I love it.
For context, I was an Elektron user for years, I own most of the boxes, and loved just jamming on a single box rather than a complex setup, but realised over time that the music I wanted to make (deep/hypnotic techno, ambient) was much more suited to being made on a DAW, because the sound is much more about effects processing than the raw synth sounds/samples, and I find the Elektrons lacking in that department (except the OT maybe but I never clicked with the UI and I didn’t like the effects, and I guess the Syntakt has some more effects but it still feels a bit limiting because there’s only one shared FX block).
So I went deep into Ableton and I really love it, but I started realising I was missing having something I could just jam with on the sofa after work without needing to use the computer (I work at a computer all day and sometimes just don’t want to stare at the screen like that) – but whenever I pulled out an Elektron, I found myself frustrated with the lack of effect-based sound design ability – even more so than I used to be, because now I have a much better understanding of how to make the sound I want to make from using Ableton (and it’s mostly about effects/processing).
So the TV kinda feels like it was designed for people like me! It takes the Elektron formula and opens it up with effects processing capabilities. I came into it knowing there would be limitations and frustrations, I’ve used enough hardware now to realise nothing is going to be perfect – my mindset now is that I’ll use Ableton if I want to be unbounded and do “proper music”, hardware is for fun and I’ll accept the limitations rather than stress about them.
Some of the bugs are frustrating but I’m confident Elektron will fix these soon. They’ve nearly always supported their devices well (pour one out for the Model:Cycles which never really got an update). Any extra features would be lovely but I’m totally happy with the feature set as is (and wouldn’t have bought it if I was not).
For me, being able to take a sound and twist it into something totally new with multiple layers of effects is what I enjoy doing, and I’ve never come across another piece of single-box hardware which can do it like this – especially factoring in the amazing Elektron sequencer and UX, which I already know and love. I’m not sure how many finished tracks I’ll make with it, maybe it’ll be more of a fun device and an input into Ableton, but let’s see. It’s nice to be back in the Elektron world 