It’s very tempting on the Tone to start with a chord or melody, and then you wind up adding a drum track / bassline / perc maybe across two tracks. Then you’re basically out. However I find the voice management VERY efficient, so good that it really seems like you can get more out of the DN than whats available.
But ultimately yes a Takt - for offloading drum sounds, for additional sample-based content, and for more sweeping, pattern-changing linking sounds. I don’t own a Takt but after the Transfer update was announced I am basically in as soon as I can be, there’s been enough firmware updates to warrant a purchase now.
The other thing that I like and am curious about on the Digitakt is the movable loop region, if that’s how its put. Seems to get very nice granular movements and sounds. I wouldn’t be averse to using two Digitakt tracks for drums with p-locked pan as needed, another two for noise-based sounds, 2 sample tracks (ie vocal or acoustic), and then maybe even 2 more hard-panned for stereo tracks if needed. WIth another Four stereo tracks on DN doing basically whatever they wanted I think I’d be very very happy.
I had the A4 and the AR, and the fact the MKi AR didn’t sample kind’ve bummed me, I’d get a lush chord with the A4, but since it would take up 3 voices (at least if you did it the lazy/rich way like me), you’d basically be stuck with it on the A4. I really wanted to offload it and ultimately I found 4 voices limiting/cumbersome.
WIth the DN’s 8 voices it just feels so much more flexible, and the ability to get sounds out to the DT if you really want to try something different on the DN with your tracks is really appealing to me. I also really, really love the idea of recording in sounds to the DT with a range of delay and fx settings on the DN to widen/mix things up a bit, particularly across two mono panned tracks.
It all depends on your artistic vision really. Comparing which device is more useful/better does not work at all for these two. One is an FM synth and one is a sampler. Like, they couldn’t be further apart.
For me I have the Digitakt and to what I’m trying to do, I find it more useful for creating full tracks than the Digitone. I love playing with samples and sampling different songs/sounds. You just Can’t do that with the Digitone.
But I’m really interested in getting the Digitone at some point. I can see a two digitakt setup being useful, but I rather have One Digitakt and run it to an SP-404 where you can load it with stereo samples and do more FX stuff on the master track.
My first reaction to that question is… One is a synth the other a drum machine/sampler, you really have to ask why you need both??
If you don’t use samples in your music there is definitely a case for not needing the DT, but otherwise its a mute point. Personally I can’t wait to add a DN to go with my DT. Routing the DT through the DN effects and overdrive and being able to have extra modulation from the DT midi tracks is the future
to be honest I have both and since I got the DN the DT is definitely on 2nd place in usage for me (by far). I use the DT for drums and phrase sampling and thats it. I think the sampler functionality is way too basic. The DT lacks timestretching and a slice mode badly. it also needs the second filter stage of the DN. It could be a great machine, a classic groovebox like the sp404 or mpc2000xl, but I thinkt theyre holding it back feature-wise because of the OT also the 8 Miditracks on the DT are excessive for most people. together with the DN you have 12 miditracks. I wont need that ever.
I much rather use those LFO on the audio tracks then have sitting there doing nothing.
I know about the midi-trick, but you shouldn’t have to do all of that for simple rerouting. I do think there are some weird omissions in the Digitakt like you mentioned. Plus stereo sample playback, but that could be hardware limitation.
Those omissions bummed me out badly when I first got the Digitakt. For some reason, not many people bring the lack of stereo. Though I ended up loving the damn thing. With all the little mishaps here and there, Elektron really nailed the workflow.
the thing is … Elektron whizz kids actually reworked the entire sample engine. From the ground up and they did it with non-lnear programming. There was something different, and awesome, in the early sound demo’s that were presented on the internet of the Digitakt. There was something awesomely different, i could hear it, and in fact Elektron mentioned on the forum that yes they approached the coding for sample audio clip handling much differently than before - citing “non-linear” programming without giving away any industry secrets.
That is why single-shot samples sound 20 percent clearer cleaner and better on the Digitakt compared to the Octatrack (to my ears, from the admittedly limited amount of comparisons i’ve listened to).
Also, synth chord samples sound better on the Digitakt when repitched. This is due to the non-linear programming. Or this could be a neo-constructionist fantasy of someone experience Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
So they are two different boxes doing different things in different ways.
I love the Octatrack so much as it has at last granted me the freedom of song composition and potential performance, with a great sound, many options, and cool effects.
But the Digitakt is something “next-level” in its very own way.
If an Octatrack 2 ever does emerge, or something similar, the programming would most likely be completely redone - based on the new-breed coding style and sound of the Digitakt.
The Digitakt is really a lot more than a drum sampler. Sure, it’s geared toward it, but you can do SO much with it, and it nearly always sounds ridiculously good doing it. Grab a single cycle wave like the FM series of the built-in factory ones. Loop it, throw a plucky envelope, a quick filter snap, and a trigger, phase adjusted, high-speed pitch modulating LFO, and now you’re making Buchla-style FM sounds. The only thing it really could use is parameter slides for at least a few parameters (pitch and filter cutoff at least). It’s really more of a sample based digital synthesizer that excels at drums. Of course it’s really whatever anyone decides to use it as. I just think it can do so much more than drums though, that it shouldn’t always be compared strictly to other drum machines/samplers/etc. Admittedly I bought it for doing percussion, but there’s so much hidden in there, that this is just one function of many. In fact, if they put a keyboard style set of buttons on it like the DN, or even the A4’s KB buttons, and removed the drum-pad oriented buttons, it would be perfectly at home being some near-granular resynth-type synth.
I’m an OT person, I like all of its features, but I’m not a “my gear choice is better than your gear choice” person. I understand Elektrons pretty well having an OT and AR and I’ve read the DT manual and also seen, heard, and read a bunch of stuff about it on here…
Although simplified I sure have the feeling that in the right hands the DT could knock people’s socks off and you could pull a 2 hour hot set out of it alone… Nobody dancing would notice anything missing, only enjoy what is there…
What I think is interesting about the digis is to me they seem to pull your performance and tweaking down closer to the sequencer level. Or at least that’s sort of how it seems to me looking from afar. The other Elektrons have performance tricks and different features and although you can edit sequences on the fly, for me they tend to make me want to keep the programmed sequences the same and do variations with scenes, performance, etc., on top of them.
To me the digis look more suited to be adding and removing trigs on the fly, and have you changing more edit page values and other things straight on the sequence instead of using tricks on top of it. If that makes any sense… To me it seems like you might give up something but by doing so it brings you closer to something else… Again I don’t actually have one but I’ve looked at them closely and that’s how it seems.
also the 8 Miditracks on the DT are excessive for most people. together with the DN you have 12 miditracks. I wont need that ever.