Elektron

‘holds’ a recorded audio clip until it’s
manually cleared, it’s easy to slice
multiple hits out of longer chunks of
audio. It’s worth noting that, despite
stereo input jacks, Digitakt samples
in mono, so recordings taken from
both the L/R input at once will be
summed to a single channel.
Samples are saved to and loaded
from the +Drive, which offers 1GB of
internal storage. Digitakt also comes
stocked with a healthy offering of
quality factory sounds and kits.
Loading samples to the +Drive is
handled via Elektron’s desktop
sample transfer application. With no
SD or USB input on the hardware,
this means there’s no way to load
sounds into Digitakt without a
computer with the appropriate
software installed, which is a bit of a
shame. Once onboard, however,
Digitakt handles sounds in a smart,
non-destructive manner, meaning
that sounds assigned to patterns are
copied, rather than directly edited,
so the original remains available.
AMP window then offers a further
AHD envelope shaper, along with
level and pan controls. There are also
send controls here for the global
reverb and delay, along with an insert
distortion. Each track also has its
own LFO, which can be routed to a
variety of fi lter, amp and sample
manipulation parameters, with seven
wave shapes on offer and the ability
to run in a variety of sync’d,
unsync’d and retriggered modes.
While ‘digital’ is often, unfairly,
seen as synonymous with cheaper or
less ‘full’ sounds, there’s certainly
plenty of heft to Digitakt’s sound
engine. The bit reduction and
Saved recordings, or sounds
already loaded into the internal
memory, are assigned and
manipulated in each track’s SCR
menu. There are controls for setting
a sample’s tuning, start and end
points, along with play mode and loop
settings. Playing with these can achieve
anything from simple one-shots to
more granular and texturally weird
sounds. There’s bit rate reduction
here too, which is great for beefi ng up
thin sounds with a little lo-fi crunch.
Next, in the FLTR window, we get
controls for fi lter type, cutoff and
resonance, along with an ADSR
envelope with depth control. The
I/O AND OVERBRIDGE
Around the back ,Digitakt features a stereo pair of jack ins (although as mentioned, it
samples in mono), a main stereo pair of jack outs and a single headphone output. There’s
a trio of MIDI ports too – in, out and thru, the latter two of which double up as DIN sync
ports. There’s a USB connector too, for connection to a host computer. As with previous
Elektron instruments, Digitakt will shortly be able to take advantage of the company’s
Overbridge software, which offers tight DAW sync and audio interface capabilities. The
difference this time, however, is that Elektron are implementing a two tier system for
Overbridge. There’s a free version facilitating sample transfer, MIDI over USB, a librarian
tool and limited audio
streaming over USB, and a
Premium version with full
interface functionality,
individual audio track
outputs over USB and a
VST-style interface.
It’s a bit of a shame to
see this functionality
offered as a separate
purchase this time.
Bearing in mind what it
unlocks, I’d be surprised
if many users didn’t shell
out the extra price
– $69/79 euros – so it’s
worth factoring that into
the price consideration!
THE ALTERNATIVES
Akai MPC Live
£969
Akai’s new
standalone MPC
offers sampling,
MIDI sequencing
and full audio
recording and editing.
www.akaipro.com
Elektron
Analog Rytm
£1299
Digitakt’s bigger
sibling combines
sample playing with
a meaty analogue
drum engine.
www.elektron.se
Pioneer DJ
Toriaz SP-16
£1389
The SP-16 is
another standalone
beatmaker that
combines sampling,
sequencing and
performance
controls. It’s got a
great Dave Smith
fi lter too.
www.pioneerdj.com
We get controls for fi lter
type, cutoff and resonance,
along with an ADSR envelope
Reviews | Elektron Digitakt
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FMU320.rev_elektron.indd 82 6/14/17 6:09 PM