Cool. Make sure you read the manual a few times and don’t get into Overbridge until you have a good handle on the DT itself.
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Great, how good is the manual ?
It’s pretty good but you will need to read a few sections more than once to comprehend it. Plus having the unit with you to follow along.
I can recommend the Digitakt notebook too, very helpful in explaining the concepts and functionality.
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I found The Digitakt Notebook very helpful. I second this recommendation, and the price is right.
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I got one…
it takes up less desk space 
they both can mangle audio considerably, the cool thing is that they do it in really different ways so they make great companions. The Digitakt leads the user in the ways of Mangling, on the MPC the user does the leading in the ways of mangling
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To me, the MPC is the worst of two worlds. Since it goes for an interface that’s quite similar to a daw, but doesn’t carry the convenience that a computer brings to such a working environment, it doesn’t quite get that part right. But since it doesn’t fully embrace the hardware experience because of this, it doesn’t get the hardware part right either.
The Digitakt is a fundamentally different experience and depending on how far away you wanna get from the idea of a computer, not just the presence of one, the Digitakt is probably the more true experience.
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well if you use the mpc as a daw you might have a lack luster experience
but if you just use it like an mpc it’s got the coveted workflow that it has always had, see people never expect more out of the digitakt than what is it’s core, but these days everyone wants an mpc to be something greater than its core which is what it is great at… by that I mean
sample, slice samples, edit samples, create layers, record patterns of diff tempo and time signatures and record mute automation as well as pad linking and resampling to rinse and repeat…
but now days it can do sooooo much more than that that some get disillusioned… The mpc is the perfect instrument for making this kind of music… mostly done on the mpc.
the artist uses native instruments a lot for music these days and you can hear the difference although still wonderful.
people use all of the diff elektron boxes for what they excel at, but because of so many more possiblities outside of the core mpc workflow many people go outside the scope of it’s core which sometimes thins out the experience. A more full plate will always take longer to eat and leave you wanting less. blah blah etc… lol…
however I do think the sample freezing and auto sampler are groundbreakingly incredible features for a hardware beat machine and raise the bar considerably as the mangling you can do with the sample freeze feature in conjunction with all of the layering and fx and core features is endless and being able to auto sample your uhe synths for use away from the computer is unreal… but mainly I stick with the core workflow
digitakt does conditional trigs better, probability better, neighboring better, … currently starting most of the drums that I use on the mpc on the digitakt or model samples first, then chop them up in the mpc and layer them with one another / diff layers triggered by different velos, throw some muting into that for great fun
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Definitely, because it’s made for this.
The DT is supposed to be a drum machine in the first place … hinted in its name … Digi-TAKT. It works with samples, but doesn’t give us all the options of the OT to be creative at sound design.
I have an OT and a MPC and use both for very different tasks.
If it’s about creating unusual or weird sounds and textures, I use the OT, because it gives us many options to mangle sounds drastically by using p-locks and its FX.
The MPC just doesn’t provide fancy sound mangling tools and IMO it’s more of a live performance sampler, using recorded samples, playing the pads, and including a decent digital mixing desk with all the standard stuff we need to get a good mix and mastering. BTW it’s high quality FX, which … IIRC … is engineered by the same company providing plug-ins inside Pro Tools.
Just for the records … the MPC One/Live/X provide two VA synth plug-ins, which I find very useful.
I thought so too [re: MPC] till I found…if you set up yer tracks and sequences right…it’s sick.
Super jammy. Cool results!
Took me a little to sort out how I would approach. Now that I have a better idea…it’s soooo good!
Quaristice: MD, MNM, MPC500, Nord Modular
People shit on the screen. I think that’s riddik! The old ones had screens too. Just cuz it’s color and touch doesn’t make it bad. I’ll take a legible screen over a squinty screen. And it’s fast. Again, once your orient to it.
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I’m totally agree with that 
And i think for ableton user the digitakt have better integration with a daw , overbridge , simple 8 tracks midi ( 4 note poly ) ,
and other equipment , midi&clock stable, class compliant (ipad …)…
And you have ‘‘Fun’’ with digitakt , character and each pattern are made with love because you have more limitation.
Mpc is a good groovebox, with midi sequencer and perform (tactil) fx ,automation etc
And if you want to make fingerdrumming i think it’s better than digitakt of course…
With mpc it’s a pleasure to sample and create a kit ! It’s the only thing the tactil screen it’s great : rename sample
Digitakt for me now only , and now i try maschine+, i don’t do compare because it’s not the same price and it’s not the subject …
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I have both and love them both for different purposes.
To me the digitakt is basically a playable step sequencer where the sequencer feels like an instrument. This is combined with quite a basic sampler that still can yield complex results while remaining fun. great as a live instrument for electronic music, but, flipside, not so much for more traditional music.
The mpc for me feels like a beautiful midi recorder combined with the fun of playing pads. Its like aMMT8 on steroids. Its far better to lay down a musical idea that is not including step sequencing or happy accidents. I can push record snd play my keyboard and record for 5 minutes. Full poly without issues. I can record the midi from all my other sequencers in it. Lay down a guitar solo. Its way more linear than a digitakt, but for these purposes thats for the better.
In conclusion, the digitakt is great if you wanna play a step sequencer. If you wanna make a more traditional song and also use it as a hub to connect other instruments then the mpc is the way to go.
I combine both. When ive got something cool in the digitakt I record the midi in the mpc. And if i wanna use the step sequencer of the takt on a synth or something I use the mpc to route the midi of the takt.
Two great and also very different pieces of equipment that will be both a good choice depending on your needs. For me, if I would have to keep only 1 it would be the mpc. The mpc can also stepsequence, though not as direct as the takt. But there are a whole lot of things the takt cant even do. For instance: just recording the midi of playing a keyboard polyphonically. Or longer than 30 secs. Orrouting other equipment. Or using effects. Or playing pads. Or making drumkits, keygroups, song mode, sample editing, you name it. Try that on the takt, good luck. There is some workarounds. But workarounds remain exactly that, workarounds. Though the takt is wonderful for what it is.
Good luck with your choice and finding your own way and solutions in music creation.
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I really wouldn’t wanna be without either, it’s really fun to sample beats you made on the digitakt into the mpc and jam away on them in a different way than you would on the digitakt, and it’s fun to sample mpc grooves into the digitakt and jam away on them that way. Here are some great examples of the two workflows you can easily shuffle back and forth between the mpc and the digitakt…
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Blackbox and Digitakt is a pretty awesome combo… Digitakt for drums and experimental stuff and blackbox for MPC style sample chopping stereo stuff and long samples. 3 stereo outputs on black box is great for using external FX too…
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digitakt is so simple on paper that it is BORING. But somehow it is still the most exciting groovebox i have ever played on. Digitakt is a very good example of the “less is more” aproach without taking away the essentials. Its a simple instrument that samples and resamples without fancy stereo or deep editing. The way you can treat it in different ways without having to constantly setup/config menus is where the magic is. If i want complex editing etc. i can use a computer with software that is made for that.
digitakt is amazing for crazy experimental stuff or locked on grooves. For me it is the most creative tool after a modular. As someone said before the stuff digitakt does it does very good.
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It’s good vision too , but i see in this post
''ableton user ‘’ so i imagine for traditional arrangement it’s better to use Ableton
Digitakt + Ableton
Or mpc + Ableton ?
I prefer digitakt in this way with a daw ( bitwig for me ) if i need , and it’s transparent like a plugin .
But alone ,of course ,Mpc maybe it’s more flexible …
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MPC is def not a DAW. It may seem like it but you’ll be disappointed if you try and use like one. I know I was till I embraced it’s true power. A super powerful groove box with a lot of extra tools in the arsenal.
I recall you loved yours, had glaring reviews a few years ago. Maybe you should revisit it without the DAW mindset. Give it another go as they are wonderful machines.
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I did love the workflow, so early on, I was taken by it. But too much of all the roundabout stuff got in the way. So that flame died quickly.
But I do get why people embrace it, it really is an apples or oranges thing. You can’t fault a product that can do so much, only get to know it well enough to know if it’s for you or not.
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The DT works very well in conjunction with a DAW. It’s a fantastic idea machine. With plocks and LFO per track, my music goes in surprising directions whenever I play it. The DT participates in the creativity with me, and I love it.
The glaring con of the DT is that you can’t do arrangements on it. Elektron decided to cripple the DT by excluding a song mode, to which fanboys say, “God hath meant it to be this way! Don’t questioneth the Lord!” …whatever… if you’re happy recording your DT ideas into Ableton, and chopping and arranging there, then I think you’ll love it too.
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