st have a melodic harmonic synth side NOT AS DEEP AS a4，digitone，even mnm， one hundred times more，
i still say so！
Don’t treat my politeness as weakness！
who gives you right to judge one’s thread is illigitimate complaints or not?
if i said： minimoog have a voice Architecture not as deep as a 6u 104hp eurorack system full of complex module，did you saw a “illigitimate complaints”？
go some where else for you head，please！
Maybe there was a bit lost in the communication, but I would hardly call their skills at a lengthy and pretty clear post and all the subsequent counter arguments “poor” skills.
…a groovebox with no cupholders !?..how dare they…
that’s too much unconvenience right there…
No cup holders… but it does have 16 tiny coasters. They even change colours.
It seems silly to me because I think people are reacting to the way things are being said more than they really need to, considering the language barrier.
On another note, although I agree some simple improvements should eventually be made to add the finishing touches to this machine, I’m fully enjoying my unit paired with a desktop UDO Super 6. One of the things I like most about the ST is being able to modulate the audio input with an LFO from the FX track; I can really chop up audio from the Super 6 and easily side-chain it to the kick.
The synth engines in this make the engines in my opz look like luxury… But I don’t think that is the point and I think they are similar in the fact that they are simple for a reason… same reason you don’t want crazy waves in a wavetable synth, it turns to mush… the magic is in how they react to the elastic sequencer.
I haven’t touched the syntakt, but I feel like I have to agree with the guys who say it’s a useless piece of toy. I mean, come on. How am I supposed to utilize my creative superpowers if I can’t be sure that this thing is all the things that can exist in one box? Come on, Elektron. Maybe try a little harder next time?
I have a Syntakt on the way and the more I think on it, the more I think it’s going to dovetail just perfectly with my DT/DN boxes.
It may be “simplified” in terms of controls for individual machines, compared to something like the DN or A4 where you can really deep-dive with sound source design, but I think I’m going to be using it as the drum synth centerpiece of my setup, which frees up the DT for more custom sample-centric duties and the DN for deeper FM and polyphony. Currently without the ST, I’m always balancing which box is going to do what in a song, and often pulling in something like a Circuit Mono just to get a taste of analog percussion or tonal stuff in the mix.
Love the Circuit Mono, but the lack of screen and non-unified workflow sometimes kind of harshes my Elektron buzz.
The ST has elements that make it like the multi-voice CMS on Elektron steroids that I not-so-secretly wanted, and then piles on with a 12 track drum synth monster with digital AND analog synthesis and fx in a sequencing form-factor I already know and love?
Honestly, I’m kind of gobsmacked at how well this rounds out the “Digi” line, at least for what I want to do musically. YMMV
I know this thread has moved on a little bit but a little bit of a follow up note.
A few days in, I accidentally wiped my initial jams (sake!) so new project created and a few hours spent over the weekend.
I don’t think I’ve ever stayed away from presets so much in my life. It’s not a consciously deliberate move but I’m super glad I’m sticking with it as I’m exploring these synth machines like I never did with any of the other boxes I’ve owned over the year. Don’t know what I’m doing 90% of the time but it certainly is a deeper box than what you may get from first impressions. Not kidding myself that this is the be all and end all but for the type of stuff I write and enjoy I think ST could cover the bases very well.
Haven’t really gone near any of the performance stuff and I’ve really not put enough hours in to be certain yet, but it’s been a really fun weekend with ST. Not yet decided how it will fit in with long term plans. Do I use it primarily for drum duties? Will be it be my “get away from the computer” groove box? Will I partner it with my AK for and OTB/hybrid set up? Who knows and for now, who cares!
I love how the op made the thread title politically correct. 
I’m finding myself in a similar situation these days.
I want a machine to simply fill in some gaps. To add some embellishments here and there.
I don’t need or want the be all and end all of synthesis, as I currently don’t have the time or energy to dedicate to deeper sound design.
we are all different.
when i bought it, i knew it is a “analog and digital drum machine” because i read the specs.
i just want a wider detune and fm detune range for the machines, and a more mono synth like version of SY BITS with ring mod instead of bit crush and sample rate reduction. for me, that would move the syntakt from great to killer.
i also don’t like all machines, but i realized a while ago that if the 8 digital machines were all sy bits and nothing else i might be a bit happier with the syntakt 
because then there were no machines to keep worrying about.
(edit: on another note, being able to route selected tracks to the fx block - which has distortion - is a big killer feature!)
i’m guessing it’s not what you want at all, but you do realise there’s an octave offset in the sound settings
this gives you a moving window up and down the ‘keys’ - it’s somewhat a pity (albeit ultimately how it’s now implemented is correct for the machine) but it did have a broader general window with no offset - so a sound designer dream, but not as generally practical … some you win, some you lose - if i’m not mistaken there may even be one engine still using this broader 7bit range as opposed to +/- 2
yes, but i mean a seperate one for detune (not tune). it is actually possible to push detune with an lfo (one that is standing still at one value), but then one lfo is gone 
how do folks feel about the ‘syntakt as a synth’ today? would you say it’s closer to 50:50 after the last couple updates?
It can be 100% synth, 100% drums, and everything in between. Synth machines can be used as drums, and vice versa.
So it depends on user. I heard about a guy using 2 Digitones for drums only
The DN is brilliant for drums.
cool opions here.
mine is just to say I 've had the Syntakt from when they were first realised in the UK. I’ve played live with it 4 times so far. I’ve just started seriously recording a few bits for my next record…& I haven’t even looked at any of the drum & percussion machines yet 
I produce pretty melodic ambient music… this thing is a beast. It’s like a tiny modular in a box. Yes, strapping a few choice pedals on the output doesn’t hurt, but seriously this thing is fantastic for melodies. It also sequences my Buchla Easel Command. So yeah, I don’t even remotely think of it as a drum machine - I doubt I’ll ever look at a single drum sound on it ! Horses for courses as they say 
It looks like it, and I’d prefer a completely different design than the “machines” (like, how would’ve been one machine where one can select and combine “modules”?) But anyway, still it’s possible to get any sound out of it.
Here’s a pile of my sketches in lots of different styles (techno of different eras (incl. James Brown is Dead cover), noise industrial, drum’n’bass …)
Edit: Damnit, I never notice when a thread is super old! But anyway, I just leave this here! (It’s also interesting to see what happened since: Portamento, Swarm and Raw …)