I think I’m realizing I have too much Elektron and when I do go for an Elektron gear I’m tending to go for my big boys (A4 and Octatrack) rather than the Digis. I do enjoy the Syntakt and Digitakt but having two boxes feels a bit less convenient than having one box that does most of what the other two do. Digitone I rarely use and I prefer the A4 over it.
I think a big factor is I love slide trigs and the Digis lack of them makes them feel a bit more limited. In general the performance options are limited and really just come down to muting and unmuting and the effect all which, Rytm seems to have a more precise version of.
Anyways, I guess the question is mainly coming down to the Digitakt vs Rytm as the Digitakt is my favorite Digi box. I know the Digitakt has 2 LFOs while the Rytm has one, but Rytm has Slide trigs, song mode, and more performance options. Are there any key features I should know about that I might miss by dropping the Digitakt?
Well all Elektrons imo are performance oriented in a way. Digitakt has control all which Rytm doesn’t have. I personally wouldn’t grab the Rytm in the hopes that it will be more fun for performance- for me, that big form factor makes it so that I never want to take it off my desk. It’s durable but doesn’t feel good to throw it in a bag like the Digis are. The other reason being, I’m a proponent of trying to master/squeeze everything out of a piece of gear before upgrading. I’ve seen people do amazing performance oriented stuff on the Digitakt. The Rytm is cool performance wise but didn’t really click with me, I almost get option paralysis in a way because all the options for performance are pretty similar/have overlap in their capabilities (scenes/macros/LFOs). I just end up riding the mutes more than anything else when I’m using it with other gear. The pads are pretty shit too, and the analog engines are highly subjective. You might like them, hate them, or just be kinda meh about them. And if you aren’t using them, then you may as well stick with the Digitakt because it’s superior in sample editing. Probably sounds like I hate the Rytm but I actually love it and use it everyday, not trying to dissuade you per se, but I guess I feel the Digitakt is a better fit in a multi-box setup. I don’t own any Digis, but the Digitone has always been far more interesting to me than the A4- I see we differ there so take everything I’m saying with a grain of salt! Just my opinion
The main thing I miss when I’m on the Rytm is Controll All, it’s just stupidly quick and fun. But it’s also easy to set up Scenes and Performance macros on the Rytm, so with a bit of preparation you can still access the same experience of spontaneous mangling/chaos.
Also, the Digitakt’s smaller size might be a benefit if you’re traveling or moving your setup around often. The Rytm is just slightly too big to fit comfortably in my backpack, but the Digi-sized boxes are no problem. Sometimes that little bit of extra space/convenience makes all the difference.
That said, to name a few other points in favor of the Rytm — the analog filters, distortion and compressor sound awesome on everything. Even if you just bring your favorite Digitakt samples over to Rytm, they’ll come out sounding better (in my opinion). Also, Rytm has Direct Jump which you’re probably familiar with on the A4 but is especially useful for mixing/matching drum patterns. I will also take this opportunity to defend the Rytm pads, they’re not perfect but they’re totally usable for getting your ideas down which is a huge workflow upgrade (especially for a crusty old drummer like me).
Completely agree with you on the sound of the Rytm. For me, when made the jump from the DT to the AR, I really missed the easy workflow and options of the DT so I went back to the DT for a week. The difference in sound is huge, and to me, the AR just adds something special to the samples you put in. It really made the DT sound very cold and flat so I went with the AR and never looked back.
If features, ease of use or a clean sound are more important than having a characterfull sound, than the DT is better for you!
Isn’t the performance macros and scenes on a whole other level than CTRL all?
I mean you can do some crazy almost Octatrack level stuff with those. In some ways even deeper since you can hit multiple pads at the same time and use pressure to ride the modulations.
And then you have a dedicated FX track to automate stuff and create additional movement.
The beauty of Control-All is that it’s always right there, ready to go, no preparation needed. You can really make things up as you go, whereas Scenes and Performance macros require that initial step of dialing in the changes you want per pad.
On the other hand, the benefit of that “dialing in” process is you have much more control over the results you’ll get using a Scene/Perf macro. You can get your effects just right and reproduce those effects again and again, whereas Control-All is typically more random/unpredictable.
So there are pros and cons on either side. One more benefit of Control-All is that you can use it to generate new patterns that are variations on your original — make a pattern, use Control-All to mangle it up, copy the mangled pattern to a new slot, then reload your original pattern. Now you’ve got two different but related patterns. I’ve been using this technique a lot lately, it’s crazy how fast you can expand one idea into several patterns that work well together.
I should mention as well that the Digitakt and Octatrack aren’t my only samplers and I do tend to lean towards the dirty side of things, I have an S2400 and I love what the Analog Filters do on that device especially when you resample sounds to the 12 bit engine, really gives it a nice authentic SP-1200 dirt. But I don’t necessarily want to use it all the time either.
(Edit for clarification: S2400 has an analog filter on the input and you can choose to have an analog filter for the analog outputs but the filters per track are digital)
I like the idea of having a synthesized drum machine and a sampler all in one and I’m leaning towards just going to the Rytm to downsize the overall footprint and have a system that’s easier to use because it’s in one device. I do realize I’m giving up some of the more fun Digitakt things though but in turn gaining some different fun things on the Rytm.
Agree about the DT sound. At first it sounded okay to me, but after a year of using it, it just sounded so bland no matter what I did to it. I am in the market for a sampler, I may have to pick up the Rytm.
I started with a DT, but honestly, the biggest problem for me was lack of song mode, just because of the way my mind works. Everything else about the DT was good.
I sold the DT and picked up a deluge, which is totally different in a lot of ways, because it has a song mode and was a more complete groove box. But I’ve found I miss the Elektron way, and have now just picked up an AR. I want the sampling and song mode and more encoders, that the AR does better than the deluge.
I guess what I’m saying is that this long process over 2 years has basically been me moving from DT to AR, via deluge, for the same reasons you are looking to move.
Thanks for the advice from everyone in this thread. I’ve decided to stick with the boxes I have, at least the Syntakt and Digitakt. I might still sell the Digitone but gotta see.
I’ve sat down and thought about it for a few days and tried to pour over content as much as I could for both the Rytm and the other devices (even though I know them quite well) and I think just the fact that I can basically operate the Digitakt with my eyes closed and those muscle memories translate to the Syntakt almost 1:1 kinda influenced me the most. But then I started working with them to make sure I was ok with losing them and they both sound really good. Almost don’t even want to hear what the Rytm sounds like if people are calling the Digitakt sound “sterile” in comparison. I personally think the Digitakt sounds a lot more interesting than other devices I’ve used like the MPC Live and Force, Maschine+, and Deluge.
But two LFOs and the second band pass filter are pretty killer to have. I understand why the Rytm doesn’t have the band pass but not having two LFOs for a device that’s about laying samples and drum engines seems like a miss. Hopefully they add that.
Anyways, thank you all for helping me fight some GAS lol.
Since getting the Syntakt I have been going the opposite way. I love the Digi-trinity, especially with the ability to run the other gear through the effects and filter of the Syntakt.
I’ve been using the AR since 2015 and love it, to me the best drum machine in existence. There are few things unattainable with it. I also have a Digitone and love it too. But, I have just got a Digitakt. Why? Because I know how great it is, and it was time to incorporate a slightly different workflow and sound to my life. As of now, I find that the two machines are incomparable. I thought otherwise before having it; I thought they overlapped too much and blah blah. But they are completely different beasts. So my advice is, have them both!
PS: I still keep my AR MKI, best form factor for the analogs.
I think you’re pointing out the 2nd filter on the Digitakt. You’re right, the Rytm doesn’t have that.
I feel it’s worth pointing out, for people who are researching the Rytm, that it has a band-pass mode for its single filter. It’s not as wide as I’d like, and you can’t vary the width, but it’s still useful for some applications. Rather than wish for a second filter, I’m hoping Elektron can update the existing band-pass mode to have variable width.
The peak filter with a lot of resonance is insane and probably seriously overlooked on this machine. It’s like a band pass that keeps its bass through the sweep.
For me the biggest difference in workflow on the digi’s and big boys is the use of kits (or parts in the OT)
All the rest is changing some features for others, and I can enjoy any of them.
