Just got my M:S and have the sources allocated for a DIGITONE (I’m more of a synth and FM guy, less samples). My question is: compared to let’s say Apple products, regarding the support and hardware lifespan of these devices, what could I expect? For MacBooks etc. it’s basically 5 years and after 7, you pretty much lose support and the harwdare gets outdated. But as for synths I’m not sure as a beginner. I see ppl still use Rolands from the 80s just fine, but how does Elektron compare to this? Is the hardware good for a long time? Can you expect support for let’s say 10-15 yrs and still use your device fine? Asking because if it’s significant, I might buy the Syntakt which isn’t FM but I like it a lot.
People are still using early Elektron products from 15-20 years ago, but Elektron themselves are not releasing new updates for those now.
What updates would you need though? Arguably all of their products are released in a “finished” state, (bar the odd post-release bug fix), but unfortunately people seem way too used to getting extra functionality that was never advertised after the product’s release. And they expect this for free too.
Side note though - Syntakt does have FM, it’s just no where near the same depth as the DN.
if i hadn’t sold my DX-11 twenty years ago, i reckon i could still be using it today without any further support from Yamaha. other than the lifespan of the Digitone’s internal flash memory, i expect this to be my FM synth for a similar time. as 8-voice FM synths go, it’s already a beast as-is. if Elektron continues to add incremental improvements to the workflow, great. if not, feels like i could still get on perfectly fine
The only thing I’m worried about with those boxes, apart from the internal memory that should have been more easily replaceable, is the rubberised trig buttons (pots are too but easy to replace).
Those will inevitably turn to goo after some time (usually 7-10 years). I hope Elektron will be able to provide replacements (or even better: non-rubberised replacements).
10 minutes with a solvent and that coating is gone - it’s nothing for you to worry about
@tiffanzsolti I think all we can go on is current experience, and as mentioned plenty of Elektronauts still use gear that’s 15+ years old. Elektron provide excellent support, and as far as I’m aware you can still send in a MK1 OT or a Machinedrum and as long as they have the parts they’ll fix it for you.
I would suggest that the lifetime of the product is long enough that it’s not something you need to worry about.
In my experience Elektron are more than happy to support their products many years after they have been discontinued, and supply spare parts if available. However In the case of obsolete parts there’s usually not much they can do.
Edit: Seems there is a layer of paint involved, but it will be much harder wearing than the rubberised coating as long as you use the right solvent, or just washing up liquid.
Having disassembled an A4 MKII, it seems to me that buttons are clear with a coat of paint (which might be less fragile than the rubberised coating, but still). Wouldn’t risk smudging them.
As a piece of hardware, Any Elektron device will last as long as there are enough spare parts to keep it going.
The only thing that probably won’t be supported much past about 10 or so years is the overbridge functionality, because anything that requires a computer is going to fall too far behind eventually.
But if people can still use a Nord Modular after 20 odd years, then there will probably always be a workaround.
…apart from the fact, that i got one macbook pro from 2000, 2 black macbooks from the later zero years, 2 macbook pros from the early tens, one mac pro from 2010, one macbook from 2017 and one actual macbook pro from last year, and they all do still pretty well…
…i can guarantee u, if it comes to swedish hardware devices, they can last even longer and get supported “forever”…
point is, as for stuff from cuppertino, as stuff from gotheburg, handle them with love and use them they way, they’re ment to be…at some point, all hardware get’s into oldtimer status…
and oldtimers might run not that fast anymore, but they can still get u from A to B if u only know how to use and appreciate them properly…
and old stuff like a machinedrum, or like mb pros from their uni body phase are pretty much undestroyable and do what they do, if u only handle them with care…
so, when it comes to sonic tools…all brands got their own call…early roland stuff is built to last, later roland products not so much…but when it comes to swedish gear, it really gets kind of timeless, no matter when or what…they’re pretty much outstanding, when it comes to life and product cycles and support…good invested money…
That’s actually one big point of making music with hardware VS software: you don’t depend on the company’s desire to use the device you bouht. If it works bugless, that’s it, enjoy for years as long as the physical parts work.
I don’t think it’s unfortunate, and there is a reason many companies do this. I expect to see more and more companies do this, and for these feature updates to be common and expected.
For the companies there are two reasons to make this normal behaviour - one being less important and one being of major importance.
The less important reason to make feature additions a normality is to add value to their customers user experience and purchase.
The more important reason(s) is the large amount of free advertising and buzz it creates when it happens, keeping the product relevant and driving sales, and the perceived value to any potential deciding or future consumers.
That buzz and perception of value are more than worth the effort put in for the companies that consistently do it, or it wouldn’t be done.
How many new forum posts, articles, Instagram posts, and uTube videos with the words ‘Elektron’ and ‘Song Mode’ appreared in the days of and after the song mode update?
How many more or less would there have been on those same days if there was no release? I’m guessing fewer. It’s smart marketing to drip out features.
it’s smart. and like, if they were to not release units until they were completely 100% fleshed out feature wise you probably wouldn’t have had your digitakts & digitones etc till years later.
And would be replaced in the mind by the next shiny ‘new thing’, the old thing only being discussed by a bunch of nerds on a small, obscure music making forum in a dim, dusty, forgotten corner of the massive and sprawling interwebs.
I do agree with your points on the benefits from a company side. The issue I have is more with people’s expectations that a company should be adding extras that were never advertised. This then seems to carry forward to people complaining about companies being sub-par because they haven’t added extra features, but feel entitled to have them.
As long as people see these ‘bonus features’ as an actual bonus and not something they deserve it’s all fine.
I also don’t want to get into the territory that games have got into now, where something is released far too early with minimal features, then additional features (that should have been in the original release) come later, potentially with an extra cost.
EA Games were/are a prime example of this.
Yeah I totally agree, people will complain and blame companies because of their user error. Then nice people here (not@Fin25 ) will help them with their errors and they will still find a way to blame the company.
But we are talking about people, and there are people who swear the earth is flat (definitely@Fin25 )
