Why am I keep losing data on my Syntakt?

At least for the first issue after clearing the pattern I tried to reproduce it for a while but without success. I can try again, but so far I have no glue that triggered this behavior.

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That is normal behaviour.

I think the weirder part is one of your issues, the feeling that one is returning to a previous work state when returning to work with the machine. Itā€™s not as if there is ā€˜undoā€™ on Elektron machines, but the only thing I can think of is using Pattern Reload is having some effect that isnā€™t desired.

Elektron machines I find to be very psychological. There is a lot of memory involved, and listening. Itā€™s not like you can look at a waveform or a particular visual arrangement of global settings at a global level, things are sort of obfuscated in various ways.

You said you are new so keep at it, itā€™s all useful feedback for the community especially if u can pin it down, and maybe yeah record out via analog or OB during this phase.

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ā€¦sound like ur working on variations of the by default overwrite protected preset patternsā€¦

No, I have created a new project which is not write protected (no lock symbol). Besides, I was able to save the project several times without losing data. Only twice data was lost after reboot despite the data already being saved in previous sessions (with multiple reboots afterwards).

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Are you using multiple banks? Iā€™ve hit that accidentally and it made me feel like I was losing work. Or going crazy, or both :slight_smile:

Might be worth looking at other banks to see if there are any changes stored there.

Yep, i only had the Syntakt (first Elektron piece of gear) for a week and done this several times

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This is a wrong statement.
I asked Elektron about this and they told me it was perfectly ok.

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Check this with Elektron, it feels wrong.

Ok. Iā€™ve had different experience with this practice across different pieces of gear and have found it to be less problematic in general.

Itā€™s not something you can do with Elektron Model series, by the way, as the current state is only stored permanently upon saving + powering down from the unit. So yes, youā€™re right.

And if someone is using a power strip, make sure you always power off your monitors first / power on last.

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That needs qualification: both the models (cycles and samples) have well-documented problems if you power them off other than by using the power button. Iā€™m pretty sure whoever you were talking to from Elektron was not including the models when telling you that.

EDIT: oops I see you said that later.

Iā€™ve gotten super relaxed because I really donā€™t need to save anything on the DN or DT (though of course i do occasionally). Jam, switch off, still there hours/days/weeks later.

I was using the Syntakt like this without issue. Not saving, turning off, unplugging for days, turn it back on, pattern still there. Then the other day I just lost one entirely. Gone. Very confused. Even weirder because it was a pattern I had made, turned the box off, come back to it the next day - still there. Next day, though, gone.

Bit weird but there you go, nothing major, I will save properly from now on.

I think that is a misconception: The models donā€™t have any problem at all if you cut the power, they work exactly as they are designed. On page 11 (right next to a warning icon) you can find this:

It is essential to use MAIN VOLUME when you power off the Model:Samples. Only then the projectā€™s current state is saved. For example, if you connect the Model:Samples to a power strip that you then use to switch the device off, it will revert to its last saved state when you power it on again, and any unsaved edits will be gone.

The Digis, Syntakt, A4 & AR donā€™t have a shutdown procedure like that, the switch on the back just cuts the power, thatā€™s it.

These devices keep the current state of the active project in memory, and automatically restore that state again after a power-cycle.

Keep in mind that until you actively save the project to the +Drive, the current working state of that project is different to the project on +Drive, so if you load another project without saving the changes of the current one, these changes are obviously lost.

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What youā€™ve described is exactly what Iā€™d call a well documented problem. Itā€™s caught out loads of people. Itā€™s a problem because people just donā€™t expect it to work that way. Itā€™s counter-intutive, no matter how well Elektron documented it.

Ah, you mean a design problem. True, people might not expect that if they donā€™t read the manual. I guess itā€™s a trade-off, a solution to another problem: given that Elektron developers already knew how to implement auto saving the state of the current project, why else implement a solution that is arguably less user-friendly?

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Same experience here. I have lots of experience with Elektron devices and have never encountered a problem like this. VERY frustrating.

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very frustrating this just happened to me - lost a load of patternsā€¦ had the DN for years an never experienced this onceā€¦ i guess always save project bf power off