You can actually have pattern play at different tempo's. When you were talking about probability, you were actually on the page I'm referring to: the 8 white knobs determine playback speed, the purple ones determine direction. If you hit the pattern settings/probability knob again you get the probability page. Another small inaccuracy is that you can actually copy Synth patterns to Midi patterns (and you can actually also use your Synth tracks as Midi tracks if you turn down the volume of the synth track and mix in the external box' audio elsewhere), so you have to to 4 tracks of external sequencing. Despite these, this is a very good comparison! I am seriously considering changing in my Circuit Tracks for a Digitakt, after the latest firmware update with the new sampling machines, and your video is touching upon all the elements that I am struggling with. One question that I still have is Polyphony. Circuit's synth engine is perfectly polyphonic, both in the synth and the sequencer. How is that for the Digitakt?
I had a OG Circuit along with Volca bass and a Behringer Crave then a Circuit tracks and now I have a Digitakt. I loved the playability of the Novation Circuit and the sequencer is genius, but, and it's became the issue, I got tired of the synth engine, I just couldn't get many sounds I wanted from the Circuit, though I loved being able to sequence external gear. The Digitakt is quite a jump to learn after the Circuit, as someone said in the comments, there is menu diving- but you get used to it and the capability to do just about anything to samples and with a super powerful sequencer (as well as being able to sequence external gear) is top notch as is the sound quality. I think the Circuit is more entry level groovebox and a great way to learn to produce music and remarkably capable for the price point.
No conocía el canal . Magnifica comparación . Muchas gracias . Hace dos semanas compré el circuits Tracks y estoy impresionado por sus posibilidades del secuenciador a ese precio
I've been using both the circuit tracks and digitakt for the past year, and the digitakt really is so much more powerful and offers so much more control. The circuit tracks, however, wins in terms of portability (lighter and battery powered), and it has a better side-chain compressor (digitakt has one, but in my opinion it isn't good as it compresses everything, included the side-chain source, which isn't ideal in most cases). I also like how on the circuit you can easily transpose an entire sequence up or down an octave instantly with the up/down arrows (digitakt can not do this quickly). As such..the only reason I would keep the circuit tracks is it would be slightly easier to take travelling.
Really interesting comparison. I never cared that much for pad sensitivity as I've never felt like it translated well. Also there's something so satisfying about the clicky buttons of digitakt I love.they are both power houses tho and complement each other well. Great video!
I’m not sure these two are comparable machines. Perhaps they more like compliment each other for example a small live daw set up etc. But to me it seems they are different type of devices.
I was thinking the same since I have never had a Circuit prior to last week. I was actually very surprised at how many similarities there were. The Circuit Tracks seems to be positioned to be a Digitakt 'Lite' in a lot of ways. Novation have 'borrowed' a lot from Elektron and served it up in a very simplified way. Other than the depth of each feature, they have a lot more similarities than differences in my opinion. I will keep both for sure, but I can't imagine a scenario where I'd use them together.
@@SURCOlive You're very welcome! If you dare, pls take a look at my channel. There is a lot of Circuit Rhythm and Tracks stuff 2 discover. Keep it up and greetz from Germany! 🇩🇪🎧
I think you can 'duplicate' the steps of a pattern to another tracks, but with the Digitakt you also get all of the perimeter locks, conditional triggers, pitch, retriggers, probability, etc. I think it is like most things in the comparison. The Tracks is like a 'Digitakt lite'. You can kind of do some things similar, but not as deep. The big exception for me is the side chain. Digitakt doesn't have anything like it. Big plus for the Tracks.
Glad you liked it. Circuit Tracks and Syntakt are very different. Syntakt has no sampling, but has 12 synth tracks that can all be easily swapped for midi tracks if needed in any combination. The synth tracks are 4 analog and 8 digital tracks that offer a ton of power. Syntakt also offers an analog FX block to send any track through in addition to the individual FX sends per track. It is crazy powerful but without sampling. If you are looking for sample capability I would definitely go Digitakt, but if you are wanting more of a synth based workflow, Syntakt is for sure the way to go. Thanks for watching!
@@SURCOlive that was indeed correct when you made the comment, but people coming to this video today should know that the Digitakt does now have a song mode. Elektron is great at adding new features to this box long after its release!
It does have a master compressor that can be “side chained” to a track output. What it is lacking is a side chain compressor on an individual channel that can use individual sources for the side chain. As an example- ducking the bass using the kick as a source. As it is now the master can use a whole track output as a source. It is technically a “side chain”, but it lacks real functionality. Check out the side chain on the Synthstron Deluge to see a fully implemented Side chain compressor. Thanks for watching
This looks like the thoughtful observations of a guy who's spent 10 years working with Elektron gear and wants to see if something else can mimic a Digitakt for half the price. The Tracks is a totally different interface. It's half a Launchpad. Patterns and scenes are visual, and you can see what's happening on eight tracks simultaneously just like you could in Ableton with a Launchpad. The Digitakt is a grown-up OP-1. It's a clicky box of menu-diving agony which is adored by TH-cam creators. It can do amazing things if and only if you spend a month getting to know it. It seems super biased when you start explaining that it's not actually a downside that the Digitakt doesn't have a synth engine. It's a difficult comparison. If you own a Digitakt and know how to use it, I'm not sure why you'd ever use the Tracks. The Tracks might be a very good first sequencer or groovebox, but you should probably learn how to use a simple drum machine like a Volca or a TR-6S first. I don't know. I'm having trouble deciding how legit I think the Tracks is. 🙂
This was actually driven by a lot of requests for me to compare the two. I do agree they are very different and geared to very different people. That said, I am all about trying everything to see what works best for each individual person. I used the Digitakt and Deluge as my travel sketch pads. I was hoping that the Tracks would fill that spot in a smaller form factor, and others might want to use it for that too. It is amazing to live in a time when there is a solution out there for everyone, and those solutions are never exactly the same for two different people. I find the Elektron workflow easy and fast to work with, but it is not for everyone. My live setup is based around Elektron machines (Octatrack, Digitakt, and Syntakt), because the workflow for live improvisation suits my brain. Interestingly enough the only Elektron I use in my production workflow is the Analog Rytm, because I have found other gear better suited to my production style. I would add that my new sketchpad of choice is the Syntakt, and I'm using the Digitakt less and less. Also funny you compare the Digitakt to the OP-1 which is one of my least favorite workflows. Thanks for taking the time to comment, and thank you so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive I just wish Elektron would come out with a new simple thing which I could try to learn the Elektron way of doing things and see if it’ll be my thing. I have a Tracks and I’m so conflicted on what to even think of it. There are certain things like Circuit and Drumbrute that feel like this super-legit prosumer stuff … But something is missing. And I don’t know what that is. Something makes me love a Volca and love just about any shitty Roland thing, but then stuff I really want to love is awkward and toy-like when I try. I think it’s just my ability to find a comfortable workflow. I need to find some limitations and say, “OK I get what this is about and how I’m going to use it.” It needs to simplify my life or give me something very interesting and worthwhile to learn. So many things look interesting. That’s the company’s job to make them look interesting. But I want to learn something. It’s such an odd nerdy impulse. I would love to have the skill to use an Octatrack like Stimming. I just want to get to a comfortable place. I know DJing is comfortable. But even that takes work to align what you think your vibe is vs. what it is when you watch it afterwards. MIDI devices or modular stuff or music in general starts to feel like I’m building a Difference Engine and I just want to see it show me interesting answers but I need to learn how to communicate questions. It’s an exhausting undertaking, and we’d all like to see evidence that it’s paid off for others before we commit. The workflow that works for me is having 500 tracks with 1000 loops and plugging them into four decks and layering them with a million guitar pedals and Ableton FX and networking a Pioneer mixer just so it’ll give me the CDJ clock for me to feed into the pedals LOL. I can’t vibe without touching things and spinning things. That’s why Deadmau5 can’t make anything sexy but Maya Jane Coles can! I think I’m going to switch to Ableton with everything running into 10 channels on a linked Model 1 and Model 1.4 mixer. That’ll be my analog-not-analog thing.
@@RaquelFoster It is a crazy world out there with gear choices for sure. I'm more than happy to help in any way I can with the decision process. I guess I would start with "what would you like to do with the machine(s)?" Are you looking for production, live performance, adding a hybrid element to a DJ set, live performance of your own productions, or improvising with the productions of others? There is very different gear (in my opinion) for each of these scenarios. I use different gear for each one of these, and mix and match often. Add to that different hardware and software workflows, and things get messy pretty fast. My one suggestion would be to start with the end in mind and work backward to the gear. If you are looking to create from scratch, synth based workflows are worth investing time to learn. If you prefer samples, it is a totally different set of hardware and workflow. If you prefer to sequence vs play stuff in, the choices change again. I've found that the best path tends to be looking for machines that specialize in what you want them to do, rather than looking for jacks of all trades that end up being full of shortcomings created when substituting functionality you didn't even want. If I was more into playing keys and less about sequencers, or more into samples than synths, the Elektron stuff would not be for me. Shoot me a message on IG, and I'm happy to set up a zoom chat to chat about any of this. I know how frustrating it can be. It was the whole reason I created my channel in the first place. I was looking and not finding the answers I needed to the same questions you have. Thanks again for reaching out.
27:56 you can do that too on the circuit, you can save your pattern before doing the changes and then recall the saved pattern Is the digitakt polyphonic, per track I mean? can you make chords? Sorry if I missed it. This was a great video, I'm going to check out some digitakt jams, it looks very powerful, thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it! MIDI tracks are 4 note polyphonic. Samples are one per step per track, but there are work arounds to use multiple tracks to play chords. Thanks as always for watching.
Apples and Oranges. Seems like you are comparing like a Ferrari to a Toyota. I'll still go with the Toyota any day of the week, except maybe while on vacation, but then again, where? Don't get me wrong, I would accept and sell the Ferrari and buy a Toyota and keep the left over cash! Lol I understand Digitakt is renowned, I just don't want to take college courses to use it, only to learn it is obsolete. Too much time and energy and $ invested into one mind fuk, just sayin'.
I can see the point. I would note a couple of things... I personally find that while far deeper in capability, the Digitakt is MUCH easier to use because of the implementation of the interface and the screen. I would also agree more with the analogy if the prices were more in line. An average Toyota is about 1/10 the cost of the average Ferrari. This would line up if the Circuit was $70 instead of $400. I think people were asking for this comparison because the Digitakt is only about 50% more, and does many times more functions. Thanks for the input, and thank you so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive Not a problem. Okay maybe Lexus vs Toyota then. I know for me, for my time away from the DAW, I want time away from the screen, too. To each his own. $350 can be a lot easier to 'justify' to one's self, spouse or parent, than $800. All good. I just think they are in completely different leagues. But the fact that you compared the two does say something about both.
You can actually have pattern play at different tempo's. When you were talking about probability, you were actually on the page I'm referring to: the 8 white knobs determine playback speed, the purple ones determine direction. If you hit the pattern settings/probability knob again you get the probability page. Another small inaccuracy is that you can actually copy Synth patterns to Midi patterns (and you can actually also use your Synth tracks as Midi tracks if you turn down the volume of the synth track and mix in the external box' audio elsewhere), so you have to to 4 tracks of external sequencing. Despite these, this is a very good comparison! I am seriously considering changing in my Circuit Tracks for a Digitakt, after the latest firmware update with the new sampling machines, and your video is touching upon all the elements that I am struggling with.
One question that I still have is Polyphony. Circuit's synth engine is perfectly polyphonic, both in the synth and the sequencer. How is that for the Digitakt?
I had a OG Circuit along with Volca bass and a Behringer Crave then a Circuit tracks and now I have a Digitakt. I loved the playability of the Novation Circuit and the sequencer is genius, but, and it's became the issue, I got tired of the synth engine, I just couldn't get many sounds I wanted from the Circuit, though I loved being able to sequence external gear. The Digitakt is quite a jump to learn after the Circuit, as someone said in the comments, there is menu diving- but you get used to it and the capability to do just about anything to samples and with a super powerful sequencer (as well as being able to sequence external gear) is top notch as is the sound quality. I think the Circuit is more entry level groovebox and a great way to learn to produce music and remarkably capable for the price point.
No conocía el canal . Magnifica comparación . Muchas gracias . Hace dos semanas compré el circuits Tracks y estoy impresionado por sus posibilidades del secuenciador a ese precio
Have the tracks really want the digitackt, thx for the video it helps clarify a lot of the similarities and differences
I've been using both the circuit tracks and digitakt for the past year, and the digitakt really is so much more powerful and offers so much more control. The circuit tracks, however, wins in terms of portability (lighter and battery powered), and it has a better side-chain compressor (digitakt has one, but in my opinion it isn't good as it compresses everything, included the side-chain source, which isn't ideal in most cases). I also like how on the circuit you can easily transpose an entire sequence up or down an octave instantly with the up/down arrows (digitakt can not do this quickly).
As such..the only reason I would keep the circuit tracks is it would be slightly easier to take travelling.
Really interesting comparison. I never cared that much for pad sensitivity as I've never felt like it translated well. Also there's something so satisfying about the clicky buttons of digitakt I love.they are both power houses tho and complement each other well. Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey ! This is quite a unique comparison, very detailed and I appreciate that! Subscribed
I’m glad you got something out of it. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing!
Software update on Dig now allows song mode.
I’m not sure these two are comparable machines. Perhaps they more like compliment each other for example a small live daw set up etc. But to me it seems they are different type of devices.
I was thinking the same since I have never had a Circuit prior to last week. I was actually very surprised at how many similarities there were. The Circuit Tracks seems to be positioned to be a Digitakt 'Lite' in a lot of ways. Novation have 'borrowed' a lot from Elektron and served it up in a very simplified way. Other than the depth of each feature, they have a lot more similarities than differences in my opinion. I will keep both for sure, but I can't imagine a scenario where I'd use them together.
Very good video. Thx 4 sharing! 👌
Glad you liked it. Thanks so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive You're very welcome! If you dare, pls take a look at my channel. There is a lot of Circuit Rhythm and Tracks stuff 2 discover. Keep it up and greetz from Germany! 🇩🇪🎧
19:31 I think you can, I've seen it being demoed by Ricky Tinez
I think you can 'duplicate' the steps of a pattern to another tracks, but with the Digitakt you also get all of the perimeter locks, conditional triggers, pitch, retriggers, probability, etc. I think it is like most things in the comparison. The Tracks is like a 'Digitakt lite'. You can kind of do some things similar, but not as deep. The big exception for me is the side chain. Digitakt doesn't have anything like it. Big plus for the Tracks.
I love love my digitakt so much
Me too!!
hey, great video, thanks for that! How would you compare the Circuit Tracks with the new Syntakt instead of Digitakt?
Glad you liked it. Circuit Tracks and Syntakt are very different. Syntakt has no sampling, but has 12 synth tracks that can all be easily swapped for midi tracks if needed in any combination. The synth tracks are 4 analog and 8 digital tracks that offer a ton of power. Syntakt also offers an analog FX block to send any track through in addition to the individual FX sends per track. It is crazy powerful but without sampling. If you are looking for sample capability I would definitely go Digitakt, but if you are wanting more of a synth based workflow, Syntakt is for sure the way to go. Thanks for watching!
03:11 ok im out for the circuit absolute no go
You mixed it up: there are 16 delays and 8 reverbs on the tracks, interesting video!
Thanks for watching.
Doesn't all that clickety-clacking on the Digitakt get annoying after a while?
I personally love the clicky buttons but they aren’t for everyone.
Hi, good comparison, but with Digitakt you CAN chain patterns to a song, but you cannot save them (02:00)
That is correct. Thanks for watching
@@SURCOlive that was indeed correct when you made the comment, but people coming to this video today should know that the Digitakt does now have a song mode. Elektron is great at adding new features to this box long after its release!
Digitakt has a Side chain. On the Main Output page.
It does have a master compressor that can be “side chained” to a track output. What it is lacking is a side chain compressor on an individual channel that can use individual sources for the side chain. As an example- ducking the bass using the kick as a source. As it is now the master can use a whole track output as a source. It is technically a “side chain”, but it lacks real functionality. Check out the side chain on the Synthstron Deluge to see a fully implemented Side chain compressor. Thanks for watching
@@SURCOlive you are right. :-) thanks.
8:49 I don't think the fx presets can be edited on the circuit, not even on the computer, never heard about it
There is the ability to edit by synth patch and assign to macros, but you are right, no ability to 'edit' the presets of the FX
@@SURCOlive yeah the presets can be edited but they only have a chorus/flanger effect if I remember correctly
This looks like the thoughtful observations of a guy who's spent 10 years working with Elektron gear and wants to see if something else can mimic a Digitakt for half the price.
The Tracks is a totally different interface. It's half a Launchpad. Patterns and scenes are visual, and you can see what's happening on eight tracks simultaneously just like you could in Ableton with a Launchpad. The Digitakt is a grown-up OP-1. It's a clicky box of menu-diving agony which is adored by TH-cam creators. It can do amazing things if and only if you spend a month getting to know it. It seems super biased when you start explaining that it's not actually a downside that the Digitakt doesn't have a synth engine.
It's a difficult comparison. If you own a Digitakt and know how to use it, I'm not sure why you'd ever use the Tracks. The Tracks might be a very good first sequencer or groovebox, but you should probably learn how to use a simple drum machine like a Volca or a TR-6S first.
I don't know. I'm having trouble deciding how legit I think the Tracks is. 🙂
This was actually driven by a lot of requests for me to compare the two. I do agree they are very different and geared to very different people. That said, I am all about trying everything to see what works best for each individual person. I used the Digitakt and Deluge as my travel sketch pads. I was hoping that the Tracks would fill that spot in a smaller form factor, and others might want to use it for that too. It is amazing to live in a time when there is a solution out there for everyone, and those solutions are never exactly the same for two different people. I find the Elektron workflow easy and fast to work with, but it is not for everyone. My live setup is based around Elektron machines (Octatrack, Digitakt, and Syntakt), because the workflow for live improvisation suits my brain. Interestingly enough the only Elektron I use in my production workflow is the Analog Rytm, because I have found other gear better suited to my production style. I would add that my new sketchpad of choice is the Syntakt, and I'm using the Digitakt less and less. Also funny you compare the Digitakt to the OP-1 which is one of my least favorite workflows. Thanks for taking the time to comment, and thank you so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive I just wish Elektron would come out with a new simple thing which I could try to learn the Elektron way of doing things and see if it’ll be my thing. I have a Tracks and I’m so conflicted on what to even think of it. There are certain things like Circuit and Drumbrute that feel like this super-legit prosumer stuff … But something is missing. And I don’t know what that is. Something makes me love a Volca and love just about any shitty Roland thing, but then stuff I really want to love is awkward and toy-like when I try. I think it’s just my ability to find a comfortable workflow. I need to find some limitations and say, “OK I get what this is about and how I’m going to use it.” It needs to simplify my life or give me something very interesting and worthwhile to learn. So many things look interesting. That’s the company’s job to make them look interesting. But I want to learn something. It’s such an odd nerdy impulse. I would love to have the skill to use an Octatrack like Stimming. I just want to get to a comfortable place. I know DJing is comfortable. But even that takes work to align what you think your vibe is vs. what it is when you watch it afterwards. MIDI devices or modular stuff or music in general starts to feel like I’m building a Difference Engine and I just want to see it show me interesting answers but I need to learn how to communicate questions. It’s an exhausting undertaking, and we’d all like to see evidence that it’s paid off for others before we commit. The workflow that works for me is having 500 tracks with 1000 loops and plugging them into four decks and layering them with a million guitar pedals and Ableton FX and networking a Pioneer mixer just so it’ll give me the CDJ clock for me to feed into the pedals LOL. I can’t vibe without touching things and spinning things. That’s why Deadmau5 can’t make anything sexy but Maya Jane Coles can! I think I’m going to switch to Ableton with everything running into 10 channels on a linked Model 1 and Model 1.4 mixer. That’ll be my analog-not-analog thing.
@@RaquelFoster It is a crazy world out there with gear choices for sure. I'm more than happy to help in any way I can with the decision process. I guess I would start with "what would you like to do with the machine(s)?" Are you looking for production, live performance, adding a hybrid element to a DJ set, live performance of your own productions, or improvising with the productions of others? There is very different gear (in my opinion) for each of these scenarios. I use different gear for each one of these, and mix and match often. Add to that different hardware and software workflows, and things get messy pretty fast. My one suggestion would be to start with the end in mind and work backward to the gear. If you are looking to create from scratch, synth based workflows are worth investing time to learn. If you prefer samples, it is a totally different set of hardware and workflow. If you prefer to sequence vs play stuff in, the choices change again. I've found that the best path tends to be looking for machines that specialize in what you want them to do, rather than looking for jacks of all trades that end up being full of shortcomings created when substituting functionality you didn't even want. If I was more into playing keys and less about sequencers, or more into samples than synths, the Elektron stuff would not be for me. Shoot me a message on IG, and I'm happy to set up a zoom chat to chat about any of this. I know how frustrating it can be. It was the whole reason I created my channel in the first place. I was looking and not finding the answers I needed to the same questions you have. Thanks again for reaching out.
27:56 you can do that too on the circuit, you can save your pattern before doing the changes and then recall the saved pattern
Is the digitakt polyphonic, per track I mean? can you make chords? Sorry if I missed it.
This was a great video, I'm going to check out some digitakt jams, it looks very powerful, thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it! MIDI tracks are 4 note polyphonic. Samples are one per step per track, but there are work arounds to use multiple tracks to play chords. Thanks as always for watching.
Wait how do you do this on the circuit?
@@tsuriranpu save your project, make changes, reload project from the project page. If you do it with shift is instant
Think the Model Samples from Elektron would have been more of a fair compare.
I agree! Thanks for watching!
Apples and Oranges. Seems like you are comparing like a Ferrari to a Toyota. I'll still go with the Toyota any day of the week, except maybe while on vacation, but then again, where? Don't get me wrong, I would accept and sell the Ferrari and buy a Toyota and keep the left over cash! Lol
I understand Digitakt is renowned, I just don't want to take college courses to use it, only to learn it is obsolete. Too much time and energy and $ invested into one mind fuk, just sayin'.
I can see the point. I would note a couple of things... I personally find that while far deeper in capability, the Digitakt is MUCH easier to use because of the implementation of the interface and the screen. I would also agree more with the analogy if the prices were more in line. An average Toyota is about 1/10 the cost of the average Ferrari. This would line up if the Circuit was $70 instead of $400. I think people were asking for this comparison because the Digitakt is only about 50% more, and does many times more functions. Thanks for the input, and thank you so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive Not a problem. Okay maybe Lexus vs Toyota then. I know for me, for my time away from the DAW, I want time away from the screen, too. To each his own. $350 can be a lot easier to 'justify' to one's self, spouse or parent, than $800. All good. I just think they are in completely different leagues. But the fact that you compared the two does say something about both.
Risky video to see if you just bought one xD
Hahaha. No judgement. I like them both. ;)
You have the delay and reverb the wrong way round. Plus midi templates for the midi tracks are great for external synths
Thanks for the feedback. And thanks for watching.