The implications are that an integrated sequencer would, in the case of Elektron, allow you to p-lock (read: automate) any parameters/effects/LFOs natively without having to do any midi mapping etc. Plus, depending on the brand/model and the type of sequencer that a synth may come with, you win/lose features compared to Elektron‘s sequencer. Eg the Korg Minilogue has an integrated sequencer, but if I had one of them, I‘d def sequence it through my DT, as the Elektron sequencer is infinitely more powerful than the Minilogue on-board one.
As for the DT/DN, the DT can send up to four notes per midi track (read: you can play/record chords of max four simultaneous notes per midi track). Secondly, each midi track can send midi messages through one dedicated midi channel only, ie if you set your midi track 1 on your DT to Channel 1, all msgs will be sent through to Ch.1 on the receiving device. That said, you technically could set two midi tracks on the DT to the same midi channel, which would give you eight notes simultaneously played albeit stretched across two sequencer lines (ie you’d have to program four notes onto midi track 1 and four notes onto track 2).
In general, the DT sequencer / midi tracks are great and as powerful as the Elektron sequencer comes.
The DN’s sequencer (four tracks) is pretty much the same as the DT’s though, so I’d just use the DN’s internal sequencer (or A4s) and be done with it lol.
PS: one advantage of conducting all sequencing on one device (eg DT controls everything) is that you can have your entire composition on that one device and hence in the same project file. Sort of an advantage if you want to recall everything by loading a single file, but if you organise yourself just a little bit, this should be not all too relevant a point.
PPS: you do know that you can use your DT’s audio tracks to play back/loop waveforms while using the DT’s filter and effects to shape the sound? effectively it’s a form of digital subtractive mono synthesis. And with the right midi cable/setup tricks you could even use multiple audio tracks to make a polyphonic synth out of it. Cool thing, you can resample what you’re playing into the DT and then free up your audio tracks again for other sample duties. If you haven’t tried this yet I recommend you do (just search on YouTube for many tutorials on this).
I just added a Digitone to my Digitakt as my like, 20th hardware synth, and after only a few hours with it last night I would definitely recommend it.
I love FM sounds but am mostly a noob when it comes to programming them. That thankfully doesn’t seem to matter much with the DN. It didn’t take long before I was giggling and smiling at the sounds I was coming up with. Okay… the random function came up with the sounds more than I did, but I had a blast and am excited to learn to program it so I can actually do some intentional things with it.
The DN seems fairly complex but I would have been stoked to have it as a first hardware synth. You definitely don’t need to get another Elektron since you can have fun sequencing and p-locking with the DT’s midi tracks, but having direct access to everything with the sequencer built in makes things more fun IMO. I would recommend pairing the DT with a DN and later on get an analog/VA synth with lots of midi control if you want some of that flavor. I can’t imagine much else getting you the variety of sounds the DN provides for the price point though.
I do know about looping the single cycle waveforms in DT, and I have been getting a fair bit of mileage out of that technique alone.
I’ll have to do some more reading re. MIDI tricks. I do recall seeing a video that ran the MIDI cable out of the DT and back into the DT, which means that you can assign one of your MIDI channels LFOs to parameters on your Audio tracks - which effectively would give you 2 LFOs on an Audio track.