Elektron’s sampling drum machine Digitakt is something of a modern classic. Since it arrived back in 2017, it’s won legions of fans for its punchy one-shot sampling capabilities and creative sequencing workflow.
Elektron dropped a direct sequel earlier this year in the form of Digitakt II. I reviewed Digitakt II and came away impressed. It’s undeniably more powerful than its predecessor and builds on what made the original great with new features and enhancements.
Here’s the thing though, the original Digitakt is still a great instrument. I’ve returned Digitakt II to Elektron following our review, but I still have the OG Digitakt in my studio at home and it in no way feels obsolete. What’s more, thanks to the existence of Digitakt II, you can now pick up remaining mk1 units at temptingly cheap prices, such as that found in Andertons’ Cyber Monday sale.
Compared to version II, the original Digitakt has some clear disadvantages, most notably it has eight audio tracks instead of 16, and these are mono, rather than stereo. It also lacks the new filter modes and Euclidean sequencer. That’s a step down, for sure, but given that this mk1 deal is around £325 cheaper than the current price of mk2, those may well be things you can live with.
Digitakt v1 still has a lot of great features that have made it one of the most influential hardware instruments of the past decade. It can stretch and warp samples in brilliantly creative ways with its range of playback modes. It has two flexible, easy-to-assign LFOs for each of the eight tracks, which are great for bringing sounds to life.
What's more, its deep sequencer is capable of micro-timing, probability sequencing, polymetric programming, conditional sequences and full automation of all sound parameters. It’s great for sequencing external hardware too. Put simply, it’s still a very powerful and inspiring instrument.
You might, understandably, be a little wary of buying older gen gear due to concerns about a lack of ongoing support or firmware fixes. Fortunately though, Elektron has good form on this front – Analog Rytm mk1, for example, was superseded by the mk2 back in 2018 but Elektron released a firmware update for it just last month ensuring it’s compatible with the latest versions of Overbridge and Transfer.
All of which is to say, if you can live with the FOMO that comes with having an older iteration, I wouldn’t ignore a solid deal on the OG version.
On a similar note, Andertons also has a deal on the original Digitone – Elektron’s similarly-equipped FM synthesizer. Pretty much everything I’ve said above counts for the original Digitone too. I’m just getting to grips with the new version, but the mk1 is one of my most used synths of recent years. At a price of £599, it’s not quite as good of a deal, but it's still worth a look.
