Well that is the thing. The workflow is different, but lofi-12 has the exact same elektron sequencer that the m:s has. Parameter locks and sample locks included. It also has 10 voices polyphony when the M:S is strictly monophonic per track.
This isn’t even a fair fight when you consider the fact the lofi can sample, resample, has like 10 different effects, an arpeggiator, a line in, actual portability and is much cheaper lol.
Customers won’t care about that. They will set up a budget and get the best product they can for the budget. And ATM on a 400-450 euros budget the M:S is behind a lot (all? By a large margin?) of different devices (including elektron second hand devices).
yeah it has it’s version of an elektron-ish sequencer but the marriage between the seq and workflow on the L-12 is not the same as the MS… if you want an L-12 then of course the L-12 is the one, but if you’re seeking out the elektron mS workflow, the L-12 is not the ticket
it just goes to show that specs don’t encompass everything… I would also say that if someone is looking for that L-12 workflow that getting a model samples would be a mistake
i just received my m:c today (secondhand from reverb for $250ish).
while this opinion can certainly change, the initial impression is that it might not be worth $400.
it’s super fun to use, but without a requisite amount of ingenuity on the user’s part (especially when utilizing many machine/preset/parameter locks) the sound engine can be very limited.
if they provided some simple firmware updates that included keyboard scale/folding (it’s very clumsy to program melodies without an external midi keyboard) and another tonally-oriented machine or two (it’s balanced much more toward drum machine rather than groovebox), the heightened price could be merited for sure.
Exactly my feelings on the product. It has character, feels good to play. But the sound design is lacking, especially, as you stated, for more melodic/tonal sounds. But the good thing is, machines can always be added.
Compared to the M:S, an update could completely lift up the value of the product.
So let’s do some maths.
Let’s say (I think fairly conservatively) that inflation has gone up about 15% since M:C was released.
$349 + 15% = $401.35
I can’t imagine margins were particularly huge on the models and I’m sure there’s been some serious pressure on component prices/availability, so how long would we expect Elektron to continue charging pre-inflationary shitstorm prices?
I think we’re just going to have to get used to things getting more expensive for a while.
M:c release price was 299 dollars not 349 dollars …
Seems you’re right, I stand corrected.
Still, there’s plenty of places selling for below the new retail price. Normally I’d put this price hike down to it being a slow time of year and a good time to put prices up so you can slash them later with big 25% OFF MADNESS labels and shit, but it’s hard to predict anything in the current climate.
Either way, I’m pretty confident that street prices will level off in the low to mid 300s, because I don’t think people are going to be rushing out to buy one for $399.
That is exactly what we have all been saying on this thread. The price increase makes buying this first hand on the official price of 399 euros/dollars absolutely unattractive.
The second hand market is saturated with M:C and M:S, I do not believe their average prices will increase because of how many are available.
The model products are notorious for being really cheap build quality, specifically I have read lots of complains about the encoders getting mushy, the labels randomly getting erased as you clean up the surface of the products and the pads being absolute hell to play with random sensitivity trigger between different products.
The material support seems great, but the software support is nonexistant as both models have received no significant updates since their release. Sequencer is standard Elektron, which is great. But as I said, the liven offers the exact same sequencer.
Praising one product of a brand does not mean you work for the brand. There is a reason why the lofi-12 is currently Top 5 of the best selling samplers on Thomann… Same reason why the Roland SP-404 Mk II is up there aswell. And That is also why I specifically mentionned both.
I know, I was joking.
I find this hard to believe. Do you own both devices? If so, care to do a side-by-side comparison? Or do you know of an existing one?
wrong device but for once my timing wasn’t absolutely sh*te 
Sample lock = sound lock
Parameter lock on both devices
up to 64 step sequence
Swing per track on both devices
Nudge on M:C Laid back function on Lofi-12
Chance on M:C vs Dice on Lofi-12
Volume per track on both devices
Pan per track on both devices
Live/step recording on both devices
Voice modes (mono/poly/legato/arp) on Lofi-12 (including glide)
Note length per step on both devices
Conditional trig only on M:C
Random Only on Lofi-12
Stutter Only on Lofi-12
Retrig only on M:C
Thanks for writing that up! They do seem close in terms of the “weight” of the feature lists. I’m curious to know if the workflow is similar.
The workflow isnt similar, its the same learning curve as an Elektron boxes, with a different approach.
The key point tho, is one is a sample player than cannot resample/chop/slice while the other is an actual sampler with stereo sampling, resampling, chop/slice mode and a bunch of effects.
The value for the money you spend on a brand new Model:Samples vs on a Lofi-12 is not even close. And no amount of updates could change this unless they somehow manage to turn the M:S into a sampler 
I agree it’s a little frustrating on it’s own. If you have something like a Launchpad Pro to play the keys on, it really opens it up.
Also, could just be a limit on the site, but I was only able to add 8 M:C to my basket on the Elektron site. I could add up to 15 M:S and it kept going. Then I saw this on their Amazon store page.
Showing the Cycles currently unavailable. Could be nothing.the key point ??.. the key point of anyone looking for the model samples or cycles workflow is that they won’t get it from the lofi-12, and vice versa although there are understandably far less people actively looking for the lofi-12 workflow… (the night is still young though)… but yeah the lofi-12 samples and the model series does not, but more importantly far less would buy the lofi-12 if it didn’t sample and many people seek out the model series even though they don’t sample, the reasoning for that fundamental difference between the lofi-12 and the model samples is the key point… the MS is provenly viable even without the sampling capability to the point of “sampling” literally being ‘NOT’ the reason anyone buys it, literally no one. The number one feature of the Model samples is it’s workflow so it would make about as much sense for someone to buy the L12 looking for that workflow as it would for someone to by the MS looking for direct sampling.
I would never suggest someone get an mpc if they were clearly after the workflow of an deluge regardless of the feature set on the mpc
I don’t disagree. Elektron has a good reputation of making quality product.
But as far as I can see, a new musician looking to buy a low price entry sampler will never get a m:s over a lofi-12.
Actually the lofi-12 is on its way to becoming a classic. It is a very powerful device. Much much more interesting as a standalone device for someone looking to make sample based music.
The m:s is a glorified sample player which can mostly serve as a drum machine.
There is a reason why the m:c is way more popular. You can get the same workflow of the m:s while not having to deal with slicing and preparing samples on your computer to xfer on your m:s. M:c give you direct control and jam power, m:s gives you direct headaches.
the reason is the same reason someone would buy a model samples knowing that it doesn’t sample.
