I’ve seen it happen, where the manufacturer realized that the limitations where more severe then expected, so the feature was scrapped, or where released in reduced scope, or came like 2 years late …
So I would still advise caution, especially if a device is useless to somebody till the feature launches.
We like to receive gifts.
Great updates are great updates:
A third LFO, a 2nd filter page (Digitakt), speed-independent tracks (OT), new machines (Syntakt, Digitakt). The devices feel familiar, but also new.
But it’s basically the case that the machines are already very good out of the box and remain good.
Yes, there are bugs. They are usually fixed later.
Other companies are not so generous.
Examples:
Korg pushes out a half-finished update at most. And that’s it. Then comes a new product. Roland also tends to do this. Pioneer likes to try something unsuccessful and then change its focus.
Let’s add the word ‘abandon/abandoned’ to this too. As if Elektron would drive a truck to a shelter in the middle of the night and leave all of their Syntakts behind. 
would be some nice trolling if today they announced an A4 update with machines & granular sampling
I would second the sentiment that you should never buy gear on the hope or promise of future updates, it usually seems to lead to disappointment.
If you know you aren’t going to be fully satisfied with the value of a product on day one then don’t buy it.
In this world there would be no MPC.
My wishlist devices: 8 long form sample player like octatrack with modulation. Stereo.
8 multi purpose tracks (drums/synths/midi)
At least 1 polyphonic synth possible.
2-4 FX sends.
Cue in headphone monitoring.
At least 20 projects.
Size ideally digitakt, octatrack size is fine.
Battery + usb power.
4 ins (6 would be cool though), 2 of them phantom powered mic/inst combo ins. (-> stereo recording)
I would expect this to cost an arm and an leg.
But I could sell all my other stuff.
I do expect this to do a bunch of this…but far from all, and still cost double the digitakt. 
I don’t expect to see a device I mentioned in a thinner case then the octatrack… Or ever tbh.
You are surely talking about “AKAI” products after ~2004. Akai has only been a brand name since then.
New, half-finished DAWs (plus computers) are glued to a controller that looks like a legend, but isn’t one.
cough
Thanks for digging up a proof point. They also posted this copy on a social media post so technically it was also that. But of course nothing is ever a 100% promise.
Yeah… Had a feature myself where on paper I myself sad it’s easy, or it should be easy. Later realized that a lot of the easy part was made complicated cause of other architectural decisions and our running cost could increase significantly just to provide the simple feature. (Distributed data, scheduled regular checks … fetching data, comparing, doing actions, and trying to keep all in synch for an indicator in the UI)
On the firmware side I also had the thought “this can’t be that hard”, sometimes it’s technological limitations (there’s just so much program memory in some micro controllers), sometimes it’s literary “they designed their architecture backwards and now a rewrite would be more efficient then to get that feature in”.
I understand the impatience for updates, especially when the ST already received two major updates (song mode and new machines) so quickly after release. There was a brief period where Elektron was releasing a great deal of new stuff and I think that can skew expectations a bit after they go back to working for a couple years. But ultimately when I start feeling that itch, I try to remember - I’m chasing another hit of that same feeling I had when I first turned the device on and started making music with it. That feeling is why I still like my Syntakt, and yes, it’s why I’d be stoked to see a major update. But the device is still just as good as it was then. If I focus on what it can do for me and stop thinking about things I wish it would do, I usually get inspired to turn the thing on and keep making music, which is all I spent my money for anyway.
I guess the software update is pushed when
It is always welcome to get an update. But each of there products are sold for at least 7 years each. So they do it on a really long schedule to be sure it has the right impact on the market.
Small update for bugfix, but big update every few years.
Manufactures seem to be keener on releasing new products rather than updates these days. Which bodes well with a general need for immediacy and novelty in society in general. So for me the most obvious move would be to integrate the M:C and the M:S into one machine and call it something fancy, same form factor. It would still be a step down from the DT.
True. To a point. But as someone who buys and tries a lot of gear, I am much more inclined to spend my money with a company that has a proven track record of continuous, support, bug fixes and new features. There are a lot of developers who do that and they will get my money first.
Same here. Groove Synthesis (3rd Wave) is a great example of this.
I’d love to see them develop song mode more to include conditions.
It could be really cool to have one main pattern looping, but for example, every 2/2 there’s a 33% chance that it plays one of three other patterns or sections of the song, and then reverts back to the initial pattern.
You could also use LFOs for pattern/line selection.
That way you could have extended jam sections with a nice amount of variation on a larger scale than just the in-pattern conditions. Like, pseudo-generative jams, or something, dude.
My unimaginative guess:
why Syntakt update is hard?
Should be simple to code, right?