Besides the obvious positives (there isn’t much to criticize!), here are two negative points concerning the hardware:
EDIT: point one appears to have fixed itself overnight... no I don't do drugs
My unit has a loose piece rolling around inside the case.
That’s not ok for something that costs around 1000.- EUR and is made in Sweden.
Will open ticket.
There is zero protection around/under the buttons. I can see straight to the PCB below. Humans sweat when they play live, what happens if one drop of sweat falls into the machine? Fried buttons…
And even a small liquid spill can completely destroy the machine, that’s not a good property in a club.
…that’s the same with all other elektron instruments…
no worries…they work in all kind of live scenarios…
spilling drinks is a no go for all electronic gear…and no further protection level could really change anything about that…don’t see sweat drops from ur hands as a serious concern…
maybe from ur forhead, if leaning in/over too much…very little chance, though… but something to keep in mind…yes…
You see, the buttons on the OT & Analog MK1s fit the case pretty tightly and I have played 100+ gigs with OT MK1, including the dreaded sweaty forehead.
But I never was able to see the PCB below all of the buttons, apart from the crossfader, which later got a little felt protector, when I had to send the OT back to Sweden for a broken headphone jack, back in 2012 or so.
So I’m left with a feeling of insecurity about taking ST near a sweaty dancefloor. I’m aware that a lot of other non-elektron gear has this issue too, but there are examples that solve this with tigher seals or “umbrella” plastic mats above the PCB.
All the Digi boxes have this issue, its not exclusive to Syntakt. If they didn’t fix it by this iteration I assume its cost saving to use the same shell as Digitakt and/or they didn’t think much of this as an issue
From thousands of DJ mixers in 50+ years of history there was only one waterproof model (can’t actually remember the name) that never sold well and was discontinued two decades ago. There is no demand for such equipment.
Although… The only vulnerable places on a DJ mixer are the faders, which almost always have some kind of felt or plastic sleeve. The knobs are safe, and buttons often have a plastic “skirt” under the case.
…again…no worries…the old round button design was just a little tighter, since the square button designs need a little more loose, so they can’t get stuck/block anglewise…
the fact that u now see the circuitboard a little does not make any difference, since any liquids always find even the smallest gap…
while that slider pretection lid on the ot is only a dust protector lid…since the fader is based on an optical circuit…and all kinds of faders don’t like too dusty ways to slide along…
i can assure u, they all, st will be no execption, will do tatally fine, even in highest humidity sourroundings, while any kind of spilled liquid will kill them…no protection possible for that…only awareness helps here…while a single drop of sweat?..nah, won’t really. harm ur gear…
Of course, you could do a construction with encoders and buttons seperated from the PCB that if liquid comes inside it just stays in the ground and in worst case damages the encoder when drying. Like you have it in old Rodec or Hilevel DJ mixers. But that makes the whole thing less compact. I have the feeling that the situation in a DJ/performance Booth is not comparable to the 90s.
The surface tension of a liquid can keep it out of small gaps to some extent. So tight fits are basically better. Let’s hope the ST will reveal itself to be tight enough.
I had to disassemble the OT fader and clean the optical marker plate several times, also put the fader back on its rails… ah those were the times…
Not entirely true - performance hardware like turntables and DJ mixers often have additional protection for things like drink spillage and cables being yanked because that’s the environment they’re used in. It’s just a consideration during design.
Things like side-mounted faders for example, are much less prone to spill damage.
I’ve not really heard any complaints from people that gig with the Digi boxes though - so that’s worth a lot - and the top PCB is just the interface, all the juicy stuff is below that.
DJ’s definitely own their own gear, as do hybrid performers - but even so that’s beside the point - the reason they’re built that way is for the environment.
Doesn’t matter who owns it when someone flings their Carling across the room
Same with power cable tiedowns/hooks on live gear etc.
But I suspect the vast majority of Elektron gear is used in a studio environment, that’s their core market.
