Elektron Digitakt II Groovebox Drum Machine

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There was a time when the drum machine was a simple thing. Flip back through time to the eighties and you're met with merry bleeps and bloops, cracks and pops which still hold their charm, but when faced with something as potent as the Elektron Digitakt II drum machine, all of that charm suddenly falls away. The second-generation Digitakt looks nothing like its ancestors, and since this machine can weave beats that stray far from your four-four standards, it's a fully certified musical instrument in its own right.

What's New with the Elektron Digitakt II?

Sixteen tracks are supplied as well as the pick of both mono or stereo samples and MIDI - which just a bit more than the eight mono tracks that the first generation Digitakt offered. 20 gigabytes of internal memory space also comes included, while the first-gen has just 1 gig and, per project you now get 1024 samples instead of just 128. The sequencer length has also grown from 64 to 128 and, while this is just numbers, the numbers are big. Especially when you start adding on the extra filters, the extra LFOs and the expanded options for building next-gen beats.

What Can You Make with it?

Describing the quality and complexity of the beats that this model is capable of spitting is a tough ask, simply because it's all about the details. What you're not getting is the sound of an old 909. What you are getting is outstanding sounds, just as outstanding effects, time-stretchers, filter movements, sample-rate reduction, compression, re-triggers and the rest. Vintage drum machines served up simple backing tracks, but with the Digitakt II, the grooves are so complete that you barely need to add anything else. This model provides enough tracks to support something melodic and even harmonic, so if you want way more than just your classic 'four on the floor' beats, then this second-generation drum machine brings the goods and then some.