and fills.
1 Like
I like its use of USB-C, and while placing the trig buttons and keyboard separate makes things a little handy, I admit I want an excuse to not be good at the keys for a weird reason. Plus, I reckon some people would be happier to have like the crossfader in its place, which I wouldn’t mind.
1 Like
Having note and sequencer keys separated is a massive improvement, especially in polyphonic tracks. Opens up a lot of great possibilities that they seem to have already understood (per-note parameter locks in sequencer for trigger conditions and lengths, etc). Size is nice, UI feels legitimately well thought out. I’m sure I’ll have nits to pick sooner or later but for now it’s just much nicer than digi boxes.
1 Like
don’t worry, even mastering the note switches will still not make you good at keys lol
2 Likes
I have had experience with keys but I don’t want to be forced into playing them in contexts I’d rather avoid (had to be an organist in the past in my teens).
If anything, I think having separate key switches makes grid sequencing much easier. It’s one of my favorite features from sonicware grooveboxes and the sh4d that I’m glad elektron added here.
1 Like
That is fair I guess.
Totally fair. I’ve played instruments for a while, guitar, bass, and I’ve had a go at keys. Realised I mostly prefer playing very basic things in, and then completely editing them in MIDI. Or, just using the keys to programme in the stuff I would have played. It works out, and actually that realisation is what made me want to look at an Elektron and more in general at modules and sound sources rather than buying loads of synths with keys that I can’t play. This little keyboard does the job.
1 Like