Hello, I own a DT (with a view to swapping out for OT MKI in the next year) and am looking to pair it with a multi timbral synthesiser to minimise the amount of machines I need for live performances. I have a Behringer CRAVE with a behringer distortion/overdrive pedal for basslines. I also like to make breakbeat/jungle/breakcore/IDM. The options I am looking at are, of course; the Digitone, Blofeld and the Korg Wavestate. Anybody have any experience with using the Digitakt to midi sequence these? Any opinions welcome but bear in mind I am a student so I can’t purchase anything more expensive than these synthesisers.
Cheers for the reply, were there any bugs or difficulty with MIDI configuration/messages. I know this synth is relatively old compared to the others mentioned so I’m currently trying to gauge if it’ll be difficult to work with
It’s quite a mature firmware so not too many bugs at this point.
It does still have an issue they never fixed where the delay won’t sync to tempo, so you have to manually set it in milliseconds. Other than this it’s pretty solid.
Access Virus TI Snow would be a good option, but they are quite expensive these days.
I use a Novation Nova (Desktop) synth, with my Digitakt. It has 6 parts, 16 Voices and each part has its own Chorus/Delay/Reverb effects which is quite nice. The synth engine is a bit basic but you can do a lot with it. You can get one around 400€ sometimes but you need to check if its encoders work properly because they can be faulty.
In terms of new multitimbral synths, Fred’s Lab Töörö is an interesting one. It only has 6 voices though and 4 parts but its 12bit oscillators and analog low pass filters are real nice.
Hmm what else, Auditothingies Micromonsta 2 is sick but its impossible to get (I waited 6 months for mine).
I wish more companies would make multitimbral synths but they are a bit rare these days and if someone make one, its sound shaping capabilities are kinda toned down (or it costs 1000€).
On the side of the DT there is not so much to think about. You have the elektron sequencer, you can sequence 4 note polyphony, you have one LFO per tracks.
In many cases you need to use the sub bank parameter for program change messages with bank change.
Also you need to care about how to send a program change message from the DT. If you turn in “send Prgr Ch” then it will always send a prgr ch message when you change a pattern but always with the number of the pattern. If you switch it off you always need a trigger for the change message for the individual part of the synth or on it’s global channel (depending on the device…).
And you should think about if you only want to program sequences or also play with a keyboard. The DT keys don’t transmit velocity. So you may need an external master keyboard or a midi processor to simultaniously play and record the Synths.
I mean the access virus series are the dream for any jungle/dnb/breaks producer but you’re right the price is quite high.
I had never considered the Nova, I’ve only ever seen the more recent mininova which has the limitation of having a very microkorg style of editing which is less hands on. Some food for thought either way
I have absolutely 0 music background so I have no need for playing the synth live. Knob tweaking and patterns is my way forward. I do have a keystep however just in case I ever learn how to play keys lmao
Me to, the nova is a good companion of the Dt
Perhaps a bit basic for route88 ,but it has a lot of modulation options
6 outputs 2 ins and a vocoder!
It also changes quick to another preset when recieving Program change messages
from the Dt so you can do some crazy stuff with that.
my vote goes to MicroMonsta 2. they work great together. Bi-timbral, I think it’s the right amount of timbres to have while working with alongside the DT. Also: compact, easy to use, great price, sounds amazing.
I have experience with both the Digitone and the MicroMonsta2 as companion pieces to the Digitakt. Both are excellent options.
Also, don’t discount Digitone as a tool for achieving some convincing subtractive analog sounds, if that’s what you’re looking for. This sound pack is a great example of how the DN can be more than “just” an FM synth.
