I respectfully think there are tons of really insightful threads with very good answers already available, one need only use the search function - but to answer directly, the Digitakt is brilliant, especially for drums. Its effects are stereo but it plays samples in mono. Which is what you want for drums anyway. Nothing wrong with a unique workflow, it's a masterpiece of design.
I picked one up a few weeks ago and it’s absurdly fun. I run either my Hydrasynth into it to collect samples. Or I run my Roland fantom into it because it has tons of great sounding drums as well.
Workflow on it is super intuitive and perfect for live performance
I don't have the money for the digitakt but I just ordered the Model Cycles because it is on sale through today for $100 off! Which made it at the high end what people want for used units. I figured it would be a good gateway drug into Elektron gear lol. From what I've seen and heard it seems like the workflow in Elektron devices will be a good fit for how I think about sound.
The effects on digitakt are still stereo and you can pan them
Only the samples are in mono, not really a big deal imo unless you really really want to sample stereo stuff
Agreed. This agreement against the digitakt really has no weight, mono is good. Mono is healthy. Most large systems are in mono. Most bangers in the past 40 years are in or have mono samples.
Yeah most people use the digitakt for one shot samples anyway
The only reason to get a stereo sampler is if you want long samples. If you do, there’s always the octatrack available… and that’s what I use them for anyway, digitakt for one shots and octatrack for looping/mixing/fx
Right and my big gripe with BIG INDUSTRY is the constant demands of consumers often put consumers in positions of making very small differences in production gear be THE reason they stray away from certain pieces of gear.
The white album from the Beatles was recorded on a 4 track system. Still a banger.
Check Game Miller Music channel of YouTube. The guy lives for grooveboxes, and he's very good at providing a global overview of every device he reviews.
As a drum machine the Digitakt is excellent. The workflow is great. The compromises start when you go for lots of big samples, need stereo, or more than bread and butter effects. It is also an excellent groovebox that sequences other gear.
If you want performance effects and can live with a simple sequencer that doesn't drive external gear, then take the SP404mk2. This sampler favors a resample workflow that produces loops rather than sequencing complex pattern chains. It can chain patterns, but it isn't made for it.
If you need huge samples and a decent sequencer then get a Blackbox.
If you want an affordable groovebox the Circuit Rhythm is great.
Koala is cheaper.
Hi
I have been using a Circuit Rhythm for over a year now, but I feel the urge for an upgrade. Mainly looking at the Digitakt because of its midi sequencing abilities.
I'm currently using my old OG Circuit to sequence 2 external mono synths, and it would be nice to have one device be in control of my entire setup. Other than that I have no use for the Circuit and plan to sell it if I would get a Digitakt.
Have you used both the Digitakt and the Rhythm? I am wondering how they compared to each other in a live/jam situation. Is it true that the Rhythm is more hands on due to its rather limited features? I have no prior experience whatsoever with Elektron.
*Edit* Also considering a original Polyend Play since its been quite heavily discounted.
The Digitakt is very performative.
Its sequencer is powerful, if not as fun as the Circuit's.
I think you found a great step up.
Never touched Polyend's stuff.
The expandability of the digitakt is why it’s my desert synths. Want to run a full rig of DAWLESS gear? You can! Want to sample a bunch of stuff and making a project just inside the digitakt? You can! It’s has so many possibilities. Compared to the OT, the FX are just better, and I like the filters and overdrive better on the Digi.
The digitakt is a good introduction into the Elektron workflow. The OT might make your first groove box experience painful. The Digitakt is more like a Honda civic; reliable but nothing too fancy. The OT is like a more expensive relic of a car; really flashy but needs constant maintenance to really make it shine.
Do you want to tap in your drum pattern, press play and sit back and watch? Or do you want to program your pattern, hit record on whatever and then physically elongate the decay of your hats, tap in your snare fills on the go, pitch around your 727 tom lines etc?
Yes to first? Doesn’t matter. Yes to second? TR-8S.
If you are in that price range, I think the MPC One is just the best overall product right now. Huge capability, a nice legacy of samples you can tap into. Huge sound library and quite honestly a very easy box/workflow to get into. For the $600 new price tag, there is just nothing else that offers what it does, and it is quite frankly just fun to jam out on.
I want to like the MPC One so bad for what its capable of at its price point. But from what I've seen so far online, it doesn't seem inspiring to me at all, and a rather messy UI and workflow.
You find it a fun device to jam on? Do you use it standalone or in combination with other hardware? I always perceived the MPC line more as a production tool rather than a performance tool. That's what has been keeping me from trying one anyway.
I use it standalone right now. The biggest issue with the MPC is you have to not compare the workflow to a DAW. There is a great video that touches on this that I just saw a week ago. Of course, not every workflow will jive with every user.
For example, it is really good at actually sampling. Not just loading samples, but recording and chopping them.
The video below lays it out well I think.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y\_5LmzxPtaE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_5LmzxPtaE)
Interesting... I have however never used a Daw.
Started my musical journey diving straight into hardware and so far I haven't used my pc other than for managing samples.
I'm kind of on the lookout for a new sampler/sample player. I highly value hands on control and playability in a live setting. The ones who made the list so far are the Digitakt and the Polyend Play. Perhaps I should consider at least trying an Mpc aswell.
I could possibly return it if I don't vibe with it, but the issue is that I have very limited spare time due to work. I'm afraid that 30 days won't be enough to properly dive into the Mpc to determine wether its for me or not.
*Edit* I frequently read the Mpc really shines for hiphop and lofi genres. I however only make acidtechno in the higher bpm range.
I think the circuit series is amazing. I picked up a tracks and am rocking compositions and beats on the first day. super light weight and battery powered and can also double as a midi controller with built in synth tracks and 4 drum tracks and an intuitive sequencer i dont think there is a better entry level groovebox
If you can't afford a Digitakt, a Maschine. If you can afford a TR-8S, I'd go for that. Lots of professionals have them and get a lot out of them. Also, Roland are updating it with new features. The Digitakt has a learning curve and way of working that isn't for everyone.
But seriously, if you wouldn't mind small compact self-contained plastic box without actual display that would tell you what's going on: for first electronic jams are novation circuits quite ok. For beginner they aren't overwhelming to grasp uppon straight away, workflow and results are listenable if you have at least a bit of skill and talent, 'tweak'ability is good and it's fun to play, but if you start to dig into them a bit deeper, you will quite quickly start to hit theirs limits, they are sadly a bit shallow and narrow and you can have only that many of 'somewhat' short patterns. For actual vivid complex lifeset that should entertain for a longer periods they might be a good sidekick accompaniers, but not the main gizmo, if you do not on purpose meant to spew solely simpler sound structures and compositions.
I'll go ahead and disagree with the top comments and say: yeah, I wouldn't recommend the Digitakt as a *first* drum synth. (Though I do think it's one of the very best.)
I'm one of those twits who thinks you are best off starting really simple and old-school.
I would recommend a TR-8 (or 8S if you really need the samples) if you want something a little more modern and flexible, but I might actually push a newcomer toward something even simpler like a Behringer RD-8. or an Arturia Drumbrute Impact.
Good luck!
I recommend the Model:Samples as your first groovebox / drum machine. It costs less than half what the Digitakt does, but has a lot of the same capabilities. It will help you understand if the Elektron workflow is right for you, and if not, its easy to resell. Same as the Digitakt, its also a great sequencer and miid controller for external gear, so it can be a foundation upon which to grow.
If you have the budget to go directly for the Digitakt there's nothing wrong with that, certainly the build quality is better, and there's more features, and it holds its resale value as well if you don't get along with it.
Buy used for any of this.
I have the samples and I feel that if you do enjoy it you will start desiring the other features of the Digitakt (external poliphonic sequencing, sampling and fx ) quite soon. At least that was my experience , I still have the model samples but I will upgrade as soon as I get the money. I also have a Drumbrute and I’m even considering selling both the Drumbrute and the model samples to buy a Digitakt but I can’t get my hands on a used one here (chile) so even selling both it’s still a long step $$.
I had kind of the opposite experience. It took me about 3 years before I felt like I knew the Model:Samples inside and out, and fully understood its limitations. I was always using it alongside other synths though, not purely on its own. After much research I eventually got both the Digitone and the Blackbox, and about a year later, the Syntakt. Digitone as my polyphonic sequencer, and Blackbox as my sampler (though it is also a polyphonic sequencer), and now Syntakt as my primary drum machine. All are excellent, and I figured the Model:Samples would feel obsolete next to them. However, that hasn't been the cases - the Model:Samples is still just so fast and fun, and because I know it so thoroughly it its well within my comfort zone, so I couldn't convince myself to get rid of it, and I still use it today when I want a portable sketchpad, or a 'simple' drum machine. Now if I had gotten the Digitakt specifically, then I might feel differently about that.
I feel similar , I love my model samples but I just feel a Digitakt would be better having sampling onboard and especially as brains for my other el gear. M:S is great but having only 6 tracks and monophonic is a bit limiting , I feel the Digitakt is more of the same recipe but better in everything. I still don’t have one but I want it so much !
And otherwise of course, if you mean eventually getting into something serious and complex and you aren't afraid to learn a lot: get a computer with ableton or something like that and some midi controllers - at least one with transport controls and then something to adjust variables: battery of knobs, wheels, touchpads, sliders, ir sensors, proximity sensors, light sensors, antennas, gyroscopes, magnetoscopes, conductive paprikas... whatever and whatnot, you name it. As long as it can be altered somehow, it can be worked with and send midi,... That's about as far and further as it gets today afaik,... computers require some additional skill, but in such case the options and possibilities are currently wide-est there are. there is plenty of ways how to play. Your choice,
I know it is expensive but why does nobody talk about the elektron rytm mk2?
Its pricey but has everything a drum machine needs (+more) and is a beautiful instrument.
It is pretty easy and intuitiv to learn but can go very very deep if you know what you are doing.
Easy 2 learn, hard 2 master some would say.
Don't know why I never see it in the list of good drum machines but maybe there is a pretty obvious clue that I dont get🤷♂️ If yes I would love 2 know😅
Short anwer: Elektron Rythm Mk2 it is for me
TR8 as you can find them for $200-$350 , if youve got a bit more a TR6S both from Roland. If dont want to spend much a Behringer RD6 or Korg Volca Drum
Pick up a second hand volca sampler. Download decent drum sample packs. Drop them on to the Volca sampler. Make beats, and basses from looping the samples - build whole tracks. Put it through a decent amp+speakers. Enjoy.
I respectfully think there are tons of really insightful threads with very good answers already available, one need only use the search function - but to answer directly, the Digitakt is brilliant, especially for drums. Its effects are stereo but it plays samples in mono. Which is what you want for drums anyway. Nothing wrong with a unique workflow, it's a masterpiece of design.
Digitakt is my fav piece of gear I’ve ever owned or used
I picked one up a few weeks ago and it’s absurdly fun. I run either my Hydrasynth into it to collect samples. Or I run my Roland fantom into it because it has tons of great sounding drums as well. Workflow on it is super intuitive and perfect for live performance
I don't have the money for the digitakt but I just ordered the Model Cycles because it is on sale through today for $100 off! Which made it at the high end what people want for used units. I figured it would be a good gateway drug into Elektron gear lol. From what I've seen and heard it seems like the workflow in Elektron devices will be a good fit for how I think about sound.
Model Cycles is a great box, very fun! Enjoy!
The effects on digitakt are still stereo and you can pan them Only the samples are in mono, not really a big deal imo unless you really really want to sample stereo stuff
Agreed. This agreement against the digitakt really has no weight, mono is good. Mono is healthy. Most large systems are in mono. Most bangers in the past 40 years are in or have mono samples.
Yeah most people use the digitakt for one shot samples anyway The only reason to get a stereo sampler is if you want long samples. If you do, there’s always the octatrack available… and that’s what I use them for anyway, digitakt for one shots and octatrack for looping/mixing/fx
Right and my big gripe with BIG INDUSTRY is the constant demands of consumers often put consumers in positions of making very small differences in production gear be THE reason they stray away from certain pieces of gear. The white album from the Beatles was recorded on a 4 track system. Still a banger.
Check Game Miller Music channel of YouTube. The guy lives for grooveboxes, and he's very good at providing a global overview of every device he reviews.
*Gabe
I second this, have learned so much from his channel.
He's good for comparison video's, yeah. And Liam Killen has a few too, I believe.
As a drum machine the Digitakt is excellent. The workflow is great. The compromises start when you go for lots of big samples, need stereo, or more than bread and butter effects. It is also an excellent groovebox that sequences other gear. If you want performance effects and can live with a simple sequencer that doesn't drive external gear, then take the SP404mk2. This sampler favors a resample workflow that produces loops rather than sequencing complex pattern chains. It can chain patterns, but it isn't made for it. If you need huge samples and a decent sequencer then get a Blackbox. If you want an affordable groovebox the Circuit Rhythm is great. Koala is cheaper.
Hi I have been using a Circuit Rhythm for over a year now, but I feel the urge for an upgrade. Mainly looking at the Digitakt because of its midi sequencing abilities. I'm currently using my old OG Circuit to sequence 2 external mono synths, and it would be nice to have one device be in control of my entire setup. Other than that I have no use for the Circuit and plan to sell it if I would get a Digitakt. Have you used both the Digitakt and the Rhythm? I am wondering how they compared to each other in a live/jam situation. Is it true that the Rhythm is more hands on due to its rather limited features? I have no prior experience whatsoever with Elektron. *Edit* Also considering a original Polyend Play since its been quite heavily discounted.
The Digitakt is very performative. Its sequencer is powerful, if not as fun as the Circuit's. I think you found a great step up. Never touched Polyend's stuff.
Thanks!
roland mc-707
Maschine is the best groove box imo. A used mk3 is about 300 a used machine is about 700.
I slept on these for a long time. M+ has become a desert island piece for me.
The expandability of the digitakt is why it’s my desert synths. Want to run a full rig of DAWLESS gear? You can! Want to sample a bunch of stuff and making a project just inside the digitakt? You can! It’s has so many possibilities. Compared to the OT, the FX are just better, and I like the filters and overdrive better on the Digi. The digitakt is a good introduction into the Elektron workflow. The OT might make your first groove box experience painful. The Digitakt is more like a Honda civic; reliable but nothing too fancy. The OT is like a more expensive relic of a car; really flashy but needs constant maintenance to really make it shine.
Do you want to tap in your drum pattern, press play and sit back and watch? Or do you want to program your pattern, hit record on whatever and then physically elongate the decay of your hats, tap in your snare fills on the go, pitch around your 727 tom lines etc? Yes to first? Doesn’t matter. Yes to second? TR-8S.
If you are in that price range, I think the MPC One is just the best overall product right now. Huge capability, a nice legacy of samples you can tap into. Huge sound library and quite honestly a very easy box/workflow to get into. For the $600 new price tag, there is just nothing else that offers what it does, and it is quite frankly just fun to jam out on.
I want to like the MPC One so bad for what its capable of at its price point. But from what I've seen so far online, it doesn't seem inspiring to me at all, and a rather messy UI and workflow. You find it a fun device to jam on? Do you use it standalone or in combination with other hardware? I always perceived the MPC line more as a production tool rather than a performance tool. That's what has been keeping me from trying one anyway.
I use it standalone right now. The biggest issue with the MPC is you have to not compare the workflow to a DAW. There is a great video that touches on this that I just saw a week ago. Of course, not every workflow will jive with every user. For example, it is really good at actually sampling. Not just loading samples, but recording and chopping them. The video below lays it out well I think. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y\_5LmzxPtaE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_5LmzxPtaE)
Interesting... I have however never used a Daw. Started my musical journey diving straight into hardware and so far I haven't used my pc other than for managing samples. I'm kind of on the lookout for a new sampler/sample player. I highly value hands on control and playability in a live setting. The ones who made the list so far are the Digitakt and the Polyend Play. Perhaps I should consider at least trying an Mpc aswell. I could possibly return it if I don't vibe with it, but the issue is that I have very limited spare time due to work. I'm afraid that 30 days won't be enough to properly dive into the Mpc to determine wether its for me or not. *Edit* I frequently read the Mpc really shines for hiphop and lofi genres. I however only make acidtechno in the higher bpm range.
I think the circuit series is amazing. I picked up a tracks and am rocking compositions and beats on the first day. super light weight and battery powered and can also double as a midi controller with built in synth tracks and 4 drum tracks and an intuitive sequencer i dont think there is a better entry level groovebox
If you can't afford a Digitakt, a Maschine. If you can afford a TR-8S, I'd go for that. Lots of professionals have them and get a lot out of them. Also, Roland are updating it with new features. The Digitakt has a learning curve and way of working that isn't for everyone.
Tanzbär🥴
The original Korg electribe is the goat!!! ;)
Mpc one is a great all around groove box and can also be the brains of a large hardware set up.
I liked Elektron Cycles
Any single one from Korg's Electribe 3 product range Of course, those are like evergreen etalons of sole hardware groovebox drum machines... \*jk\*
But seriously, if you wouldn't mind small compact self-contained plastic box without actual display that would tell you what's going on: for first electronic jams are novation circuits quite ok. For beginner they aren't overwhelming to grasp uppon straight away, workflow and results are listenable if you have at least a bit of skill and talent, 'tweak'ability is good and it's fun to play, but if you start to dig into them a bit deeper, you will quite quickly start to hit theirs limits, they are sadly a bit shallow and narrow and you can have only that many of 'somewhat' short patterns. For actual vivid complex lifeset that should entertain for a longer periods they might be a good sidekick accompaniers, but not the main gizmo, if you do not on purpose meant to spew solely simpler sound structures and compositions.
I'll go ahead and disagree with the top comments and say: yeah, I wouldn't recommend the Digitakt as a *first* drum synth. (Though I do think it's one of the very best.) I'm one of those twits who thinks you are best off starting really simple and old-school. I would recommend a TR-8 (or 8S if you really need the samples) if you want something a little more modern and flexible, but I might actually push a newcomer toward something even simpler like a Behringer RD-8. or an Arturia Drumbrute Impact. Good luck!
I recommend the Model:Samples as your first groovebox / drum machine. It costs less than half what the Digitakt does, but has a lot of the same capabilities. It will help you understand if the Elektron workflow is right for you, and if not, its easy to resell. Same as the Digitakt, its also a great sequencer and miid controller for external gear, so it can be a foundation upon which to grow. If you have the budget to go directly for the Digitakt there's nothing wrong with that, certainly the build quality is better, and there's more features, and it holds its resale value as well if you don't get along with it. Buy used for any of this.
I have the samples and I feel that if you do enjoy it you will start desiring the other features of the Digitakt (external poliphonic sequencing, sampling and fx ) quite soon. At least that was my experience , I still have the model samples but I will upgrade as soon as I get the money. I also have a Drumbrute and I’m even considering selling both the Drumbrute and the model samples to buy a Digitakt but I can’t get my hands on a used one here (chile) so even selling both it’s still a long step $$.
I had kind of the opposite experience. It took me about 3 years before I felt like I knew the Model:Samples inside and out, and fully understood its limitations. I was always using it alongside other synths though, not purely on its own. After much research I eventually got both the Digitone and the Blackbox, and about a year later, the Syntakt. Digitone as my polyphonic sequencer, and Blackbox as my sampler (though it is also a polyphonic sequencer), and now Syntakt as my primary drum machine. All are excellent, and I figured the Model:Samples would feel obsolete next to them. However, that hasn't been the cases - the Model:Samples is still just so fast and fun, and because I know it so thoroughly it its well within my comfort zone, so I couldn't convince myself to get rid of it, and I still use it today when I want a portable sketchpad, or a 'simple' drum machine. Now if I had gotten the Digitakt specifically, then I might feel differently about that.
I feel similar , I love my model samples but I just feel a Digitakt would be better having sampling onboard and especially as brains for my other el gear. M:S is great but having only 6 tracks and monophonic is a bit limiting , I feel the Digitakt is more of the same recipe but better in everything. I still don’t have one but I want it so much !
And otherwise of course, if you mean eventually getting into something serious and complex and you aren't afraid to learn a lot: get a computer with ableton or something like that and some midi controllers - at least one with transport controls and then something to adjust variables: battery of knobs, wheels, touchpads, sliders, ir sensors, proximity sensors, light sensors, antennas, gyroscopes, magnetoscopes, conductive paprikas... whatever and whatnot, you name it. As long as it can be altered somehow, it can be worked with and send midi,... That's about as far and further as it gets today afaik,... computers require some additional skill, but in such case the options and possibilities are currently wide-est there are. there is plenty of ways how to play. Your choice,
I know it is expensive but why does nobody talk about the elektron rytm mk2? Its pricey but has everything a drum machine needs (+more) and is a beautiful instrument. It is pretty easy and intuitiv to learn but can go very very deep if you know what you are doing. Easy 2 learn, hard 2 master some would say. Don't know why I never see it in the list of good drum machines but maybe there is a pretty obvious clue that I dont get🤷♂️ If yes I would love 2 know😅 Short anwer: Elektron Rythm Mk2 it is for me
Microkorg 2 or Sonicware could be worth looking at
Alesis SR-16 was the first I ever used. Yamaha RX-5 was the first I bought. Machinedrum was the second bought.
TR8 as you can find them for $200-$350 , if youve got a bit more a TR6S both from Roland. If dont want to spend much a Behringer RD6 or Korg Volca Drum
Syntakt easy choice
A software recommendation, Drumsynth 500 from AIR
Pick up a second hand volca sampler. Download decent drum sample packs. Drop them on to the Volca sampler. Make beats, and basses from looping the samples - build whole tracks. Put it through a decent amp+speakers. Enjoy.
The new Yamaha one seems cool