I bought a Digitakt

Want to talk about music hardware or software that doesn't include Reason?
EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

30 Mar 2021

I wanted something that is
- fun
- self-contained so I can play with it in hotel rooms when I'm working away from home
- useful with a computer
- a drum machine. I'm still a bit scared of drum programming and will always go for other things when I've got some time to play. Need something to force me to practice it.
- ideally more than just a drum machine.

After lots of research and YouTube, I settled on a Digitakt. I considered the Model:Samples but decided I'd probably soon wish I'd just bought the Digitakt. Plus, direct sampling and resampling.

Here we gooooo....

(Tried to upload a picture but image hosting sites are bad these days, turns out)

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3719
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
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30 Mar 2021

Welcome to the club! It is a brilliant device. It is essential in my studio now and while it can be (and I use it for that too) used as a drum machine, I use it to mangle samples, loops, and to sequence other gear. Great choice!

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
Joined: 12 Jan 2019

30 Mar 2021

I am envious. For me it's too pricey. They look really cool though.

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

30 Mar 2021

A few thoughts:

Sounds great

I can see how easy it is to quickly end up somewhere a long way out to sea from where you started, and somewhere you'd never have got to without the Digitakt.

I must say the infamous learning curve / ELEKTRON WORKFLOW is not as scary as I seem to have read/heard it would be. Lots more to learn, of course, but it all makes sense to me so far. Push2/Live took more RTFM to get started with.

The headline limitations - mono samples, no velocity sensitivity - don't bother me.

Super solid. It's proper. It's built like a bit of 1980s tech, or an MPC60.

They seem to sell used for not too much less than Bax are selling them for new, and they're easy to sell (the 3 year warranty is transferable) - just in case anyone needs help justifying the outlay. ;)

It's a very FSU/iteration-oriented instrument.
I can already understand that comparisons with - for instance - the TR-8S are not very useful. But you can use the 8 encoders as a mixer, and mute sounds, so you can use it that way.

I'm enjoying the focus.

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selig
RE Developer
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Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

30 Mar 2021

I've looked a bit at those, but currently in a holding pattern waiting to see what Korg comes up with…
https://www.engadget.com/korg-drumlogue ... 51470.html
Selig Audio, LLC

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3719
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
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30 Mar 2021

And then overbridge is incredible. I actually use the standalone app for tracking as opposed to the vst. It just works for me to dump it into the daw later like that. And I have read about daw jitter so I'm wary... The app is so lightweight that I feel more confident the timing will be on the money. It is probably the same with the vst, but 🤷‍♂️ besides you save the time you'd use setting up the separate tracks in the daw 😀

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Zac
Posts: 1784
Joined: 19 May 2016
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31 Mar 2021

Congrats on the digitakt!

I have the Digitone and A4 MKI. I love them. I started with the model cycles but soon craved the Digitone. Elektron'S sequencer and workflow really suit me. Having an Analog and digital Groovebox side by side is amazing.

I really wanted to get a Digitakt but the mono sample playback was a deal breaker cause I want to play stems. I'm still weighing my options but will probably get an mpc one, purely for functionality.

The form factor of the DT and DN are so lovable. Have fun!

Oh, and I recommend the elektronauts forum. It is very nice.

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

31 Mar 2021

Yeah, I'm glad I didn't start with the Model:Samples.

There's nothing to stop you importing left and right stems and triggering them simultaneously on their own channels. So in that sense it will do stereo if you really wanted it for a specific purpose, but it would cost you two channels rather than one.

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DaveyG
Posts: 2499
Joined: 03 May 2020

31 Mar 2021

Congratz.
I've always been drawn to one but I'm put off by the price and that learning curve thing.
(And the fact that I don't need anything else, but that does not usually stop me.)

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Zac
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01 Apr 2021

EdGrip wrote:
31 Mar 2021
Yeah, I'm glad I didn't start with the Model:Samples.

There's nothing to stop you importing left and right stems and triggering them simultaneously on their own channels. So in that sense it will do stereo if you really wanted it for a specific purpose, but it would cost you two channels rather than one.
I hadn't thought of that, thanks.

bangaio
Posts: 116
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

04 Apr 2021

I’m about to pull the trigger on one. I’d been considering the model samples but I know I’d be lining for the digitakt. I’m
Looking at used ones which are all around the £500 mark which is crazy as new they are £585 on bax music.

I am selling reason suite to fund it though......

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

04 Apr 2021

I think using it in addition to a DAW is going to be how it goes. Find an idea or a sound in the Digitakt, expand it by working into that idea in a DAW, render some bits, import those bits into the Digitakt, rinse and repeat.
I installed Overbridge and the sample transfer app, transferred my collection of Youtube speech clips that bring me joy, looking forward to playing with them. ("Some kind of... Energy field..." from ep 4 of WandaVision is my latest grab. I love these little bits of speech - they really tie the room together, maaan)

It doesn't make sense to dump your entire one-shot drum collection into it because you'll get bogged down later. A selection of favourites is the way to go. Mangling up non-drum sounds is where the fun is.

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Jackjackdaw
Posts: 1400
Joined: 12 Jan 2019

04 Apr 2021

bangaio wrote:
04 Apr 2021


I am selling reason suite to fund it though......
That sounds like a poor trade. Like, a whole studio for a fancy drum machine.

bangaio
Posts: 116
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

04 Apr 2021

I have bitwig studio and Logic - I think I’ll be ok.

Sterioevo
Posts: 407
Joined: 02 Apr 2015

05 Apr 2021

I love mine.

Very versatile with many possible uses - midi sequencer, assignable cv modulator (64 p-lock cc's and 8 Lfo's), fx box, sound card, sound mangler extraordinaire, and more...

Many people talk of the Elektron learning curve. I did not experience this with the Digitakt - I find it intuitive and instantly gratifying.

The Octatrack is another story which truly reflects the Elektron learning curve challenge. These devices keep on giving, the more you give the more you get.

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

05 Apr 2021

For me it helped that the sequencer and p-lock workflow are basically the same as Push 2. So if you know one, you have a big part of the mental model for the other in your head already.

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3719
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
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05 Apr 2021

I agree, it was easier to learn than people make it up to be 🤷‍♂️ basically cuckoo's mega tutorial gets you started and then the rest you can pick up from one thread on elektronauts when you feel like you are ready to go deeper.

Sterioevo is very knowledgeable and has helped me whenever I've wondered about using it with Reason too so there are some threads in this site about that as well.

Sterioevo
Posts: 407
Joined: 02 Apr 2015

06 Apr 2021

edit: NOT fx box - was thinking of the Digitone..Thanks@PhillipOrdonez, these things are deep and I am a student. Elektronauts is a great resource, and google searches the site well.

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artotaku
Posts: 652
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Location: Munich, Germany
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16 May 2021

I´m now in the club as well. Last week I pulled the trigger and bought a Digitone (I know thread title is about Digitakt but both are quite similar).

It´s my first hardware synth since twenty years or so. And I must say this is just a pure fun device, a toy in the best sense. It´s so well layed out for such a compact device, well done Elektron engineers!

I hadn´t had much problems starting my first beats but studying the manual is a must since some edit operations are not so obvious. Now it´s muscle memory.

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

16 May 2021

Congrats! Still enjoying the directness of the Digitakt. The two of them together could be a whole live set in two boxes.

I'm giving serious thought to a used Analog Four...

bangaio
Posts: 116
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

19 May 2021

Well I bought a model:samples, was underwhelmed - actually it was awesome but had limited sample locks so I hit the limit quickly. So I sold it and also got a digitone which I love. It sounds so rich yet also can be made fully FM crazy, it is so immediate and powerful and I absolutely love it. I have so much to learn but feels like a real instrument as well as a sequencer and synth and most importantly gets me away from my laptop! I am making things on it that sound like nothing else I have made before which is in my books a good thing.

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

20 May 2021

I think you can use effects on the external input with the Digitone? So it makes a better pseudo-mixer than the Digitakt. They're such jammable boxes.

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ekss
RE Developer
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Location: Stockholm
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25 May 2021

EdGrip wrote:
20 May 2021
I think you can use effects on the external input with the Digitone? So it makes a better pseudo-mixer than the Digitakt. They're such jammable boxes.
Indeed a great combo, i use them almost like one instrument; Digitakt audio out to Digitone audio inputs, and same with MIDI - so I can have MIDI tracks on the Digitakt sequencing the Digitone. So much fun!

PhillipOrdonez
Posts: 3719
Joined: 20 Oct 2017
Location: Norway
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16 Jun 2021

New OS upgrade. Yesssss


OverneathTheSkyBridg
Posts: 377
Joined: 15 Jan 2016

16 Jun 2021

At least someone's updating their sequencers!!!!! Love my Digitakt and Octatrack mk2 combo, the ultimate sampler duo.

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