Just wondering that they have no Soundbanks for the Digitone to Download on the Elektron Website. I know that a Digitone is another Maschine than a DX7 but they use the same form of FM synthesis. Is it possible to feed the Digitone with Fm Sounds from the DX7? I know that is possible with a Korg Volca FM but i hope that works also on the Digitone.
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No.
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It would be neat to see some sound design tutorials or patch libraries. I’ve been trying to re-create sounds I’ve learned through Seamlessr tutorials for Sytrus and replicate sounds I hear on a lot of Mau5trap artists, but keep venturing off into uncharted territory.
I think most of the sounds I’m after are painfully simple, but I don’t really know the Digitone well enough yet to dial in.
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Thank you very much for explaining! 
now i know the difference between them.
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I’m pretty sure that the first company that puts up a library of 127 new Digitone patches will sell a shedload of them.
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I sure hope that the company is Elektron and the patches are free (if only to compensate to a small extent for OB delay, while saying thanks to loyal and patient customers)
Cheers
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I see no reason why a savvy coder couldn’t come up with a patch ”translator” of sorts for converting DX patches to digitone sounds. They would however not sound identical in many cases…
For example, some operator ratio combos that DX use for creating stuff like square waves etc could be ”simplified” using the digitone synthesis and thereby saving operators needed for more complex sounds… Would be quite an undertaking though and might not really be worth the hassle in the end?
What do you think mr @void ? Is my idea naive/too ambitious?
Yamaha released plenty of 4 op FM synths over the years, perhaps converting those types of patches first might be the way to go initially if people are keen to try to recreate a DX in a DN?
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The Yamaha Reface DX is less than $300 on amazon. Is it a good alternative? Don’t hear much about it nor the reface line.
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It sounds really nice, and responds nicely to live playing. It responds well to MIDI CCs but is only monotimbral. If you’re not a keyboard player I probably wouldn’t recommend buying one unless you really love the engine (it is admittedly quite lush, especially once you factor in the reverb etc).
As I’ve mentioned many times in other threads, I still use mine, but only as a controller; the keys are the best minikeys I’ve played.
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I have the Reface DX and I love it!!!
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Discovered this thread.
I owned the Digitone twice, sold it twice. Reason being the harshness (it was my only synth then; needed something Analog) and the fact that I had a DT and the second try an OT as well, resulting in limited use of the Digitone Sequencer.
Now I bought a Volca FM on a hunch and I LOVE the sound. Im loading DX7 patches and I like every single one.
Problem is; a few CC LFO’s from the OT and the thing goes BONKERs. It still works surprisingly well, but still.
I’d love an easy way to load patches (not manually loading 1 by 1 via Dexed) so I am looking to get another FM synth.
Are there alternatives to the Digitone that allow DX7 patches / or unique patches similar to DX7? Is it the Digitone atm?
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That’s wild. I had the Volca FM (and used it a ton), but sold it because of the very frustrating functionality (as you mentioned the MIDI CC). I always loved the crazy harsh sounds I got from it though. It’s all over these releases.
The Digitone on the other hand is sometimes unmistakably analog to me.
I would love to see a DX7 patch interpreter for the Digitone. Even if it’s completely unpredictable sometimes (like bad translations).
Yeah the Volca is nice; love the sound. But for live jams it just doesnt take CC too well. I could look past that if only the uploading of patches would work smoother; ie. load a cartridge at once.
The manual saving per patch is too time consuming.
Anyways; A converter for DX7 > Digitone would be mental, but the fact that that doesnt exist yet probably means it wont.
Other than these two I have yet to discover a synth that replicates the lush sound of the DX7 a bit. Especially the general brass / bass / piano / guitar sounds. Maybe the Yamaha Reface DX…
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A second hand MODX is another alternative, if you have the space.
Or buy a Korg OPSIX of you are looking for dx style fm synthesis.
It can load dx7 soundbanks as well (though sounds end up being a bit different due to opsix’s different envelopes and higher possible operator levels)
In theory, http://dxconvert.martintarenskeen.nl/ could be extended to export to Digitone, but the structure of operators and patches is different enough that it’s probably not worthwhile.
Dx7 is 6 OP, DT is 4 OP. Maybe get some sound packs for the digitone instead… it can really sound amazing and warm and beautiful!
I sold it twice, I know it can but aside from the fact that I was underusing it too much I just couldn’t find enough sounds I liked. Got a bunch of packs.
Expecting a dx7 patch to work on a DN because they’re both fm is a bit like expecting a prophet5 patch to work on a Juno because they’re both subtractive. They may share a type of synthesis but they’re very different synths with disparate features that keep them from being easily compatible. However they are similar enough that you can, in many cases, approximate a patch from one on the other if you know the ins and outs of programming it.
I have a dx7(2fd) and a DN and I used to have a volca fm. The volca is effectively a dx7 clone with a couple of caveats and was designed specifically to receive dx7 sysex data.
The dx7 is the archetypal fm synth while the DN is a reimagined version of fm. They’re different at a fundamental level. The dx7 has more pure fm features/ parameters (far more algorithms, two more operators, more complex envelopes and more of them, etc…) but the DN has a filter (rare in fm), effects, four part timbrality, and the beefy power that comes with the elektron sequencer tricks.
If looking to dump dx7 sysex into a piece of hardware, I think the preenFM line can do that as well as the volca. Or, you can sometimes find a cheap dx7, go old school.
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