I’ve been in need of a more analog sounding machine that can be integrated well with Ableton. I’ve had Digitone for years, and while I love it for sound design purposes, I realized it has been slowing me down when making sounds as I find myself trying to tame this beast of a machine, probably because of my lack of knowledge towards FM synthesis.
As I don’t find AR compelling both in terms of its sound and price tag, do you think it’s worth replacing my Digitone with a Syntakt? Has anyone else made a similar move? If so, how has your experience been so far?
I did. You’d miss polyphony, layering, arp, Multi Map, algorithms, harmonics carriers envelopes…
I really liked it, but after a while I wasn’t inspired with it, I think it lacks modulation matrix, it was taking some time for me to make a patch I really like from scratch…
With Syntakt SY TONE machine you can get nice melodic FM sounds turning a couple of knobs, use 2 lfos, and dedicated FM drum sound machines works really well.
Faster sound design, more tracks, better mute display…
I was missing AR synthesis, it definitely helped for the decision. FX track add analog warmth, for sure.
For polyphony on ST I use RK002 cable.
For deeper non drums sound design I prefer the Hydrasynth, and particularly for FM possibilities. My second choice is Micromonsta 2.
I sold my DN to fund a ST (to use with a DT). No regrets other than poly. I feel like I went pretty far with the DN but the allure of the ST’s combination of machines, analog and digital, and master fx track (which is actually super useful) pulled me over. I freakin love the sound of the ST. Swarm and Raw are so sick and I much prefer the ST analog filters over my A4. If Elektron adds poly and an arp I don’t think I’ll ever need another synth.
As an owner of all three Digitakt/Digitone/Syntakt boxes, my music making choices are often colored by owning all three as part of a complementary ecosystem.
Upon threat of pain, which would I keep if forced to choose just one, especially in the context of working with a DAW such as Ableton?
It would be the Syntakt.
That said, most of my DAWless stuff is intended for live performance, so I need at least two boxes to do that properly, at least for my taste.
Lately, the pairing I choose to work with most often are the Digitakt/Syntakt. I’m liking the Syntakt for foundational song construction with drums and synth tracks, and the Digitakt fills in the blanks with sample-based tracks that would be hard or impossible to achieve with synthesis.
But that also reflects some of the types of dance music I’m working on right now. If polyphony, the weirdness of FM, crystaline ambience and other aspects of the Digitone are called for, I’ll pull that into the mix. And if I really don’t need samples? Then the Syntakt and Digitone are incredibly complementary.
There probably is no one box to rule them all, BUT, if I were to somehow lose my current Digi trio, the Syntakt would be my first purchase in the quest to restore order to my galaxy.
Editing to add something that’s actually on topic for the OP — I can relate to struggling with synthesis on the Digitone, and I bet Syntakt is the perfect alternative for that since the synth engines are designed to be tweaked. That said, the Digitone is a really beautiful instrument and totally worth learning if you do decide to stick with it. When I listen back to my Digitone recordings, I’m always struck by how nice it sounds.
