I am so late to this party but this has got to be the very best, clearest and most informative video I've seen about the Digitone. You have completely dispelled my fear of this box and I'm going to have to have a serious think about whether I need one now.
Very informative. I'm an electronics engineering student and we just covered AM, FM and fibre optic communications. I love being able to connect what I'm learning in class to synths :D
I often create drum sounds with mine using Steinberg's Backbone. It allows me to separate the noise and tonal characteristics into separate layers for resynthesis, editing, and a number of other things. I can also layer additional samples. It's an awesome tool for doing sound design and making drum kits. The digitone produces great samples.
You have an amazing wealth of knowledge! And you're also a great instructor/demonstrator. Thank you for the amount of time and effort you put into these awesome videos. Cheers!
hey, apart from the very good quality of your videos, i like the fact that you do not celebrate yourself like a popstar like some other youtubers. but that is probably a matter of taste. your videos are very pleasant for me. thank you so much for all your helpful introductions to all these machines. greetings from berlin
serdar saydan I'm just glad the internet provides different approaches for different people. Sometimes I just want the facts, how's and why's. But sometimes I really enjoy the interaction between creator and audience. This video is great though!
Dude you have single-handedly made me buy so much great gear. Thanks for making these videos! You have a real gift for demonstrating gear in an interesting and succinct way.
If the digitakt wasn't such a buggy mess I'd buy the digitone. But elektron is really bad at updating and debugging. I don't trust any of their new devices.
Little Gator Farm as someone who own a digitakt and uses it as a midi brain I can honestly say it’s not that buggy, since os 1.06 I haven’t had a single freeze.
I never knew how to use a spectrum analyzer until I saw this video. I can use an Oscilloscope, but seeing the spectrum analyzer used with a "Harmonic Rich" synth voice and a filter really brought things together.
All your expert knowledge and patience gives me hope to get to grips with this machines capabilities. I am so interested sound synthesis this video will be my reference point. I cant thank you enough.
Been waiting for your review since this was announced. As always, it was well worth the wait. Thanks for a very informative overview of what the Digitone is capable of and how it achieves it. Thanks again!
Just ordered mine today. I'm an FM junkie, and although I am not especially impressed with the 4OP here and only sine wave (TX81z is has far more capabilities), the sequencer itself is what will make this machine for me.
If you haven't already maybe consider penning some books on this stuff. Your comprehensive explanations, full feature coverage, and exceptional presentation skills make me think this is what you should be doing. Are you a dentist? Anyhow keep going. o/
David Robot thanks! I guess except the dentist part? No, I’m not.... I thought about writing ebooks and passed - I’ve never enjoyed a book or written review about music or gear as much as actually seeing it in action. But who knows maybe there’s a winning format I didn’t think of. Thanks again anyway!
@@loopop just was watching this video and saw this comment. Funny how things change, huh? Now you've got your (incomplete) ebook and it's easily one of the best resources out there for those getting into electronic music.
Awesome work on this mate, my head was pickled when I got mine earlier trying to navigate my way around and just wanting to dive in. This has cleared it all up, will be referencing this plenty! Cheers for all your hard work 👍
I’m a recent subscriber and the depth and clarity of your demos and synthesis explanations is awesome. I’ve seen more than my share of synth videos and your demos are amongst the best out there. I hope you get to keep some of these wonderful instruments.
You are becoming one of the best synth/music-tech reviewers on UA-cam! Great explanations and right around of detail - interesting and informative. I am really starting to like these Elektron boxes... feeling pangs of GAS.
As a first-time Elektronaut this video was a gift. I learned so much in one sitting. Thank you! The only small criticism - say which key combos you’re using to access the various settings and functions. Had to stop and rewind so many time just to catch the button combos!
Hey loopop ! So I did go to a local Elektron distributor and spent almost 2 hours with the Digitone. I DID have good fun with the machine and I really enjoyed the results in general. I do have to say though, once you get in the Elektron ecosystem with the Digitakt, I really feel like spending another 1k CAD$ really yields diminishing returns in terms of the kind of results that you can create because you already have access to the parameter locking world with the Digitakt alone (and its 8 dedicated midi tracks). There were very distinct points that convinced me to hold back on the device for now, particularly considering its price: 1. By far the biggest drawback is that 8 voices of polyphony is EXTREMELY restrictive once you consider that it is split on 4 tracks. Even using just 2 tracks, 4 voices of polyphony per track is VERY restrictive for melodic content, which is something I kind of wasn't expecting at first. Considering what I was trying to accomplish by getting this machine, it overall fails significantly at creating this versatile melodic contrast vs the rhythmic emphasis the Digitakt tastefully encourages. The machine itself is perfectly fine with just having 4 tracks, but it would need minimum 16 voices of polyphony, preferably 24 for us to really be able to say OK this machine is 4 synths in one box. 2. Comparing further with the Digitakt and its resampling capability, you are technically able to create a convincing effect of polyphony with the digitakt and then just resample the internal audio to just use 1 voice, even though the process is objectively tedious and restrictive. No such options available on the Digitone. Even paired with the Digitakt, the Digitakt wouldn't retain the stereo image of the Digitone if it was used to sample the Digitone, so there really is no viable workaround for this. 3. There are bugs when copy pasting multiple trigs at once, which I was expecting after reading the elektronauts forums. If you copy-paste about 4 trigs at once, if the trigs all include sound locks, the last trig of the pack is not going to have the desired sound-locked sound, but the default sound for the track instead, and I find it really problematic. 4. There is NO RETRIG feature, as opposed to the Digitakt, and the effect is relatively tedious to program manually. 5. The synth engine is amazing, but there is no keytrack (keyboard tracking) parameter included in this machine, which is something I find really annoying for such an innovative modern FM synth, as for example it is not possible to adjust the cutoff frequency in function of which note you press, to ensure consistency in tone across all notes. 6. No choice between exponential/linear modes for attack decay release modulation envelopes either. 7. The rectangular sequencer buttons are annoying to get used to once you're used to the square buttons of the Digitakt. 8. No pitch bending joystick built on the box either. Bottom line, the concept is great and is mostly there, it just comes down to simple details that, when combined just makes the Digitone not ideal as a 2nd box when compared to older more standard digital synths with good polyphony, which is really sad because the synth engine is innovative.
@@loopop nice!! that's a really pleasant surprise actually. Still a shame thinking about the bugs though, especially considering Elektron just released an OS update on May 8th 2019 that didn't resolve the copy paste issue... I would still love to get one at a discounted price (as in used), but considering how expensive the machines are and that the warranty is 3 years, it's a painful gamble.
Beautifully done my friend!! extremely informative and interactive!!! I was sort of on the fence about this guy but ultimately purchased one of these because of your video!
Great tutorial about Digitone! Hope we will see more Tips&Tricks or "How to make sounds with Digitone" from you like Cuckoo done it with his Elektron Tutorials.
Finally picked one up for $395! Great price for a powerhouse synth. Figured if I'm going all in for a Digitakt 2, I might as well save money and get OG Digitone to start off with, since I can print the tracks to DT2, freeing up DN voices at will.
Excellent video. FM is interesting stuff. Watching this though and I'm thinking opx-4 on MPC stand-alone is up there with this. I've wasted hours on that already, making noises ("sound design" would be a gross exaggeration!)...
@loopop if you copy this into the video description it will add chapters for easy navigation :D Since I keep coming back to this I figured I'd help out other viewers.
This is a pretty cool little machine and seems super powerful for its size. I bet it has a steep learning curve. Of course, I do love me a good challenge. I also love diving through a .PDF manual. This might just be right up my alley. I have DOZENS of SoftSynths, but no hardware units. I might add this to my Sweetwater WishList.
I had a question regarding the Digitone : when I program a few tracks and then add a sustaining instrument (i.e. keyboard) on another track, that instrument does not sustain for some reason. It seems to get cut off by the percussion or something. How do I get that track to sustain?
I am so late to this party but this has got to be the very best, clearest and most informative video I've seen about the Digitone. You have completely dispelled my fear of this box and I'm going to have to have a serious think about whether I need one now.
Very informative. I'm an electronics engineering student and we just covered AM, FM and fibre optic communications. I love being able to connect what I'm learning in class to synths :D
I often create drum sounds with mine using Steinberg's Backbone. It allows me to separate the noise and tonal characteristics into separate layers for resynthesis, editing, and a number of other things. I can also layer additional samples. It's an awesome tool for doing sound design and making drum kits. The digitone produces great samples.
Backbone looks quite interesting! Does it quickly save .wav samples of your one-shots? Might be a great way to populate XLN's XO with drum sounds.
You have an amazing wealth of knowledge! And you're also a great instructor/demonstrator. Thank you for the amount of time and effort you put into these awesome videos.
Cheers!
hey,
apart from the very good quality of your videos, i like the fact that you do not celebrate yourself like a popstar like some other youtubers.
but that is probably a matter of taste. your videos are very pleasant for me. thank you so much for all your helpful introductions to all these machines.
greetings from berlin
sbmphr thanks ;) my dad is a doctor so maybe that explains it
serdar saydan I'm just glad the internet provides different approaches for different people. Sometimes I just want the facts, how's and why's. But sometimes I really enjoy the interaction between creator and audience. This video is great though!
Easily, one of the most informative, well thought-out synth channels on UA-cam. Thank you!
Dude you have single-handedly made me buy so much great gear. Thanks for making these videos! You have a real gift for demonstrating gear in an interesting and succinct way.
First time to understand the basic mechanism of FM synthesis. Thank you very much. You are super!
Thanks - my pleasure!
This was very informative. FM synthesis coupled with elektron sequencing seems like a crazy ride!
If the digitakt wasn't such a buggy mess I'd buy the digitone. But elektron is really bad at updating and debugging. I don't trust any of their new devices.
Little Gator Farm as someone who own a digitakt and uses it as a midi brain I can honestly say it’s not that buggy, since os 1.06 I haven’t had a single freeze.
I never knew how to use a spectrum analyzer until I saw this video. I can use an Oscilloscope, but seeing the spectrum analyzer used with a "Harmonic Rich" synth voice and a filter really brought things together.
Ha! The dog bark at 15:09 at first i thought it was a super realistic preset!
I just bought one recently and this video is epic, super helpful in understanding this machine.
Loopop always top of the UA-cam ranking if he's done a video on what your looking for. Top class!!!
Great, I never knew how FM worked thanks for the video.
It's been many months since I started researching what synth I'm gonna get next. This video finally ends that quest. Thank you!
Decompiler you’re welcome and thanks for the comment!
@@loopop Well it took me 6 years but I finally got it.
I'm so late, but this looks like a phenomenal device!!!!! Amazing review as always.
This is a great review! I learned something. Thanks!
Red Means Recording awesome! Thanks for the comment
Nice to stumble across red means recording in the comments
Thank you for the quality production... Camera work and Content... very nice
All your expert knowledge and patience gives me hope to get to grips with this machines capabilities. I am so interested sound synthesis this video will be my reference point. I cant thank you enough.
Wow. Blown away by your teaching skills and explaining fm synthesis. What an incredible video!!!
Thank you so much for the in-depth tutorials you do. Somehow you manage to make it informative AND relaxing! Fantastic job 👍👍
Your overviews and tutorials on all of all sorts of synth related stuff are so good, thank you!
Been waiting for your review since this was announced. As always, it was well worth the wait. Thanks for a very informative overview of what the Digitone is capable of and how it achieves it. Thanks again!
Karl Montzka cool - my pleasure ;)
Just ordered mine today. I'm an FM junkie, and although I am not especially impressed with the 4OP here and only sine wave (TX81z is has far more capabilities), the sequencer itself is what will make this machine for me.
If you haven't already maybe consider penning some books on this stuff. Your comprehensive explanations, full feature coverage, and exceptional presentation skills make me think this is what you should be doing. Are you a dentist? Anyhow keep going. o/
David Robot thanks! I guess except the dentist part? No, I’m not.... I thought about writing ebooks and passed - I’ve never enjoyed a book or written review about music or gear as much as actually seeing it in action. But who knows maybe there’s a winning format I didn’t think of. Thanks again anyway!
@@loopop just was watching this video and saw this comment. Funny how things change, huh? Now you've got your (incomplete) ebook and it's easily one of the best resources out there for those getting into electronic music.
@@ndguardian Thanks - it took a while to come up with the format - really glad you like it!
Dude, you are killing it with these videos. Keep up the great work!
Sami Matar thanks - yeah much goodness coming!
Awesome work on this mate, my head was pickled when I got mine earlier trying to navigate my way around and just wanting to dive in. This has cleared it all up, will be referencing this plenty! Cheers for all your hard work 👍
Bob Bell Sound thanks ;)
Love the production quality here! Keep it up!
Casey Weaver thanks ;)
I’m a recent subscriber and the depth and clarity of your demos and synthesis explanations is awesome. I’ve seen more than my share of synth videos and your demos are amongst the best out there. I hope you get to keep some of these wonderful instruments.
Thanks!
Haha i thought your dog was one of the sounds it really confused me 😊. An excellent educational video thank you
Same and it blew my fucking mind for a second. I was like "Damn, that's a great synthesized dog bark!"
Oh man I played that bit over and over. So glad he left that in, haven't chuckled that hard in weeks. Brilliant review as per usual too.
great review of the Digitone and awesome explanation of FM synthesis, superb job man.
One of the best videos about the Digitone - now, I definitely need one.
Thanks! but I assume you mean Digitone?
You're right, I meant Digitone (to pair with my Digitakt). :)
I love love love your channel. Thank you so much for being such a fantastic teacher.
Appreciate your tutorials and teaching method. I just ordered a digitone and this has been invaluable help to get started.
I’m looking to buy one. How do you like the digitone? I enjoy your videos also.
an amazing Drum machine you can create an entire drum part on one track base + melody on the other still leaves you with 2 tracks
Brilliant! excellent review and explanation of FM synthesis. Can't wait to get my pre-order!
I love that stand you’re using to angle the synth.
Check out Cremacaffe
Hi i purchased the Digitone i really enjoying it and your video helped me to get the most of it Thanks Patrick Mimran
You are becoming one of the best synth/music-tech reviewers on UA-cam! Great explanations and right around of detail - interesting and informative. I am really starting to like these Elektron boxes... feeling pangs of GAS.
Valdis Krebs thanks! and yes the force is strong with this one
He might very possibly be the best in the world. It will take a lot more of experience and talent to be better than Ziv on this planet, no doubt!
Jeez. I love your videos. You have all the qualities of a great teacher. Subscribed!
daemionic thanks :)
Wow...I think I actually get FM synthesis now. Amazing Review!
You finally made the synthesis of the Digitone sink into my brain. Thank you!
As a first-time Elektronaut this video was a gift. I learned so much in one sitting. Thank you!
The only small criticism - say which key combos you’re using to access the various settings and functions. Had to stop and rewind so many time just to catch the button combos!
Noted!
I'm ordering one today! can't wait to pair this with my Volca Sample and make some 16 bit Genesis bangers!
I can imagine with you combine this with an Eurorack + Octatrack & Ableton
Best videos around. Concisely done.
hehehe... love it when your dog barked :))
Currently saving up for the keys version,. So just back here to watch again and try to understand it
complicated, deep, creative and a never-ending source by the looks of it for potential. i going to have to invest in one of these.
Hey loopop ! So I did go to a local Elektron distributor and spent almost 2 hours with the Digitone. I DID have good fun with the machine and I really enjoyed the results in general. I do have to say though, once you get in the Elektron ecosystem with the Digitakt, I really feel like spending another 1k CAD$ really yields diminishing returns in terms of the kind of results that you can create because you already have access to the parameter locking world with the Digitakt alone (and its 8 dedicated midi tracks). There were very distinct points that convinced me to hold back on the device for now, particularly considering its price:
1. By far the biggest drawback is that 8 voices of polyphony is EXTREMELY restrictive once you consider that it is split on 4 tracks. Even using just 2 tracks, 4 voices of polyphony per track is VERY restrictive for melodic content, which is something I kind of wasn't expecting at first. Considering what I was trying to accomplish by getting this machine, it overall fails significantly at creating this versatile melodic contrast vs the rhythmic emphasis the Digitakt tastefully encourages. The machine itself is perfectly fine with just having 4 tracks, but it would need minimum 16 voices of polyphony, preferably 24 for us to really be able to say OK this machine is 4 synths in one box.
2. Comparing further with the Digitakt and its resampling capability, you are technically able to create a convincing effect of polyphony with the digitakt and then just resample the internal audio to just use 1 voice, even though the process is objectively tedious and restrictive. No such options available on the Digitone. Even paired with the Digitakt, the Digitakt wouldn't retain the stereo image of the Digitone if it was used to sample the Digitone, so there really is no viable workaround for this.
3. There are bugs when copy pasting multiple trigs at once, which I was expecting after reading the elektronauts forums. If you copy-paste about 4 trigs at once, if the trigs all include sound locks, the last trig of the pack is not going to have the desired sound-locked sound, but the default sound for the track instead, and I find it really problematic.
4. There is NO RETRIG feature, as opposed to the Digitakt, and the effect is relatively tedious to program manually.
5. The synth engine is amazing, but there is no keytrack (keyboard tracking) parameter included in this machine, which is something I find really annoying for such an innovative modern FM synth, as for example it is not possible to adjust the cutoff frequency in function of which note you press, to ensure consistency in tone across all notes.
6. No choice between exponential/linear modes for attack decay release modulation envelopes either.
7. The rectangular sequencer buttons are annoying to get used to once you're used to the square buttons of the Digitakt.
8. No pitch bending joystick built on the box either.
Bottom line, the concept is great and is mostly there, it just comes down to simple details that, when combined just makes the Digitone not ideal as a 2nd box when compared to older more standard digital synths with good polyphony, which is really sad because the synth engine is innovative.
Hey - nice mini review! One correction, there actually is a Filter Keytrack function - it's a little hard to find - it's in the Sound Setup menu
@@loopop nice!! that's a really pleasant surprise actually. Still a shame thinking about the bugs though, especially considering Elektron just released an OS update on May 8th 2019 that didn't resolve the copy paste issue... I would still love to get one at a discounted price (as in used), but considering how expensive the machines are and that the warranty is 3 years, it's a painful gamble.
Your videos PROVE that all synths need to come with built in audio anayzers/scopes! :)
The Drümünkey I agree! Waaaiiiiit that would put me out of business...
@loopop Thank you for this no nonsense introduction.
Which program did you use for the scopes?
Beautifully done my friend!! extremely informative and interactive!!! I was sort of on the fence about this guy but ultimately purchased one of these because of your video!
Already have a Digitakt, so obviously, this is a great reason to justify spending all my money on a new synth ;)
"Infinite reverb... can't get enough of that"
Great explanations! Just got my Digitone and this helps so much. :)
I guess you make the best reviews here on YT. KUDOS!
Great video! Now I need a digitone
Luis Houses thanks! And sorry
Dude, your videos are excellent. Thank you so much for making such great videos!
This was excellent. Very well organized. Thanks. :)
It is best when the dog approves of the sound. I cannot accomplish much without cat approval myself.
Thanks - will watch a few times more before mine arrives!
watched the first part just to learn more about Fm synthesis. very interesting.
Brilliant tutorial.... inspirational.... subbed!!👍🏻
Really enjoyed the video! Now its all up to me figuring out how to save up the money for this beast.
There was a moment where the reading rainbow sound came on. Nostalgia!
I keep coming back to this video! Ugh my interest is truly peaked
This thing is awesome. The abiiity to control 4 other devices while it does its own 4 synth parts would be a good thing to have...
Great tutorial about Digitone! Hope we will see more Tips&Tricks or "How to make sounds with Digitone"
from you like Cuckoo done it with his Elektron Tutorials.
Chris Eos thanks! Yes I will definitely be getting back to this...
I’m from the future, thank you for a very informative video :)
I am from the future, and I approve of this video.
I need more FM in my life, so I'm looking at this, the Volca FM2, and the Korg Opsix.
thanks for your time and sharing...
Great review, thanks
Makes me want to buy one 👍
Oooo, microtiming is nice. I haven't heard of that before. Pushing that snare a bit early sounded great.
Finally picked one up for $395! Great price for a powerhouse synth. Figured if I'm going all in for a Digitakt 2, I might as well save money and get OG Digitone to start off with, since I can print the tracks to DT2, freeing up DN voices at will.
This is a really fine introduction -- thank you !!!
thanks, great review. love the time signatures on the side, very thoughtful feature.
Just bagged one because of your video! Cheers pal
2:30 I like how when he says C it's at a C pitch
Great review! This sounds almost exactly like my Yamaha DX-100. If only the DX-100 had all of the Digitones modern features.
Nice vid, LP . . . I'd like to know more 'bout the midi seq. channels' capabilities ! Cheers !
Excellent overview and demo. Very interested in this cool box.
My dog approved that one 😅😅😅😅😅. Actually for a second there I thought the bark was a preset
How do you get to know all these Instruments so well!....
Again a fantastic review. Inspiring also!
Thnx!
really solid walkthrough, thanks!
Scott Baxter my pleasure ;)
Excellent video. FM is interesting stuff. Watching this though and I'm thinking opx-4 on MPC stand-alone is up there with this. I've wasted hours on that already, making noises ("sound design" would be a gross exaggeration!)...
no, that's what sound design is 😃
Thank you so much! I am starting to love my Digitone
I do hope you make the video of the digitone processing the mother 32!
Thanks - in light of other priorities I felt the bit at the end was a good enough taste...
@@loopop ahahah I just realised it’s the second time I’m asking for that sorry :-)
0:40 The most FAQ
1:25 Subtractive synthesis
2:00 FM synth basics
3:40 Ratios
4:35 Envelopes
6:10 Algorithms
7:30 More controls
9:00 filters
10:40 AMP options
11:35 effects overview
12:45 LFOs
14:30 Sorting thru sounds
15:40 Sequencing options
17:40 Parameter locks
18:05 Trig conditions
18:50 Sound locks
19:50 Some misc stuff
20:45 The arpeggiator
22:00 Midi tracts and FX
@loopop if you copy this into the video description it will add chapters for easy navigation :D Since I keep coming back to this I figured I'd help out other viewers.
Thanks - done!
As usual, a pleasant, easy to follow and understand tutorial Overview. So important, you take away the confusion from a new instrument.
Amazing review - thank you!
Mark Crosbie thanks ;)
15:09 “HOLY SHIT THAT SOUNDED LIKE A DO-“
15:11 “my dog approves of that sound”
Excellent walk-through!!
Brilliant video, and very helpful. Thank you.
Also, now that I see how well Elektron implemented the second LFO in the Digitone, I kinda want a second one on Digitakt, too.
Thanks so much... Looking forward to more on this instrument.. Subbed..
Thanks, clear and concise.
👍 nice. Educative and helpful.Thank you. 👍
Fantastic video
This is a pretty cool little machine and seems super powerful for its size. I bet it has a steep learning curve. Of course, I do love me a good challenge. I also love diving through a .PDF manual. This might just be right up my alley. I have DOZENS of SoftSynths, but no hardware units. I might add this to my Sweetwater WishList.
Thanks, nice overview!
I had a question regarding the Digitone : when I program a few tracks and then add a sustaining instrument (i.e. keyboard) on another track, that instrument does not sustain for some reason. It seems to get cut off by the percussion or something. How do I get that track to sustain?
Note stealing? Trig length?
I was going to get it anyway but...thank you soo much for this review i learned something new! So i guess it comes with 32 patterns todo