What is this dtsnd files my digi speaks of?

Elektron Gear Digitakt
#4

Yessir, as implied by the name it’s a proprietary file type for DT.

No, not outside of the machine. Perhaps with third party software but there would be little meaning in doing so.

Certainly, the info provided above is valid, but to keep it pointed the main reasons (as I understand them):

  • To provide a nondestructive method of altering and saving the original wav files into containers along with the parameters used to alter them including the playback start and end point.
  • To provide a method of catalogue, recognition and recall used by DT to identify one iteration of the same wav from another.
  • To work with the sound pool for the purpose of sound locks.

It’s a container file as opposed to an audio (wav) file. Similar to how a Matroska file for movies holds video, audio, picture and subtitle tracks all in one container file which is read and used by a media player, in that way, Digitakt acts as the media player recalling the contained info including the wav (base audio file) and playing your sample wav as you expect to hear it.

Hope that’s clear enough as to why both exist and the reason for the difference.

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#5

Thank you friend… So how would I get my own “sounds” into the “sound” menu of my digi. Is this possible? Or is that whats happening automatically when I add a wav sample into the list on knob “D” (asign)

#6

OHHHH I got you…, Its what happens to the WAV files after you start modifying it in the sequencer. Correct? Its ties all the effects and sample length etc to the sample itself

#7

yep, exactly, it saves all the sample related values so when you load the preset on another track/pattern/project it sounds the same, so it stores the filter, lfos, amp, velocity mods, etc. etc.

#8

A sound is a sample + all its settings (amp, filter, length, overdrive etc). These sounds are default only assigned to one of the eight tracks in a pattern, and can be stored in the sound pool of the current loaded project (for reuse in other patterns or for sound locking) or stored as sounds on the +drive for reuse in other projects.

You can also import / export sounds from/to your computer with the Transfer app. This is where these dtsnd files come into play: A transferable (and backupable) binary version of a sound.

#9

To be explicit, on the Digitakt itself, you have to deliberately save it as a sound to use it as a sound, otherwise you’re just using the wav (which is what happens when you set a track sound). The sound pool is a seperate way of assigning more than one “sound” wav sample or whatever, per track (all your drum sounds on one track for example).

After you modify your sample wav (or even just load it unmodified, if you want it to be a sound that can be used in the sound pool) you need to use the import export menu to save it as a sound and add it to the sound pool. After that it’s retained in that dtsound format that can be moved to your pc via transfer as rtme said.

“Sound” is just a jargon term referring to the way it is saved and used, it’s just a term to differentiate the sound files from the samples they’re based on. But to use the word “Sound” is confusing because it’s such a general word.

Quoted from a prior thread, but this is specifically how to use it.

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#10

Well, and here I am trying to upload a batch of .wav samples from my desktop (neatly sorted by instrument) into the (respective) sound pool banks via the elektron transfer app,… alas it won’t let me :confused:

I could really really use that non-existent conversion tool right now. Just thinking about doing this on the box itself gives me shivvers. It’s a pack with 260 files :woozy_face:

#11

Just for what it’s worth, you realize sound pool is limited to 128 sounds in a project, yes?

If your only goal is to be able to load them into the sound pool, you would still need to import the files one by one regardless of if they were in a wav format and moving into the sounds or not, they have to get to the sounds folder.

What I meant was that you couldn’t tweak the wavs with dt parameters on the desktop, and since you would need to move them into the sounds by importing them, then to convert them on the desktop seems pointless.

If you could somehow create a folder of sounds which went immediately (skipping import menu) into the sounds folder on the machine and then could be added to the sound pool, that would be a more useful function, but without that ability I think it would be the same amount of work.

This is, of course, dealing strictly with wavs that you don’t want to alter any parameters, only to move into the sound pool as they are. One shots essentially. Such curated samples should be pretty easy to do already, but doing that all at once would definitely be cool.

Come to think of it though, I’ve never tried moving pre-formatted (backed up) sounds directly into the sounds folder from the desktop, I’ve backed up sounds, but you should see if that works. If it does, that would be a reason I’d want to make the desktop style operation possible. I thought the sounds contained some kind of coding that differentiated them from the base wav files though and that was product of the machine. I can’t remember the specifics but I saw people talking about how the machine has some sort of numeric labeling inside the code? Not my thing so I don’t remember the specific method though.

#12

@DaveMech am I wrong about this? I remember you talking about the way digitakt stores sounds but I can’t find the specific post, isn’t it mostly a reference system for accessing the original sample/wav along with the set of parameters as opposed to a new wav file?

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#13

You’re right of course about the 128 sounds/project limit.
I probably didn’t explain well my goal because I do not know the exact term.
What are the banks (A, B, C…) called (Bank+trig 9-16) we enter when choosing a sound (func+encoder) ?
That is where I would like to upload the samples to via transfer.

I succesfully did that on the ST, and it’s awesome to have those banks as “instrument drawers”.
e.g. All kicks (usually on track 1) in Bank A, all snares (t 2) in Bank B and so on. Makes looking for suitable (or replacing) sounds in the same category a breeze.

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#14

That makes sense, but for digitakt 9-16 is midi banks, but I think I understand that you’d like to catalogue the sounds in a way to store and access them in a more reasonable way. I’d like to do that too :slight_smile:

#15

I think there still is a misunderstanding. If you hold fun+enc it shows the sound pool, right?
Then, when you release func, you can access (sound/sample?) banks via “bank”+ trig 9-16.

#16

You’re talking about the sound browser encoder? When you turn it, it accesses the sounds.

Or are you speaking of the encoders on the right side?

nevermind I see what you mean. after accessing the sounds you go to the banks with 9-16, I was reading you wrong. sorry.

#17

Yes, the encoder above func.
Then in a 2nd step access Bank A-H as described above.

Here’s a screenshot of the transfer app for clarification. This is where I would like to upload my samples. But it doesn’t accept .wav files. Hence the wish to convert them to sounds.

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#18

yes, if you could catalogue them from this point it would save a lot of work.

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#19

Exactly :hugs:

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#20

I honestly don’t remember the specific because I can’t find the post, but there is a unique labeling system, something the machine applies to make the sounds unique from each other to have a nondestructive alteration of the original sample. My concern (in hoping this will become available in the future) is that I don’t understand how the computer and digitakt would work together to make sure the sounds are assigned in a way that there is no overlap. Perhaps my understanding was incorrect, but I think that was the basic idea, there is no duplication, everything is saved as a new version.

#21

Probably a case for

#22

If transfer can access/utilize digitakt memory as part of the creation process (hooked up to USB during the conversions) that would be good, who knows maybe it will happen one day? I’m not going to sell my digitakt any time soon, I can wait for now :slight_smile:

#23

Yeap, correct. It generates a # based on the waveform. This is why you can freely move samples around on the plus drive without messing projects up or back them up to a computer and re-transfer them into DT without breaking projects.

The above idea for wav files to be converted into sounds is neat but it’s not really what a “sound” represents in the Elektron world.

Really what the definition of a “sound” is in Elektron world is the collection of parameter settings across the sound parameter pages (so sans the TRIG page) and on some elektron boxes (synths), anything related to a sound like midi mod matrixes, drift on/off etc etc.

On Elektron samplers it is the same, it contains all parameter page parameter settings. With one exception being the sample slot. In stead of saving the original sample a lot number, it references a sample on the +drive that will be imported into a free sample slot when loading a sound.

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