The new Elektron Digitakt II is here and its only been a hot minute since we received this powerful little groovebox sampler. Elektron have managed to pack a stack of great new features that we are making our way through and having too much fun with. In this video we go through 3 new features that have piqued our interest in the short time we’ve had it.
1. Comb Filter — Elektron have added more filters in the way of FLTR Machines, where one chooses the type of filter they want per track. There are 5 to choose from with the Comb filter sounding amazing and a first for an Elektron box. Comb filter can twist the timbre and transform any sound into something totally new, foreign, or alien like. Throw any sound through the Comb filter and you’ll have fun seeing and hearing how far you can take it. Great for sound designers wanting metallic type sounds with rich resonant overtones.
FLTR Machines have 5 different filter types to choose from; Multi-Mode, where you can morph from Lowpass to Bandpass to Highpass filter. EQ, is a parametric equalizer for some precision filtering. Lowpass 4 is a 4-pole lowpass filter with a 24 dB slope for that extra bite. Legacy is the filter from the original Digitakt switchable between lowpass and highpass. The Comb filter has that metallic sound, pitch tuned and crazy resonant overtones as demonstrated in this video.
Similarly on other Elektron boxes, one chooses a ‘machine’ that relates to choosing the type of synth engine you assign per track. Although here Elektron have adopted that method for different filters. This is a smart way to manage a number of new filters and parameters specific to those filters.
2. Stretch Machine — Elektron have added a new sample playback engine, Stretch machine that allows samples and loops to automatically stretch to the tempo of your pattern/project. It’s a granular engine that works extremely well and feature many Digitakt users have been craving!
3. Performance Kit Mode — here you can make changes to the parameters of a saved kit over several patterns and then smoothly recall the kit and continue jamming. Think of it as an ‘undo’ function for your sounds and kits. The Digitakt II can also save 1024 kits, so there plenty of flexibility to tweak your kits whilst performing and not be worried about losing the great kits you’ve created.
There’s way more to explore on the new Digitakt II such as 3x LFOs, 128 steps per pattern, the assignable Control All Config, 4x Trig Modes, Euclidean Sequencer and much more. And did someone mention the audio fidelity, outstanding! We’ll have more on the Digitakt II real soon.
For more on the Digitakt II please visit Elektron
