Agree 100%.
It can definitely get closer with internal efx’s and some clever sound design.
And it’s such a pain to tweak it with all that SHIFT + INST combos… etc… Still fighting with support in fb group to exlain that it could be much easier to press 1 button instead of 2…
I’ll let you know… it’s so small and takes up such little space. It’ll be late on the selling list if I do it. Still, I’ll let you know…
To me, this seems like a sound design (and balance/mixing) question more than a hardware choice question.
It was said above by @Airyck and @DonovanDwyer … envelopes + oscillators FTW. Different material will need different drum qualities in order for the drums to feel punchy. If you’ve got no baselines and sparse mids, you’ll benefit from those thick, “Gabber” distorted FM kicks, and then some super sharp snares and hats to cut through. If your music is otherwise warm and gooey in the bass department, you’ll need snappy pitch or filter envelopes to make the drums poke through.
(All this said… I have not had any live experience during this recent phase of music-making; and when I did it before, I was in bands with drummers and the in-house sound engineers dealt with this stuff. My first–AR only–live show is coming up soon so I might have a hard lesson in a couple of weeks 
)
I have a TR8S here and I think it can be extremely, extremely punchy. It’s all in the sounds you choose, especially since it can play back samples as well. Using the COMP/DRIVE effect on the master is the best for increasing punch, I have found.
Yeah I love the digitakt, punchy and you can get some great subtle movements with the 2 lfo setup, the filter and compressor are great… I was actually running into this with the M8 just nothing sounds as punchy or is as easy to tweak as on the digitakt. Then again I can sample a full drum pattern from the digitakt and scramble it all up on the M8 and retain the punch for the most part.
Of the drum machines I have used, nothing comes close to the punch Machinedrum delivers 
wait, have you tried the Syntakt already ? : )
Perhaps but I’m not sure that many of the 500 would feel it so long as the PA is loud enough!
I have no, but I’m sure it will be plenty punchy as Digitakt and Digitone sound great.
I’d rate Digitakt right behind MD for punchiness and Digitone could probably get there too if I were better at programming drums on it. Model Cycles sounds fantastic as well.
I don’t know… I often play at the festivals and events where all acts do their live sets with the machines, playing one by one, so it’s really easy to hear the difference on the same PA… And despite it’s really the matter of talent, experience and vibe, the choice of machines also counts…
Like listening to a guy with 4 Elektrons, and right after the guy with old 808/909/303… It’s two completely different worlds, and probably the second one will sound fuller and nicer to me… and after the guy with laptop jumps in - well, cool, but I’d better spend this hour on another floor since the laptop sounds a bit too clear and “clinic” to me, but youngsters will be of course happy with those painful digital noises and eardrill hihats : )
And after a modular guy starts to play… Well yes, it’s a mess, raw unmixed goo, but to me it’s much more pleasant than clinical stuff… at least in the club, live… At home I would probably prefer mastered stuff : )
Not sure if someone from those 500 acidheads care about such a things, but… : )
This could still be a sound design/mixing/taste issue, rather than a hardware one. Your description here makes it seem like the four different set-ups also played in four different genres. The x0x set-up will likely have less going on, very clear roles for each machine and might be going into a mixer where the artist or the venue’s engineer gets to mix properly. The 4 Elektrons might all be feeding into one another, which would require the artist to really know their mixing or it’ll go to mud fairly quickly. I’m not going to comment about the other two for fear of saying something I can’t back up.
(TBH, I’m probably defending this point about sound design because I’m sitting here looking at my AR nervously hoping my loops are fun and my sounds are good enough for this small upcoming gig, rather than actually knowing what I’m talking about. Sorry. I’ll shut up now)
pound for pound (and without talking about mixing, eq-ing and space) i reckons these are the “punchiest” drum machines I’ve ever heard. totally subjective but in reaction to the OP that’s my answer. these things leave bruises.
Of course, and at the end it’s all very subjective… But at the same time the choice of hardware pushes musician into some direction, some kind of workflow, so it “could be” hardware issue as well. Like you mentioned > Elektron users usually don’t use mixer and feed devices one to another, which is “not perfect”. Despite it’s possible to do it another way, this usually works like that. Let’s see it all not as “issues” but just as information for thoughts…
That’s why I think it’s interesting to share opinions and see what others think, this could be useful for our next projects… I still try keep myself openminded and use tech ideas from other ppl, no matter if they well respected star or not.
And of course if you have a clear vision, you can get there with any tool. Laptop live music can be amazing and super “alive”. Actually my best sets were played with well prepared Ableton set and Push2. But the sample material was of course from all around sources, from vintage machines, samplers, cuts from finished tracks…
Still prefer raw 1-2 machines rigs. Here we come to another thing - it’s not only sounds different, but it’s interesting to look at how artist works with his machines, his reaction to audiences reaction etc… so laptop + controller isn’t perfect performance tool.
No reason to shut up! Let’s keep it evolving : )
Have a nice gig : )
I’ve been eyeing the Drumtraks as there’s one on sale in my neighbourhood.
Kool!
Never heard them in person, but can imagine…
I heard from Uwe Schmidt that his Oberheim DMX is still one of the best / punchiest things on earth for drums. He still uses / sample it a lot I guess and I think Drumtracks / Tom share something with that dusty Oberheim.
After almost 60 messages I still think I want Isla + Modor : )
And Erica LXR…
Most punchy drum synthesizer I’ve used is the Verona drm1 mk3. Snappy, punchy, beefy, crafted from top components… The thing cut through whatever I threw at it
