"An exponential upgrade; not only does it double down on what made the original impressive, but it adds copious new capabilities": Elektron Digitone II review

What is it?

In the early 2010s, hardware FM synths were something of a rarity. Despite the massive success of Yamaha’s DX7 and its various siblings throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, and the impact those synths had on popular music, by the turn of the millennium frequency modulation synthesis had largely fallen out of fashion.

While it made something of a resurgence in the plugin realm, primarily via Ableton Operator and Native Instruments’ FM7/FM8, for most of the ‘00s and early ‘10s hardware FM synths were thin on the ground.

Around a decade ago, that all changed, with a new wave of modern, affordable FM synths ushered in by the arrival of Yamaha’s Reface DX and Korg’s Volca FM.

One of the key drawbacks to traditional FM hardware was how awkward it was to program. With its ratio-based operators, algorithms and multitude of envelopes, FM synthesis is inherently more fiddly and mathematical than the free-flowing knob twiddling of analogue hardware. Key to the success of the contemporary wave of FM synths is their ability to make interacting with the sound engine more expressive and hands-on.

Elektron Digitone II review: Is it worth the upgrade from version 1? - YouTube

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It’s on this front that Elektron’s original Digitone, released in 2018, really stood out. Its four-operator engine is neither the most powerful or innovative take on FM we’ve seen in recent years, but its approach to sound shaping, which combined elements of traditional FM and subtractive design, along with Elektron’s powerful, dense sequencer, makes for a formidable combination.

Now, following on the heels of last year’s Digitakt II, Elektron has released a direct follow up.

Whereas the update to Digitakt expanded the capabilities of the sampler without fundamentally changing its design – doubling the audio tracks and adding stereo sampling, but not altering the fundamental workflow – Digitone II is a more significant and transformative update to the original.

Pricing

• Full price: $999 / €1049 / £899

Digitone II sees a significant price jump compared to the original at launch, but bearing in mind the increased polyphony, multi-timbral layers and synth/sequencer capabilities, we feel it's fairly priced.

Performance

As with Digitakt, Elektron has doubled the audio capabilities here, increasing the overall polyphony of Digitone from eight voices to 16. Digitone II also significantly enhances the multi-timbral capabilities too though.

Whereas the original featured four independent synth layers, this version allows for up-to 16 independent synth tracks to be programmed using the onboard sequencer, more akin to the 16 audio tracks found on Digitakt.

This has the effect of making Digitone II feel less like a pure synth and more like a full-on groovebox than its predecessor, which is a smart move. I’ve spent a fair amount of time using the original Digitone over the past few years, and increasingly I’ve ended up using it primarily for percussive sounds and rhythmic patterns.

FM synthesis is particularly well suited to creating drum sounds thanks to the way it uses several stable digital waves, each equipped with its own envelope generator. That combination allows for the creation of complex tones with plenty of low-end presence, but also fine control over shape and transient of a sound.

That’s not to say that the original Digitone is only capable of drum sounds – it works very well as a more traditional synth too – but for my money the combination of that percussion-friendly sound engine and the versatility of Elektron’s deep, flexible step sequencer is where you’ll find Digitone’s sweet spot.

Spreading Digitone II’s voices across up-to 16 tracks makes it quicker to program complex multitimbral patterns that combine numerous elements of percussion and melody. This was something that the original could do using various workarounds, allowing the user to go beyond the limit of four available synth layers, but the design here makes for a quicker and more intuitive workflow.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that users are forced to use all 16 tracks. For a more traditional polysynth workflow, it's possible to sequence or play patches using a smaller selection of channels, and Digitone has options for controlling how the 16 voices are distributed and stolen (or not) across multiple tracks.

Ghost in the Machines

As with other recently upgraded Elektron gear, Digitone II now makes use of a system of ‘machines’. These are interchangeable elements that make the instrument function more like a virtual semi-modular.

Here that setup is used to significantly expand the capabilities of the instrument, adding four interchangeable synth engines that can be paired with a new range of filters in a mix-and-match fashion.

The first of these synth engines is named FM Tone, which is the four operator FM engine from the original Digitone, carried across here with no notable changes. As before, it offers a nicely modernised way of interacting with a classic ‘80s-style FM engine.

Although crafting sounds from scratch within the multi-page menus can still be fiddly, the top level controls are well-chosen. These allow the user to do things like make broad changes to operator waveshapes, introduce feedback and blend between A and B output operators. These options make it easy to alter or modulate the timbre of an FM patch without needing to dig too deep into the architecture of a sound.

The remaining three machines add new capabilities to the synth. Elektron is clearly with me when it comes to seeing Digitone’s potential as a drum machine, as the first of these new synth machines is named FM Drum.

Elektron has prior form on this front, as FM synthesis is used as a core element of the company’s Syntakt and Model:Cycles drum machines.

Fundamentally, the FM Drum engine isn’t all that different to FM Tone. Once again, it makes use of a four operator FM setup with envelope controls for each operator. The main differences come in how users can interact with it.

Here, the envelopes for each operator are simple decay-based designs well suited to percussion. The engine also introduces additional features including waveshaping, as well as an additional noise/transient source.

Wavetone, meanwhile, is a two-oscillator synth that looks fairly traditional at first glance, but has a multitude of tricks up its sleeve. Each oscillator can make use of one of two wavetables, allowing them to morph between various waveshapes. The first table consists of simple virtual analogue waves while the second contains waves with more complex harmonics.

These two oscillators can also make use of a phase distortion function that warps the shape of the waveform in a manner similar to pulse width modulation, albeit for any waveform. The Wavetone engine also benefits from a multitude of other interesting features including linear tuning offset, ring modulation and oscillator drift.

Particularly when paired with the synth’s modulation and sequencing tools, it makes for a formidable combination that’s considerably more powerful than a standard two oscillator VA synth.

The final synthesis engine is named Swarmer. This is focused around a primary oscillator accompanied by a cluster of six additional oscillators that can be spread out across the frequency range around it.

Detune and Mix controls allow the user to adjust the balance of this oscillator swarm, while Animate and Noise Modulation options can introduce movement, driven by a hidden array of LFOs or a white noise source, respectively.

In a nice touch, the primary oscillator of the Swarmer machine can be tuned to sit one or two octaves below that of the swarm itself, allowing it to act as a weighty sub beneath the more fuzzy and animated oscillator swarm.

Much like Digitakt II before it, this new Digitone also benefits from an expanded range of filter machines. Here the filter from version one – renamed Legacy LP/HP – is joined by a new morphable multimode filter, a more abrasive 4-pole low-pass, + and - configurations of comb filter and an EQ module.

Only one of these filter modules can be used on each track at any one time – although each track also has a simple Base-Width filter, which is a basic non-resonant low/high pass filter that proves handy for controlling frequency bloat.

The ability to mix and match filter designs with synth machines significantly expands the sonic range of Digitone though. The original’s FM synthesis capabilities were already hugely capable, but the ability to pair oscillator swarms with comb filters or combine percussive synthesis with modulated filtering, for example, creates a hugely deep well of sound design potential.

On the subject of modulation, Digitone II also gains a third LFO per voice – another feature addition that mimics the updates on Digitakt II. The effect is more transformational here though. The original Digitone had two available LFOs for each of its eight synth voices, whereas II now has three available for each of the 16 voices. As a result, the total number of LFOs available rises from 16 to 48.

I’ve always really liked the implementation of LFOs in Elektron gear. The array of features for each modulator strikes a nice balance between immediacy and depth. The additional modulation sources are very handy here too, since many of the new machines – particularly the comb filters and Wavetone synth engine – really benefit from a little movement and modulation.

Effects and connectivity

Along with these sound-creating machines, Digitone II also sees refinements to the onboard effects. Digitone II has delay, chorus and reverb effects, which function as sends. These are fairly simplistic in their design, but each offers enough sound shaping parameters to tailor the effect to your particular project, from tight room reverbs to out-there dubby effect washes. As well as sending individual tracks to these effects – or an external audio feed – the effects can also be sent to one another, which is a nice touch.

Each individual synth track features a digital distortion effect, which can be placed pre- or post- filter. For Digitone II, that’s also joined by new bit rate and sample rate reduction effects, which add an additional, digital flavour of grit to the sound engine.

The synth also features a master compressor, which works well for tying together disparate sounds when using Digitone to simultaneously create beats and melodies. Again, the audio inputs on the rear allow for external audio to be compressed alongside the internal sounds.

This means that Digitone II can function as a pretty neat effects processor even if you disregard its internal sounds (although, given the price point, it’s not worth buying for this purpose alone).

On the subject of external gear, each of Digitone II’s 16 tracks can also be repurposed as a MIDI machine, which allows it to sequence and control external gear, making use of things including the internal LFOs (although MIDI tracks have two of these, rather than three). MIDI has gotten a slight bit easier to use since v1, in that the machine now automatically picks up MIDI CC values.

There are a couple of missing features on the MIDI front that currently hold it back ever so slightly. The arpeggiator and chord mode, both available to internal synths and great for inspiring ideas, can’t be routed to external gear, which is a shame.

It’s arguable that Digitone could benefit from some extra I/O too. Its rear panel has a stereo pair of main outs, stereo pair of inputs, along with MIDI in, out and through. While it’s obviously possible to chain and route things creatively to use Digitone as a hub for multiple hardware instruments, I’d love a few more inputs and outputs to both process multiple tracks of external hardware and individually route Digitone’s own synth layers.

Both of these things are set to be facilitated by Elektron’s Overbridge software – the company’s desktop plugin that allows for full control and audio routing from its hardware to your DAW via USB. As has become standard with Elektron releases though, Overbridge compatibility is yet to be implemented for Digitone II and, at the time of writing, is still in an invite-only Beta phase.

What else?

Beyond these headline changes to the sound engine, Digitone II also adds a number of sequencer upgrades, many of which won't be too surprising to regular Elektron watchers. As with Digitakt, the overall length of the step sequencer is upgraded here from 64 steps to 128. The Euclidean sequencer that has been added to both Digitakt II and Syntakt features here again too, and as with both those machines, it makes a fun and well-suited addition to the Elektron workflow.

There are numerous workflow refinements throughout the design too. Presets are now a little easier to access – although I still find the menus a little clunky, and the various divisions of projects, presets pools etc feels needlessly convoluted for a non-sample-based machine.

As with many of Elektron’s releases, Digitone II walks a fine line between being deep and powerful and needlessly convoluted. What side of that line it sits on will likely come down to personal opinion, to an extent. There are undoubtedly more immediate synths out there – even once you’ve got your head around its multiple views, shift presses and hidden options, Digitone II is an instrument that can easily confuse.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of the depth and flexibility of Digitone II’s synth engines and step sequencer – particularly when it comes to the wealth of sonic shaping accessible via the addition of modulation, automation and randomisation. I must admit that I tend to bounce off of Elektron gear when it comes to creating longer compositions though.

While the extended 128 step length and song mode make it possible to create lengthy, evolving compositions – as many of the stock presets demonstrate brilliantly – keeping track of multiple pages of triggers and pattern variations can feel a little fatiguing. Personally, it’s at this point I tend to bounce ideas down to a DAW to keep things more manageable.

One new feature that does help significantly on this front is the page loop functionality, which makes it easier to focus on a single sequencer page in order to make edits and refinements before moving on.

That said, there’s no shortage of capabilities, and I’m sure those that prefer the hardware workflow – or aim to use Digitone as a hub for live performance – will appreciate the ability to create complex arrangements using the hardware alone.

Verdict

Regular readers won’t be surprised to learn we rate Digitone II very highly. We crowned it our favourite synth of 2024 at the end of last year, and now that we’ve had several months to get to know if properly, that opinion hasn’t changed.

As much as the instrument can feel occasionally overwhelming and confusing, that’s only the byproduct of how much Elektron has crammed into the instrument.

Whereas Digitakt II felt like an expanded take on its predecessor – stuffed with luxury extras and more capabilities, but still fundamentally the same sampler – Digitone II is an exponential upgrade. Not only does it double down on what made the original impressive, but it’s added copious new capabilities.

Version 1 already offered a lot of depth through its capable FM engine, which was built to design a range of modulated synth textures and also a dark horse for drum design. Digitone II can still do all of what its predecessor could, but adds a variety of new flavours to the sound palette.

The new synth engines are at once better for more traditional, virtual analogue sounds, as well as rich digital textures. Although the FM Drum mode doesn’t necessarily add much the original couldn’t do, it certainly speeds up the design of percussive sounds.

In all, this is one of the most varied and powerful hardware synths on the market. Yes, you might get a little confused by the workflow at times, but there are worse places to get lost.

Hands-on demos

Elektron Digitone II review: Is it worth the upgrade from version 1? - YouTube

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Digitone II — At A Glance - YouTube

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Alternatives

Elektron Digitone (v1): £589 at musicradar.com

Despite everything we love about Digitakt II, the original still has a lot of life left in it, and you can now pick one up with a hefty discount.

Read more: Elektron Digitone (v1) review

Korg Opsix MkII: £699 at musicradar.com

Korg's multi-mode digital synth presents another forward-thinking, ambitious take on FM. Great for hands-on sound design.

Read more: Korg Opsix MkII review