Elektron Digitone II - 16-Track Polyphonic Digital Synthesizer

Elektron's Syntakt is a powerful and versatile 12-track drum computer and synthesizer, offering a unique blend of analog warmth, digital precision, and intuitive sequencing capabilities.A Sonic Fusion:Syntakt boasts a hybrid sound engine, combining four analog and eight digital voices. This allows you to craft anything from classic drum machine sounds to complex, evolving textures and experimental sonic landscapes. The analog section delivers the punch and character you crave, while the digital side offers vast sonic exploration with wavetable synthesis and FM capabilities.Expressive Creativity:Elektron is renowned for its intuitive sequencers, and the Syntakt doesn't disappoint. The 64-step sequencer, combined with features like parameter locks and conditional trigs, unlocks a world of creative possibilities. You can program intricate rhythmic patterns, create evolving soundscapes, and add dynamic variations to your music, all within a hands-on and immediate workflow.Additional Highlights:High-Quality Effects: Shape your sounds further with a comprehensive suite of onboard effects, including delay, reverb, distortion, and filters.DAW Integration: Seamlessly integrate the Syntakt into your existing setup with its USB connectivity and MIDI compatibility.Compact and Portable: Despite its impressive feature set, the Syntakt remains compact and portable, making it ideal for studio or live use.A Few Considerations:Learning Curve: As with any powerful instrument, there is a learning curve involved in mastering the Syntakt's full potential. However, the intuitive design and numerous online resources can help you get started quickly.Price Point: The Syntakt falls into the premium price range. While the feature set and sound quality justify the cost for many musicians, it's important to consider your budget and needs before making a purchase.Overall, the Elektron Syntakt is a remarkable instrument that caters to a wide range of electronic music producers and sound designers. Its powerful sound engine, intuitive sequencer, and versatile feature set make it a true creative powerhouse, well worth considering if you're looking to elevate your sonic explorations.

Coming from 15+ years of Akai/MPC production, I really wasn't sure that this was going to be enough to justify breaking from that tradition, but I was so wrong - anyway, I'm going to compare this to the MPC One+ a lot in this review, just because that's the closest counterpart to this machine that I have experience with.I love the Digitakt II despite all the odds. It's not overly feature-laden, it doesn't really do much that current MPCs cannot, and its DAW integration is non-existent. The bespoke terminology (i.e., "preset" instead of "sample") was a little confusing at first, but after a few hours with the manual and YouTube videos, I feel very confident operating this machine. The automation possibilities (param locks) are a little clunky to program compared to straight-up drawing on the touchscreen of the MPC One, but they work great in practice. FX are very limited and frankly boring (but high-quality), with the exception being the excellent bus compressor with sidechaining, which rocks.Why do I love this thing so much, then? I think the biggest reason is its workflow is phenomenally fun compared to the super-precise, "math & science" philosophy of the MPC. I was a little scared at first because this machine lacks DAW integration, but the flow is so good that I forget I'm working on a little 3" screen for hours on end. It's an outside-the-box masterpiece to be honest, and if you have any inclination to run any DAW-less production, this is probably even better than the MPC One despite the vastly smaller feature set.The sound is fantastic, and is obviously contingent on what samples you put into it (I haven't really gotten into the factory sounds outside of the oscillator waveforms). The filters deserve a special mention as they are much nicer than the MPC, and every sample slot includes a secondary multimode filter beyond the "primary" filter, for which you can choose between several different options. I love them.The build quality is professional and better than any MPC I've ever owned. It's metal, weighty and solid, and all the knobs are precise and inspire confidence. The jacks feel solid and the OLED (I think?) display is small but really cleverly-designed and lacking the clutter of the MPC One. Otherwise, LEDs are bright, change colors and are all intuitive.LFOs and modulation options are excellent; at least as good as the MPC, although there are no assignable modulation envelopes to my knowledge. That said, the LFOs (3 per sample/"preset") are routable to tons of different parameters and I rarely - if ever - miss having the mod envelopes. Very useful.Overall, this machine lacks many of the features of Akai's latest DAW-in-a-box, and if you intend on producing mostly with a DAW, you're probably better off with an MPC One/Live. But if you want to produce DAWless, this is the superior option for the pure fun of its workflow, and is obviously a better option for live performance. It might not be the only sampler you will need in your studio, but if you already have a solid setup, this will make an excellent addition for anyone serious about sample-based music. It doesn't make the wildest sounds, but what it does put out is 100% pro-quality audio with a very "analog-ish" feel that you can't get with current MPCs on their own.

This is my first Elektron instrument. It's built like a tank - the case, the buttons and the knobs should stand up to way more abuse than I'll ever dish out. Listening to the included samples, the sound is luscious, and pro quality, which you would expect at this price. What attracted me to this sampler are the Parameter Lock and Trig Condition features - because, on a per-step basis, you can throw probability percentages, ratios and if/then qualifiers into the mix, and make even a single short sequence sound (potentially) different with each run through. Really cool, and really powerful!The cautions I would raise are - though this is supposed to be one of the 'easier' Elecktron instruments, it still has a pretty steep learning curve than compared to something like the Korg Electribe sampler for example. With practice and study, the workflow does make sense, and the device seems more and more like a musical instrument to me, but that was after a lot of reading, YouTube video watching, and trial and error.That said, I love my Digitakt.Addendum - The beauty of Elecktron's workflow finally dawned on me (some may call it a "duh" moment). I had the chance to work with an Analog Four Mk II, and realized that I already understood much of its operation, because Elecktron keeps things (screen navigation, knob layout) pretty consistent from one instrument to the next. Smart!

There’s a long learning curve if you never tried dawless stuff. This piece of gear sounds amazing but you need patience and dedication to really understand what you’re doing. I’m still trying to figure out things but I like it so far.Feels sturdy and it’s almost like a piece of art.