KVR Audio

db3 · Post by **db3** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 7:17 pm

8 voice digital synth "combines a modernized FM implementation with a classic subtractive synthesis signal flow"

https://www.elektron.se/products/digitone/

V0RT3X · Post by **V0RT3X** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 7:26 pm

Kind of cool but why only 8 voices when it’s an FM synth?

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 7:32 pm

Looks and sounds cool. Wonder what the price will be ...

lfm · Post by **lfm** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 7:46 pm

thecontrolcentre wrote:Looks and sounds cool. Wonder what the price will be ...

It said 7800 SEK(for me) which is about €800.
I guess US market with no such VAT levels as in europe $750 or so.
In sweden 20% of consumer price is VAT(25% added to net price).

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Jan 26, 2018 1:39 am

I had a DX-9 back in the day. Never again. When it worked it was absolutely stunning but it was completely unintuitive and any good sounds I got out of it were more by accident than anything else. The DX-7 was really just a preset machine, probably the first to really take off.

Of course, I just came here to look for info on people's experiences with the Analog Keys, because I just bought one on eBay, and I find this thread that wasn't here yesterday, about a new Elektron synth I was unaware of, and my first thought is "great, I just screwed myself" but this is fully digital by the looks of it, and because it's FM you couldn't give me one. So now I feel much better.

They shouldn't have done it like Yamaha, they should have copied the way Maxx Claster's Toxic does it, with a table/grid to cross-mod wherever you like. It is much easier to understand and it probably gives you even more power and flexibility, too.

baboon · Post by **baboon** » Fri Jan 26, 2018 2:57 pm

If it can do the FS1R sounds,then i buy it.

Daags · Post by **Daags** » Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:06 am

baboon wrote:If it can do the FS1R sounds,then i buy it.

not even in the same hemisphere, much less ballpark.

fs1r: 32 voice polyphony, 16 operator (8 voiced + 8 unvoiced), 88 algorithms. (and formant shaping synthesis)

digitone: 8 voice polyphony, 4 operator, 8 algorithms.

it's funny ... each time an FM synth comes out there's often someone saying they'll buy it if it's like the fs1r.

anyway, in this case ... given the price range ... you may as well buy an actual fs1r. if you're patient you should be able to snag one for ~20% additional cost, give or take - depending on where you live.

Daags · Post by **Daags** » Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:13 am

i'd have liked more voice flexibility with the sequencer .... 4 synth voices, 4 midi ... I'd have preferred the possibility of using (up to) 8 tracks of synth voices. though i guess 8-part multi timbral is beyond the dsp/chip resources.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:45 am

Elektron certainly weren’t generous with the specs. Should have been 6 operator, 16 Voice, 8 tracks each of synth and MIDI. That said, the real magic here is that the p-lock sequencing, the wavefolding or whatever they’re doing with the oscillators to introduce harmonics, the xy outputs, the filters, overdrive, and other effects that makes this more interesting than the sum of its parts. I preordered one.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:28 am

It's hardware, every extra voice of polyphony and every extra operator requires more processing and processing costs money. So the question becomes would you buy it if it had what you wanted but cost 50% more? It's not something a software dev has to factor in but when it comes to hardware it's a huge consideration that always requires compromise. When a market is as price-sensitive as this one, you probably need to favour a lower price over higher spec. In fact they probably chose a price-point and included as much as they could for that money.

Daags wrote:i'd have liked more voice flexibility with the sequencer .... 4 synth voices, 4 midi ... I'd have preferred the possibility of using (up to) 8 tracks of synth voices. though i guess 8-part multi timbral is beyond the dsp/chip resources.

I was hoping it would support one billion voices of polyphony and 200 million tracks and I really can't see how they expect to sell any without all that. I'm even more disappointed than you.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:59 am

lfm wrote:
thecontrolcentre wrote:Looks and sounds cool. Wonder what the price will be ...
It said 7800 SEK(for me) which is about €800.
I guess US market with no such VAT levels as in europe $750 or so.
In sweden 20% of consumer price is VAT(25% added to net price).

Cheers. They're available to pre-order in the UK for £699 inc VAT ...

Daags · Post by **Daags** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 3:57 am

BONES wrote:It's hardware, every extra voice of polyphony and every extra operator requires more processing and processing costs money.

BONES wrote:So the question becomes would you buy it if it had what you wanted but cost 50% more? It's not something a software dev has to factor in but when it comes to hardware it's a huge consideration that always requires compromise.

BONES wrote:When a market is as price-sensitive as this one, you probably need to favour a lower price over higher spec. In fact they probably chose a price-point and included as much as they could for that money.

BONES wrote:
Daags wrote:i'd have liked more voice flexibility with the sequencer .... 4 synth voices, 4 midi ... I'd have preferred the possibility of using (up to) 8 tracks of synth voices. though i guess 8-part multi timbral is beyond the dsp/chip resources.
I was hoping it would support one billion voices of polyphony and 200 million tracks and I really can't see how they expect to sell any without all that. I'm even more disappointed than you.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:41 am

I think the real question is whether these specs were the best they could do at their target price point. I think some limitations were put in place merely to streamline and simplify the user experience. Two more operators and a lot more algorithms would have introduced more complexity which they’ve stated they were trying to avoid in making FM synthesis more accessible to the average user. I’m not sure what design decisions might have led to only 8 voices on 4 tracks and 4 tracks of MIDI, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was driven by factors other than price/processing power.

stimresp · Post by **stimresp** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:58 am

I will probably get one of these to compliment my Analog Rytm. The Digitakt didn't do it for me, I generally don't like dealing with samples, and I'm a fan of FM synthesis.

IMO Elektron were right to limit this box to 4-ops and to simplify the synthesis side. I say this as a former FS1r owner who spent many long nights programming it. Despite all the power of the FS1r, it too was limited, especially when it came to UI and expressiveness. And the filter on it is crap. I also own a Reface DX which I love.

What draws me to the digitone is the marriage with the sequencer, and the decent filters. P-locked FM has massive potential for creating unique sounds, and I personally can't wait to take this baby for a spin.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:10 am

I just finished watching Cuckoo's Digitone video at NAMM, which was by far the most interesting and insightful I've seen. It definitely seems like 4-op is totally adequate, when paired with the ability to introduce additional harmonics, plus filtering, overdrive, and everything else. They are approaching the FM portion strictly as the oscillator, as opposed to something like the DX7 where the FM was the entirety of the synthesis engine. Really, my only gripe is that I would have loved to have 16 voices across 8 sequencer tracks, but of course that would have come at a cost, and the Digitone is expensive enough already. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this!

Elektron Digitone Polyphonic Synth