It changed everything about how I make music

I think this is a very inspiring instrument, either used on it's own or as part of a bigger setup. Absolutely worth the money.

What I love:

• Sampling is mono and that is fine, because mono samples are easier to loop and easier to mix.

• Each of the 8 voices is actually a complete synthesizer with one sample oscillator, 2 filters, 2 envelopes and 2 LFO's. It's very hands on, I think it sounds great and to me it is very inspiring!

• The sequencer is a TR-style sequencer on steroids, different track lengths, different speeds, per trig parameter locks, probabillity and conditional trigs. I think this sequencer is a very inspiring tool to compose with.

• There are 2 send effects; delay and reverb. Both pretty decent. And very usable because every track has its own send levels. Which you can trig lock...

• It is beautifully designed and has excellent build quaility. Nice knobs. Very clear display. Good choice of IO on the back.

Major drawbacks:

• The audio tracks are monophonic. So chords are only possible by using more than one track, which is very cumbersome, or (better option) sampling chords and than triggering those.

• This drives me NUTS. I want the sounds to evolve during the track and so I'm constantly tweaking parameters like filter frequency, resonance, envelope decay, bitreduction, etc. This can sound AMAZING on Digitakt, BUT: the sounds are part of the the pattern. In other words, when I go to a differetn pattern my sounds get reset and all my tweaks are GONE, until I go back to the first pattern and they're suddenly back. UNBELIEVABLE!

Elektron kinda fixed this in Digitakt II with 'performance kit mode'.I'm still hoping the feature will make it into a Digitakt I upgrade...

• Another big drawback of the DT (and other Elektron stuff as far as I know) is the confusing file handling using the 'soundpool' and '+drive'. This goes for both sounds and samples.

• The sampling engines are not polyphonic. Digitakt II's sampling is stereo, but still monophonic. I'd rather have polyphony than stereo, but maybe that's just me.

Minor gripes:

• Matching LFO speeds to musical values not intuitive at all.

• Only 1 reverb and 1 delay is a bit limiting. 1 insert effect per track like chorus/flanger/phaser would be awesome.

• The sequencer is missing some obvious tricks for such a device, I think; > Finer control over speed: not just double, halve or triplet speeds, but also 4/5 for instance. > Backwards and random playing directions > per trigger step length > different starting step > sequence reset > sequence transpose.

• And the handling of pages is odd: 2 bars of 12/8 is currently 1 page of 16 and 1 page of 8. What you want is 2 pages of 12!

• Control All: I can't find a way to lock it, so you have to hold the TRK button. Also, there's no way to exclude tracks from control all. There is on Digitakt II but you have to set it up under settings, meaning it is not easy to change in a performance. What I would have liked instead is holding down more than one track button to control multiple tracks. This would have the added benefit of being able to edit multiple tracks at the same time which also helps with faking polyphony...

• Track selection: During performance you need to remember to hold TRK before selecting it, or you will be triggering the track. I wish this could be turned off.

• Encoder "D" is starting to behave funny on my DT. DT seems to think I've touched it, when I've been nowhere near it... Other users have reported similar issues. Not a big issue, but when you think of buying a DT second hand check it out properly!

Preferred Settings + Usage:

From Gear Setup

TRIG CONDITIONS!

Takes no time to get up and running with this guy-and it’s my 1st Elektron piece of gear. Fun, fast, intuitive, it’s made its way to the front of my studio in just over a week.

The hype about the sequencer is well deserved- it makes any concerns about the limitations evaporate soon as you dig in. Awesome fun w/ the LFO destinations as well- I’ve not yet set it up to run midi for the rest of my synths but soon as work calms down I CAN NOT WAIT. As for it’s limitations they’re all welcome. Love this box.

It is nearly perfect, and no I don't want an Octatrack

The digitakt is endlessly fun, useful, and easy to use as a center for creating whole tracks. I think it has mostly been marketed as a drum machine, but I use it by itself for most of my live gigs, and it's great for performing ambient or more beat-oriented electronic music. I'd like to see Elektron update it and give it glide, and maybe an arpeggiator, but as it is now it is nearly perfect in my view.

Inspiring box

Sober looking sampler. An instrument by itself, that allows you to modulate your grooves and patterns into unexpected horizons. As it is super compact, it's easy to bring everywhere. The integration to a system of other gear is more complicated, yet there are tons of help and tutorials around the web.

Centre of my world

I use the digitakt to control my other synths via MIDI. It’s a powerful little machine, and a lot of fun to use. As with all my gear, there are unexplored levels of use/potential which I will eventually get to

Very intuitive.

Seems incomprehensible at first, but once you know it, it's one of the most intuitive samplers I've tried. And I have owned both a MPC 1000 and Mpc 500.

Wow!

This is a fun instrument, easy to use, fantastic filters, great sound - it just makes me smile.

Redefining "in the box" music.

I love this machine. It is truly inspirational to use, and I always end up with something good each time I turn it on.

very nice rythmus/sample machine

nice rythmus and sample machine to make short rythmic sounds and play in a lot of random like variations

i love it

I am so happy with that little Box. so much power

From Gear Setup