I’ve watched YouTube videos and read reviews of the Syntakt. It seems like a fun new concept and a solid addition to the Elektron family. But, I already own a Digitakt, Digitone and Octatrack. After all my video-watching and review reading, I still find myself silently wondering, “what could I do with a Syntakt, that I can’t do now?” Any insight from someone who made the leap and brought it into their current setup? Much appreciated for any feedback!
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You don’t need a syntakt
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You don’t need a Syntakt unless somebody is offering you a gig for the exact price of an ST but you are only allowed to play if you have an ST.
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No because no one does. But yes it would be cool and not too redundant because you have no analog in that Elektron lineup.
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Classic marketing. Need vs want. Convince the customer that they need what they want.
With what you have you don’t need an ST. Would it add diversity to your setup? Sure. Does it provide what you want in your sound pallet?
That’s up to you
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If you have to ask if you need a Syntakt you definitely do not need a Syntakt.
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Of course you need one.
From : me
To : me
Merry Christmas to me.
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It’s a wrong place to ask such questions.
Very likely that most people didn’t need Syntakt here at all, but they bought it because they wanted it.
But if you doubt it, I’d say wait as long as you can, until the urge to buy becomes unbearable.
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Well, I don’t know about you but I definitely do
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You certainly don’t need it l, but if it would be fun to play with them that’s up to you.
I found it quite disappointing as a device.
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@Sit.Stand.Jump It sounds like you don’t have a drum-oriented synth so that’s the gap you’d be filling. My humble opinion is that, like the Digitone, it definitely has a sound “character” and that you may or may not like it. It doesn’t sound like a Moog or a Juno or anything else, it sounds like a Syntakt.
It’s very versatile and the drum engines can be used to make non-drum sounds for sure. I’m not that keen on the analogue drum engines but some people love them. The recently added synth engines (one digital, one analogue) are great additions and I personally think the SY Raw analogue engine is a huge step forward for easy-to-use fat basses and thick analogue synth sounds. The SY Swarm and SY Bits engines seems to be favourites around here because they are very easy to use and you can make a lot of different sounds very easily. I’ll go out on a limb and say that’s it’s vastly easie and faster to dial in good sounds than a Digitone. I have nothing against Digitone, but FM is tricky at the best of times and the Syntakt “macro” synth engine approach is designed for fast results, and personally I think it works very well.
I think it’s a good device if you want to sit and make electronic beats and experiment with techno and similar electronic beat-driven genres with a single box. It really doesn’t need much else. It has some weak spots e.g. hats and snares but if you have a Digitakt with a load of one-shot drums and loops to add into the mix (like I do) then the two boxes together can be really quite powerful.
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There will always be a hole in your setup if you look for it. As far as what one ‘needs’ I think back to my early days making gritty loops with a delay pedal and a casiotone. I could have gone on that way forever but no… I got a raise at work and suddenly I could afford more…
I wish I could go back to that ignorant bliss, but no, here I am decades later with piles of gear and still combing forums for stuff I may ‘need’.
Skip the Syntakt. Pick one of your instruments and spend a month making music with it. Then pair them up, make tracks with two of them. If after six months you are missing something, go for it.
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So you already have the following :
Syntakt can add more analog bass line.
Your drum and sampling is already really well covered.
DN is really useful in this setup for Drum and polysound.
Honnestly, with your setup, you don’t need it.
Or maybe replace the DT by ST if you feel that DT and OT can be merge on sampling side.
And only if you want some more analog bassline and drum.
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Thanks, everyone for your input. I didn’t mention but I have a few nice analog synths (Moog Subsequent 37 and Prophet 6) so I feel pretty good on the analog bass and poly side for the moment. I think the realization that I have no analog drum machine is the gap that I’d like to fill. But for the price point, I’d probably jump into this with a DFAM or similar type of machine. Cheers and happy holidays!
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You could always get a volca beats to fill your analog drum machine needs 
Maybe a rhythm wolf?
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Nah you need a Nord Drum 2.
You also need a Pulsar-23.
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I need a doctor
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Hemorrhoids, too much shitting?
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Never let a few grapes get in the way.
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…no one really needs more than 3 elektron boxes at once…
it’s always good to have one swedish sequencer treating sampling and one treating synthesis…
that’s for sure…
anything beyond that, is where sonic luxury starts…
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