Elektron Digitakt Drum Machine & Sampler

I have had the Digitakt for just over 2 weeks and have already produced more tracks in that time than the preceding 5 years.If you're old enough to have used the DOS/Amiga mod trackers in the 90s buy one NOW. There are elements of oldschool familiarity - step/parameter locks, chromatic sampling, low-res monochrome display, hard mechanical keys :) but in a modern, powerful and focused implementation that takes it to the next level (and the next and the next). the MIDI sequencer lets me squeezing more out of every bit of gear, whether to sample or drive them directlyRead all the online reviews - they are all accurate (although lots are produced on old firmware without the v1.08 compressor). The Digitakt Amen Break tutorial is instant GAS.Only thing I find a bit ... MoreI have had the Digitakt for just over 2 weeks and have already produced more tracks in that time than the preceding 5 years.If you're old enough to have used the DOS/Amiga mod trackers in the 90s buy one NOW. There are elements of oldschool familiarity - step/parameter locks, chromatic sampling, low-res monochrome display, hard mechanical keys :) but in a modern, powerful and focused implementation that takes it to the next level (and the next and the next). the MIDI sequencer lets me squeezing more out of every bit of gear, whether to sample or drive them directlyRead all the online reviews - they are all accurate (although lots are produced on old firmware without the v1.08 compressor). The Digitakt Amen Break tutorial is instant GAS.Only thing I find a bit limiting is that 8 sample channels can get squishy driving beats, melodic and vocal samples. can be solved with resampling.perfect for my style of noodling - loop, layer, peel, edit, undo, mash, tweak, repeat - but surprisingly good at putting together whole songs too.

Deep jam instrument

I went back and forth on getting one for years, after the machines upgrade I finally did and I am not disappointed. The learning curve is not too steep for playing around but some manual study yields deep results. Lots of generative/random possibilities for unpredictable ambient and experimental music. Also a great accompaniment partner to keep the beat/bass while I get weird over the top on guitar. I haven’t even gotten 25% of the functionality figured out yet but feel I can still reliably get what I want out of it while I get there. That keeps me interested. I will be playing and learning with this insightful machine for many years.

Digitakt I - Still Great

Digitakt I is really great. I am writing this review after the II came out and I'm loving it.If I had to choose one of my synths to keep, this would be it, because it is just so versatile.The factory sounds include all kinds of lovely synth tones, percussion samples, and noises. You can make ambient, lo-fi hiphop, industrial music, whatever you want.The magic happens when you use the parameter locks per step. One example is that you could have a snare on track 2. You could have the first hit use one sample, and the next hit use a slightly different sample. Maybe another hit uses the delay and reverb. Or gets pitched down a bit. Per step changes that you program in like this make anything possible. It's lovely.

Excellent production tool

I'm enjoying this machine very much. This is my first Elektron and I have to thank these guys for the great work they've done. Just a few comments - I'm coming from using a beat production tool that was an all midi/cv controller. While that device was plenty flexible, I was strapped to the computer in order to drive samples and sounds. The Digitakt has everything you need onboard and whatever sounds or samples you feel you need can be recorded both from external sources or internally from manipulated sounds or loaded by direct transfer software from your PC (wav). The preloaded samples library is extensive and sounds superb. The amount of sound manipulation is so extensive that you really wont need to load up much to drive your productions. I'm making backing tracks ... MoreI'm enjoying this machine very much. This is my first Elektron and I have to thank these guys for the great work they've done. Just a few comments - I'm coming from using a beat production tool that was an all midi/cv controller. While that device was plenty flexible, I was strapped to the computer in order to drive samples and sounds. The Digitakt has everything you need onboard and whatever sounds or samples you feel you need can be recorded both from external sources or internally from manipulated sounds or loaded by direct transfer software from your PC (wav). The preloaded samples library is extensive and sounds superb. The amount of sound manipulation is so extensive that you really wont need to load up much to drive your productions. I'm making backing tracks away from my desk and loving it. The other nice thing is the quality of the audio. Once I had a backing track ready and recorded onto my DAW it didn't need anything. The work you put into the Digitakt comes out ready for arrangement. Since you've got several gain stages, effects, LP & HP filters, plus all the sequencer variation, you can essentially build a mix on the Digitakt. I only had to record solo voices directly to DAW only because of the time constraint for each track recording (33 seconds), but those voices were being driven by the Digitakts midi. I've got it sending midi notes, program and clock to 3 synthesizers. So it essentially can be the brains to your song productions. While the Digitakt facilitates so much by way of all its io, you'll find that the things that make Elektrons devices unique will drive creative decisions and that's what make this a special device for me. Enjoy.

Incredible

I've had mine a week and I haven't been able to put it down. It's a daunting machine at first if - like me - you're unfamiliar with Elektron's workflow and quirks (there are a few, but none particularly bad). The instruction manual is vague and not particularly beginner friendly. Personally I'd opt to ignore it and watch one of the few detailed tutorials on Youtube. They are great, very accessible and they go through everything in much greater and more practical detail. I haven't even gotten into the realm of sampling yet. I've just been using the stock sounds to create beats and mangling them up. The possibilities are limitless before you even get into introducing your own sounds. The stock drum sounds are surprisingly good. Very good, even. Plus there's a bunch of ... MoreI've had mine a week and I haven't been able to put it down. It's a daunting machine at first if - like me - you're unfamiliar with Elektron's workflow and quirks (there are a few, but none particularly bad). The instruction manual is vague and not particularly beginner friendly. Personally I'd opt to ignore it and watch one of the few detailed tutorials on Youtube. They are great, very accessible and they go through everything in much greater and more practical detail. I haven't even gotten into the realm of sampling yet. I've just been using the stock sounds to create beats and mangling them up. The possibilities are limitless before you even get into introducing your own sounds. The stock drum sounds are surprisingly good. Very good, even. Plus there's a bunch of misc sound effects and oscillator one-shots that you can loop to get an enormous amount of synth sounds that you can then play chromatically. You have an unbelievably large palette of sounds and sequencing possibilities just with the sounds that come with the box. I had a hard time deciding between this and the Roland TR-8s. Both are great machines and I might revisit the TR-8s one day, but I'm very glad I decided on this right now.

Inspiring instrument

I bought this because I wanted something more self contained than Ableton + Push. I'm not comparing the Digitakt to Ableton Live. I know Ableton is more capable for me raw ability standpoint, however i've been using the Digitakt much more over the past several weeks that I've had it than Live. In fact I haven't touched ableton live at all, so this evening I connected my laptop + push, fired up Ableton Live, and sat down to get creative.After about 30 minutes, I just stopped, pack everything up, and plugged in the Digitakt.My digitakt works. It's inspiring. It's quick. It sounds great. It's focused. It would be difficult to produce a song in the traditional fashion or format with a Digitakt alone, but when connected to any other gear (my iPad and multiple great ... MoreI bought this because I wanted something more self contained than Ableton + Push. I'm not comparing the Digitakt to Ableton Live. I know Ableton is more capable for me raw ability standpoint, however i've been using the Digitakt much more over the past several weeks that I've had it than Live. In fact I haven't touched ableton live at all, so this evening I connected my laptop + push, fired up Ableton Live, and sat down to get creative.After about 30 minutes, I just stopped, pack everything up, and plugged in the Digitakt.My digitakt works. It's inspiring. It's quick. It sounds great. It's focused. It would be difficult to produce a song in the traditional fashion or format with a Digitakt alone, but when connected to any other gear (my iPad and multiple great sounding synths in my case) the digitakt is an amazing music production machine.I'm not getting rid of ableton live or my push. A big part of me wonders if the shine of the Digitakt will wear off after a few months and I will go back to Abel to exclusively.Maybe I'll find a workflow that incorporate strengths From Ableton Live and the Digitakt.They are different. The music i make with each is different. all I know is that right now the Digitakt is exactly what I hoped for. It's an inspiring instrument.What would make it better? Battery operation. Overbridge. Chord mode. More LFOs. Midi track control of the audio tracks. iOS app.What else did I consider getting? Teenage Engineering op-z (can't get my hands on one anywhere right now, so that's a moot point).

Make sure you’re not just riding the hype train

Overall:I knew I wanted a Digitakt. I bought a Drumbrute Impact and promptly returned it to get a Digitakt instead. I watched all the YouTube videos over and over again (especially a certain dude with glasses who is Digitakt fanboy #1). I knew I would use it to make cool ambient tracks. Making a halfway interesting regular beat is pretty straightforward. Recording and manipulating samples is fairly intuitive. Conditional trigs are cool and MIDI sequencing external gear is a good feature. Are all those things worth $650-750? Not really, to be honest. This box is of course capable of way more, if you put in the time and connect with the workflow. In my opinion, that is a BIG if. My advice to a relative beginner/non-pro would be, only buy this if it’s going to be your ... MoreOverall:I knew I wanted a Digitakt. I bought a Drumbrute Impact and promptly returned it to get a Digitakt instead. I watched all the YouTube videos over and over again (especially a certain dude with glasses who is Digitakt fanboy #1). I knew I would use it to make cool ambient tracks. Making a halfway interesting regular beat is pretty straightforward. Recording and manipulating samples is fairly intuitive. Conditional trigs are cool and MIDI sequencing external gear is a good feature. Are all those things worth $650-750? Not really, to be honest. This box is of course capable of way more, if you put in the time and connect with the workflow. In my opinion, that is a BIG if. My advice to a relative beginner/non-pro would be, only buy this if it’s going to be your main instrument for a while and you know you’ll put in the effort to get unique results. Otherwise, you’ll end up making some decent sounding generic beats you could have made on a much cheaper piece of equipment. Personally, that was my experience, and I ended up selling this. Try to play with one for a while before buying, and honestly I would avoid the YouTuber I mentioned because he is just so deep into the hype. For folks with experience who know this what they want, it’s probably the top of the line. For everyone else, well, there’s a reason these get posted to Reverb everyday with the description “couldn’t connect with the workflow.”

Review of Elektron Digitakt Drum Computer and Sampler

Great Product at a decent pricepoint, lot's of bang for your buck. Lot's of features that make this a solid unit in terms of design and build quality, great piece of kit. Sample transfer software very easy to use and quick, the sampling engine is powerful and the sample pitch and looping abilities allow you to warp the sound to the Nth degree. Top piece of kit.

Syntakt - a fun machine

A joy to play with, something which counts for all Elektron devices.Combination of analog and digital synthesis. A big plus for the FX track.Now you can control the FX parameters of the Delay, Reverb, Analog filter and distortion on a seperate track. It sounds really good. You can us it as a drum machine, but you alos have ability to use various synth machines (digital and analog) to play melodies, basslines whatever. I like the compact DIGI format (like the Digitone, Digitakt) another fun machine from Elektron.