for sharper and upper register sounds it is. Also, the sound design seems a bit more indepth. Larger sound palette, I think. AR is great for low-end. MD is great for upper register. I have both(non-sample MD), and I’m really digging the MD. Right now, the MD more than the AR(though probably because the MD is my latest toy.) If you can swing it, I’d go for it. Since it’s out of production, it might be a worthy investment.
I’m actually considering getting a UW version if I find one at a reasonable price.
I’ve also been keeping my eye out for a deal, from all the videos and demos i’ve heard they appear to be in different dimensions. I love my Rytm to death and know a Machinedrum UW with it’s live sample mangling and plethora of alternate synthesis methods would open up many doors!
Personally I don’t think the extra sampling functionality matters too much if you already have an OT or AR which can cover those ‘sampling’ duties… but having said that I don’t own an SPS1 or SPS1 UW so its an educated guess. And most of these guesses come from studying it on YouTube and other media channels.
At the end of the day its not what equipment you have but how you use it… and from my experience having quality gear either helps make the process easier or complicates it further
Yessir! The KP3 and Octatrack were just for sporatic effects and the ending reverb drone. GND for all the sound sources! I love those machines. Those machines you’re free from any leading as to what the voices are supposed to be. Makes the process require more creativity, and thus making it more rewarding.
[quote=“KennyJapan, post:26, topic:7797, full:true”]
Personally I don’t think the extra sampling functionality matters too much if you already have an OT or AR which can cover those ‘sampling’ duties…[/quote]
True for the OT (if you dont wanna use it as a resample proxy for the AR) - but not true for the AR!!
The MD UW can sample, i.e. record audio, the AR cant. The MD UW can also resample itself, which offers even more creative orgasms along the road Tweaking drum sounds to hell with up to 16 LFOs for a single sound; resampling that very sound and starting the process - again !!! Also, each and every machine on the MD sounds completely unique! The machines on the AR are always pretty similar to each other. Like @OHEXOH already said: The MD is way more versatile for sound design.
And here’s another benefit the MD UW has: It can sample the AR and transfer recorded samples directly back to it! That way you can record Drums from the AR, spice them up with the endless possibilites on the MD and directly send them back to the AR with nothing more than your standard MIDI cable. Now you have the great sound from the MD built into your original AR Drum Sound and you can move on with the ARs great performance features - without ever touching a computerI!! never understood why Elektron hasnt build SDS File Transfer into the Octatrack (that way you could use the OT for that). But yeah, thats another great advantage the MD UW has. And in my opinion it therefore makes a lot of sense to use the MD UW together with an AR. You can add drum sounds to the Track the AR would never be able to deliver without using samples on its own - and you can sample the AR, layer the MD on top and profit from direct sample transfer back to the AR. So AR + MD UW will be the best of both world and makes what i would call a perfect Drummachine
Tweaking drum sounds to hell with up to 16 LFOs for a single sound; resampling that very sound and starting the process - again !!! Also, each and every machine on the MD sounds completely unique! The machines on the AR are always pretty similar to each other. Like 
Its also in the manual, Page 70 to 71.
