Things I find most dissappointing about DT sequencer

Elektron Gear Digitakt
#1

I’ve had my DT a week now. It’s a nice little sampler so I will probably keep it but there is no way I could use it as a MIDI sequencer, way too limited, and I have even resorted to sequencing the DT from my Engine because it seems that’s the only way I can use it to integrate into my rig for full song creation and playback for recording.

These are the things I am most disappointed with the DT sequencer so far…

No song mode (can’t believe they omitted this when it has 8 midi tracks!)

No instant/direct Program Change option (so can’t even use Song mode on another sequencer to change patterns)

Very basic chain mode (can’t repeat first pattern, limited to patterns in same bank, can’t save chains)

No track transpose (have to transpose every note individually across 64 steps!)

No time signatures per track (yes there are workarounds but this is available on most decent midi sequencers)

No smooth/slide setting for P-Locks (not good for filter sweeps, yes can use LFO but not as flexible)

No scale mode on keyboard (it’s such a simple thing to include, would work so well with the 16 pads)

Others things which are nice to have in a sequencer but not essential…

Arpeggiator

Ability to move individual trigs left or right

Play direction options (forward, back, pendulum, random, probability etc.)

Step jump mode (so select it to play just steps 1,3,4,8 for example and skip the empty steps)

Ability to select start and and end of track (so select it to run from step 3-6 for example)

Anything you guys find particularly disappointing?

9 Likes
DT and DN pattern sync
#2

No MIDI retrigs.

7 Likes
#3

What do you mean by “instant/direct”? If the DT doesn’t reacts to program changes until after it’s currently playing pattern ends, wouldn’t that still be adequate for programming pattern changes in whatever order you want?

I’m actually hoping the DT/DN don’t react to these program change messages sent to it until its currently playing pattern ends.

#5

No, because every other piece of MIDI gear sends program changes at the beginning of a pattern (even the other Elektron boxes I believe) which means the DT is always playing a pattern behind the rest of your gear (because it waits to the pattern end before it changes). I think someone said in another thread that the other Elektrons have an option for direct/instant Program Change so it is definitely something they could add in an update.

#6

Not stuff that I find disappointing because I don’t use any Elektron sequencers for external midi, but these are the main reasons I don’t:

Inability to sequence legato notes
Inability to have different note lengths in a chord
Inability to have individual velocity for each note in a chord
I find the scale page setup non intuitive when working with irregular step amounts, for example for 48 steps I want 4 pages of 12, not 3 pages of 16 etc.

7 Likes
#7

And none of this mentions the hung midi notes that can occur if you try and record a sequence on the fly and exit chromatic mode or the frequent crashes. One can only hope these things improve with updates. I definitely want to use the digi as my midi sequencer for my modular (I bought a Yarns just for it!) but until then I might have to make do in other ways.

The thing I find useful about it with other gear is that there are so many parameter lockable messages you can send to external gear (like program change) that open up new ways of sequencing that are quite tantalizing. I would like it to be less constrained in other seemingly arbitrary ways.

3 Likes
#8

With the DT, I believe you can send program changes on any step in a pattern. If the DT behaves how you describe, it’ll perfectly suit my plan to have it and a DN sending program change messages to one another for a pseudo song-mode.

#9

I have nothing to add. Totally agree with all points. I could go over each point again but it’s not needed. If Elektron implements this list they will truly meet their astounding feature set claim :grinning:

50

Astounding; extraordinary, fantastic, incredible, marvellous, miraculous, phenomenal, unbelievable, wonderful…

5 Likes
#10

I am talking about how it behaves when it receives a Program Change (pattern changes late and not in sync with other gear), sending them works just fine.

1 Like
#11

This is a known bug that will hopefully be fixed in the next update.

3 Likes
#12

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#14

Sounds like a little more research should have been done before you purchased the dt. From your multiple post concerning the DT it seems it has been not easy for you to get into and you are highly disappointed in its features.

1 Like
#15

Most of the lacking MIDI features can be alleviated by using multiple MIDI tracks set to the same channel

#16

I guess I must be misunderstanding. Are you saying the DT loses sync, like goes off beat by a some ticks or milliseconds?

I thought you were saying that if the DT receives program change info, it won’t occur until the pattern ends, but the sync still stays tight; just off by a couple bars or however long your pattern is because you wanted the change to occur at the beginning.

For example, if you have two DT’s synced up, and have each of them telling one another to switch to the next pattern someplace halfway through the first pattern, would pressing play cause them both to play through the first pattern, and then switch to the next pattern on both units after the first pattern plays?

#17

the person is referring to the pattern change bug

#18

I don’t know about this bug. Are you saying that if the DT receives a program change message to change to the second pattern while it is in the middle of playing the first pattern, it won’t change to the second pattern immediately after the first pattern is done playing?

#19

“I know how to do this but I won’t tell you because you need to find it yourself” is the most infuriating and least helpful response you could possibly give someone.

Also, the manual seems to agree with OP regarding chaining patterns that aren’t in the same bank and saving chains. The chaining in the Digitakt is, as he said, very basic. From the manual…

You can create one chain in the currently active bank. You can use the 16 patterns within that bank to create the chain.

Please note that the chain will be lost when you create a new chain or when you select a new bank/pattern. Also, chains cannot be saved and will be lost when you switch the Digitakt off.

1 Like
#20

And you should learn to read posts better. I didn’t say it didn’t have chaining, I said it was basic. The other things you mentioned it cannot do. Not sure where in the manual you read about Song Mode, Track Transpose, saving pattern chains etc??

2 Likes
#21

If anyone can clear this up for me, it’d be much appreciated. I just want to know what exactly this “bug” is. I searched it, but am having trouble understanding what people are trying to describe. Is what I’m describing above truly the case? Will the DT not change patterns immediately after playing a pattern if you tell it to do so in the middle of playing that pattern?

#22

I did research it, and as a sampler I’m more than happy. I have an Engine so will continue to use that for my midi needs. I did think the DT might have have doubled as a midi sequencer but its too lacking. I’ll keep it though for samples, for that its awesome.

2 Likes