Digitone 2 feels like a return to form for elektron in terms of producing something that’s both niche for a certain type of person but also incredibly powerful. The digitone 1 had the niche factor but was quite limited by it only having the one sound engine and the limited polyphony and 4 tracks. I’ve been begging for them to make something as powerful as the monomachine with FM+other synth engines but with more in depth synth machines than the syntakt. The syntakt was pretty close to what I am looking for, but the actual sonic range of each machine is kind of limited by them only having a single page of parameters and it doesn’t really have any jack of all trades synth machines like the digitone 2’s fm engine. As you mention near the end, the syntakt isn’t great for sound design, I think the syntakt has its place and I like the mix of analog and digital in such a compact box, but for creating rich soundscapes the digitone 1 was already good at that and now you add so many features on top of it, it really feels like it’s gone from being one of their most limited devices in their range with Digitone 1 to being arguably the most powerful at least for sound design. Hearing the grand piano preset on it yesterday, it’s so far beyond any piano I’ve heard on digitone 1 and that comes down to the comb filters and osc sync.
Completely agree with the conclusion, I kinda figured the DN II was going to be able to out-do or match the Syntakt at many of its tricks. I got the Syntakt in 2022 shortly after launch, and rarely truly jived with it, whereas Digitone (Keys) became my main instrument quite quickly. Very stoked to put the DN II to use.
Interesting. I love my Syntakt and I think the Digitone II is a nice upgrade over its predecessor, but I don’t really want one because I prefer the ST’s workflow. Thanks for making these comparisons! It makes deciding on instruments a little murky when there are these overlaps.
Great demo. I am also thinking that Digitone will be my one and done groovebox. So I could replace my other gear. On the other hand, having model cycle, microfreak, grave, sh4d -- I have already all that basically.
The Syntakt sounds rounder and warmer...Digitone is brighter, sharper. I do hear a difference. But both devices are cool, analog and FM synth worlds, I'm working towards obtaining both (hopefully). Not that interested in Digitakt cause I prefer actually generating sound over mangling samples.
Just have to say, mangling touches synthesis really quickly with the envelopes, filters and looped waveforms that you can create. Maybe it's how I use it because I like synths and it's my first actual sampler but I don't feel it's gameplan is tied to record sound---play sound
Yes, the Syntakt has more energy in the lower frequencies and they are there when you play higher octaves and thats the deal. Digital usually gets thinner because of this while analog gets "fuller and richer". A matter of taste perhaps.
@ If you are going for extreme or unconventional modulation then analog gives you an edge, albeit a digital system with plenty of oversampling and deantialiasing can again come close to an analog sound. Since we have so much compute power now even in small devices analog is not needed so often anymore, but you have to double check. I didnt get a Syntakt after testing it. Right now I think the Digitone II is the best choice. Maybe the Syntakt drums are interesting to some for their warm sound. Digitone can get harsh quickly, but it depends on what you dial in. Btw Syntakt gets warm and thats bad for running it from a powerbank battery.
Thank you. An almost completely useless video from a clueless guy. If that is enough that he is sure you know how deep.he is into sound design. But look into the comments. People like to eat shit and they love it. Little mouths brown and slimy and smiling in absolut happiness.
Is there any reason to get the syntakt now? I mean the digitone 2 is the same price and it just seems like more in every way, am I wrong? Specially, if you don’t care about analog, which i don’t. Nevermind, i shoulda just waited until the end.
I think its current price is nonsense, and they'll surely release a mk2 soon(ish), but for a beginner user who wants a machine with ready-made sounds it is still fine.
The oscillators alone sounds 99% identical, to the point that you would doubt that the ones in the ST are analog at all. You can replicate the analog oscillations of the pitch through the drift and offset parameters. Filters make the difference, but you can find some sweet spots in the dn2 to get close. Digital overdrive after the filter can help too.
@@duketranslucent3rdDigitone II is 16 voice polyphonic - you can use all 16 voices on one track, or spread them out over several tracks however you want
Digitone 2 feels like a return to form for elektron in terms of producing something that’s both niche for a certain type of person but also incredibly powerful.
The digitone 1 had the niche factor but was quite limited by it only having the one sound engine and the limited polyphony and 4 tracks. I’ve been begging for them to make something as powerful as the monomachine with FM+other synth engines but with more in depth synth machines than the syntakt. The syntakt was pretty close to what I am looking for, but the actual sonic range of each machine is kind of limited by them only having a single page of parameters and it doesn’t really have any jack of all trades synth machines like the digitone 2’s fm engine. As you mention near the end, the syntakt isn’t great for sound design, I think the syntakt has its place and I like the mix of analog and digital in such a compact box, but for creating rich soundscapes the digitone 1 was already good at that and now you add so many features on top of it, it really feels like it’s gone from being one of their most limited devices in their range with Digitone 1 to being arguably the most powerful at least for sound design. Hearing the grand piano preset on it yesterday, it’s so far beyond any piano I’ve heard on digitone 1 and that comes down to the comb filters and osc sync.
I was just thinking about this kind of similarities... thanks for sharing!
Very nice to hear this. I just keep thinking how nice it would be to make full tracks with nothing but both of these machines together.
To your point about the filters, I believe the Syntakt’s filters are two pole filters, that contributes to a lot of the difference.
Completely agree with the conclusion, I kinda figured the DN II was going to be able to out-do or match the Syntakt at many of its tricks. I got the Syntakt in 2022 shortly after launch, and rarely truly jived with it, whereas Digitone (Keys) became my main instrument quite quickly. Very stoked to put the DN II to use.
Now I’d be curious to hear if you made some analog style drum hits with wavetone, how they compared to the analog drum machines on the Syntakt
I'll try to make some
syntakt for simple fun and quick beat, analog mono tracks production. Digitone for poly, arp and ambience and extra beat tracks. A great combo
This is my exact plan. Then run em both through my 404
with a bit of filtering and EQ I think the difference would be very narrow... GREAT ! I am leaning toward the DN II more and more !
Interesting. I love my Syntakt and I think the Digitone II is a nice upgrade over its predecessor, but I don’t really want one because I prefer the ST’s workflow.
Thanks for making these comparisons! It makes deciding on instruments a little murky when there are these overlaps.
Great demo. I am also thinking that Digitone will be my one and done groovebox. So I could replace my other gear. On the other hand, having model cycle, microfreak, grave, sh4d -- I have already all that basically.
The Syntakt sounds rounder and warmer...Digitone is brighter, sharper. I do hear a difference. But both devices are cool, analog and FM synth worlds, I'm working towards obtaining both (hopefully). Not that interested in Digitakt cause I prefer actually generating sound over mangling samples.
Just have to say, mangling touches synthesis really quickly with the envelopes, filters and looped waveforms that you can create. Maybe it's how I use it because I like synths and it's my first actual sampler but I don't feel it's gameplan is tied to record sound---play sound
Yes, the Syntakt has more energy in the lower frequencies and they are there when you play higher octaves and thats the deal. Digital usually gets thinner because of this while analog gets "fuller and richer". A matter of taste perhaps.
It sounds to me like the syntakt's gain staging is different, like the VCOs are driving into the filter stage harder
Could be, will also try in another video to play the DN2 into the FX block of the ST and compare the sound
@ thats a good idea
Detune dual osc with drift always sounds like that. Analog is not needed for such sounds.
Yep.
@81neuron so , what do you think analog is needed for ? And what do you think the syntakt is worth for ?
@ If you are going for extreme or unconventional modulation then analog gives you an edge, albeit a digital system with plenty of oversampling and deantialiasing can again come close to an analog sound. Since we have so much compute power now even in small devices analog is not needed so often anymore, but you have to double check.
I didnt get a Syntakt after testing it. Right now I think the Digitone II is the best choice. Maybe the Syntakt drums are interesting to some for their warm sound. Digitone can get harsh quickly, but it depends on what you dial in.
Btw Syntakt gets warm and thats bad for running it from a powerbank battery.
Thank you. An almost completely useless video from a clueless guy.
If that is enough that he is sure you know how deep.he is into sound design.
But look into the comments.
People like to eat shit and they love it.
Little mouths brown and slimy and smiling in absolut happiness.
Is there any reason to get the syntakt now? I mean the digitone 2 is the same price and it just seems like more in every way, am I wrong? Specially, if you don’t care about analog, which i don’t. Nevermind, i shoulda just waited until the end.
I think its current price is nonsense, and they'll surely release a mk2 soon(ish), but for a beginner user who wants a machine with ready-made sounds it is still fine.
Quite noticeable.
it does sound incredibly "analog". wavetone rules
they sound different tonally (digtone ii is brighter).. i'm not sure that it matters for making music really.
The oscillators alone sounds 99% identical, to the point that you would doubt that the ones in the ST are analog at all. You can replicate the analog oscillations of the pitch through the drift and offset parameters. Filters make the difference, but you can find some sweet spots in the dn2 to get close. Digital overdrive after the filter can help too.
The VA does sound brighter, but if you gave me a blind test side-by-side and asked me to tell you which was analog, I’d probably be guessing.
Not the same at al to my ears
if you want more views, try comparing the filters resonance. that’s where you’ll hear the difference :)
Ahaha It was on my to-do list already
They sound as similar as an analog synth and vst. Digitone looks cool though.
If only we had polyphony on the ST. Maybe one day....
Does DT2 have polyphonic tracks? I had assumed that, with the move to 16 tracks, we were back in "one note per track" territory of DT and ST.
Only Digitone 2 is polyphonic
@@duketranslucent3rdDigitone II is 16 voice polyphonic - you can use all 16 voices on one track, or spread them out over several tracks however you want
syn sounds beefy.