Routing between Digitakt, synth, and DAW

Elektron Gear Digitakt
#1

Hey there!

Just getting into hardware, and the first piece of gear I picked up is a Digitakt!

I could use some help planning out cable routing for an eventual synth purchase.

Here are my goals:

  1. Connect Digitakt to my computer via USB to load samples, send midi/audio, and record via Overbridge
  2. Sequence the synth using Digi
  3. Sample the synth using Digi
  4. Send the synth’s–stereo–audio directly to my DAW via an audio interface + USB
  5. Connect the synth to my DAW via USB to send and receive midi

Here is my attempt to map this:

[Album] Imgur: The magic of the Internet

In the list above, #3 does not seem possible with the current setup. Am I able to send audio from my synth to my DAW and Digitakt at the same time? Or at least have the cables connected and flip between sources?

I read that Digitakt can act as an audio interface, but wouldn’t I lose stereo audio from the synth because Digitakt is strictly mono?

Thanks for any and all support!

1 Like
#2

Digitakt is stereo, it samples in Mono but it has a stereo input. You can have the incoming sounds just play and be effected by the Digitakts effects if you want. Once you start recording it sims the stereo to mono but until then, the audio input and pass through is stereo.

And yeah, that’s what I’d do in this case. Plug your Synth into the digitakt input and use the digitakt as an audio interface. You don’t even really need a MIDI cable between the two as you can use MIDI over usb and send midi to your synth that way, assuming you always have your DAW open when making music. But of course, you could use a MIDI-Din if you felt like it.

Or you could record the audio into Ableton and then use Elektron transfer to send the samples to Digitakt. But the audio interface seems entirely unnecessary if that’s all the gear you have.

#3

This is how I would do it. A mixer is great, but in this case it only complicates things.

I would still make the direct midi connection between synth and Digitakt though, so you can use them both together even without Ableton.

#4

Audio: Synth > Digitakt
MIDI: Digitakt > Synth
USB from Digitakt to computer

Done. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#5

Great info–thank you all very much!

Digitakt is stereo, it samples in Mono but it has a stereo input.

Thanks for confirming my suspicion; I couldn’t deduce this from the manual.

make the direct midi connection between synth and Digitakt though, so you can use them both together even without Ableton.

Great idea–it will be nice to jam without needing my computer. It’s easy enough to swap my headphones over from my interface to the Digi.

Audio : Synth > Digitakt
MIDI : Digitakt > Synth
USB from Digitakt to computer

Perfectly succinct :pray: