It’s really crazy how different experiences can be. Seems to be a polarizing issue. Either you love it or not.
But only from YT demos, I may had not bought me for example a Moog, which would be sad.
IMO, Synths are tools, to produce, not to provide. It’s all up to the person in Front of it, and to the Relationship between human and machine(sound). Sometimes, it just don’t fit.
I totally understand and agree, that choices of spending money in such things should be carefully taken. And that people want to get as much value for their money as possible. But no matter what cheap or expensive machine it is, you work with. There will always be the effort, that YOU put in there, effecting your results. Never expect the axe to put on the campfire.
For me, especially soundwise, the Digitone is a permanent sweet spot. I can’t praise it to much.
But everyone should judge on its own.
The great thing about the Digitone is what you can get it for used, you can sell it for. That’s why I nabbed one. Figured if it didn’t gel, then I’d sell. Consider PP and eBay fees if applied a rental fee to see if it’s for you.
The reasons I love my Digitone is the fact that you can get a melody, basslines, chords, and percussion out of a single pattern. Maybe I’m a sucker for groove boxes Even better though, I use it as a midi brain for all my other gear in conjunction with a midi solutions Quadra Thru. I can have midi sent from the DN to all my other gear, in sync, which makes sketching ideas and writing tracks fun and immediate. The sound pallette is vast, from ambient melodies, eerie textures, and bonkers arp / Lfo rhythmic patterns. It can cover a lot of ground! Can easily go from 80s FM to traditional subtractive synth sounds quick. Built in FX round out the package nicely.
before buying the Digitone, come to Superbooth to test ist.
That´s what I did last year. Went to Superbooth. Gave Cenk some hugs, and while he was recording an interview with Nick from Sonicstate on early Saturday Morning (arround 11.39 am :D) I had time to play with it and I liked it very much. It looked the Digitone can give what I was looking for … 8 voice poly for some lush pads and chords and maybe some drum sounds like my Maschinedrum, which I sold last year. So I bought a b-stock for a goodf price. but for some reason … I don´t use it very often.
At the end, you have to experience it by yourself. No one can answer this question for you. So as I stated earlier … Superbooth (or any other trade fair with Elektron) is a great place to try before you buy.
In Ableton you can have as much freely assignable lfos as you want (or better: as your computer can handle). They are just not integrated into each device itself, but you need to patch them up like in the modular world.
Live 10 comes with an LFO device on board (and a cool envelope device assignable to any parameter). For Live 9 there are free Max4Live LFO devices available for download.
I understand and am kind of with the “you definitely don’t need one if you need us to convince you to need one” crew if you read OP strictly literally. But also I read OP as just “tell me all the awesome stuff about DN please!”
Syndicate had a weapon called the Persuadertron. One blast of that mother and your going to buy a digitone no matter what. Want to be saved. ‘Keep moving’!
Buying one will be, by all accounts (especially since you have asked the question on the most biased of internet forums in this particular regard), a net positive. But remember that no product on the market does everything a specific user wants.
I don’t mean to be a pessimist and wish you luck with your decision, but all things considered, it is exactly that - yours.
As has been pointed out, the resale value holds quite well, so take a dive. There are whispers (in the powder room) of big things afoot for the DN -
You’re welcome! And with that attitude, I’m sure they will
I admire anyone who posts on the internet in a second or other language - misunderstanding can so easily happen when we use our first one!
Thanks for the feedback guys! I was already 95% sold on buying one, but your input definitely reinforced my decision. Seems like everyone that actually owns one loves it. I want to eventually perform with a hardware-only setup (and just use a DAW for recording and finishing touches), so the FM soft-synth alternative doesn’t really appeal to me at this point.
It really holds my attention and interest. I sit down to start poking at it, and before I know it an hour has passed and I have something cool and unexpected. (That could be considered a pro or con, I guess?)
A whole new set of parameters to tweak encourages creativity and exploration. When I sit down with a new subtractive synth, I tend to do the same things with it out of habit. With the DN, I’m pushed to try new things.
I’ve been having a lot of fun with the LFOs. There are a lot of really interesting things you can do by modulating different aspects of the FM engine with them, from chaotic craziness to uniquely evolving sounds, stuff you’ll never get from a subtractive engine. (This also applies to the parameter locks, of course.)
The arpeggiator is awesome. (This is the only Elektron gear I own, so dunno if its functionality exists on the gear you already have).
So far I’ve used every non-legacy Elektron device except for the Rytm MKII.
I have an Octatrack MKII and yesterday I ordered my second Digitone at a nice discount (after selling my first).
Hands down the best combo there is for me when considering the other synths I have and music I make. I’m like a schoolchild waiting to receive my Digitone in the mail and play it with my Octatrack for the first time so I can sample it.
Having listened to plenty and created plenty on the synthesis based Elektron devices, there’s nothing that made me feel like the first part of The Digitone Experience. Simply oozing with emotion.
Even better though, I use it as a midi brain for all my other gear in conjunction with a midi solutions Quadra Thru. I can have midi sent from the DN to all my other gear, in sync, which makes sketching ideas and writing tracks fun and immediate. The sound pallette is vast, from ambient melodies, eerie textures, and bonkers arp / Lfo rhythmic patterns. It can cover a lot of ground! Can easily go from 80s FM to traditional subtractive synth sounds quick. Built in FX round out the package nicely.
