Sonic State stopped by the Elektron booth. Talk about the Digitakt comes about halfway through. Seems like it’s a “sampling drum machine” only from the way Cenk (Dataline) describes it. It does not appear to have any of the Machinedrum synthesis methods.
But will it have microtiming?
£650 sounds a good deal until you factor in another £650 for the analogue Heat to make it sound good. Maybe the MPC Live is the better deal. But the Digitkat would look better alongside the OP-1!
But will it have microtiming?Yes (if you look at the writing on the panel under the < and > keys). uTime + / uTime -
Comparing the design of this to my RTYM I feel i can make a pretty convincing case that;
A) It will feature both Digital Synthesis & Samples
B) Unlike the RTYM Samples and Synth will be mutually exclusive. ie. Not layer-able. Either or.
If you look at the upper right corner there are 8 encoders with 5 selection buttons underneath,
this is almost identical to to the RTYM the only difference (excluding there secondary functions) is the Synth and Samp buttons(on Rtym) are replaced with 1 button labeled SRC (Source, obviously right?).
Considering that they’ve copied this area almost exactly from the Rtym, if it was only samples it would make sense to just label this button Samp, instead what it shows me is this is the page to edit the current tracks base sound source either Synthesis or Sample.
If you look at the spacing of this area it looks, like to me, that they could have very easily fit another button if they wanted to. So the probable reason there isn’t a sixth button is that its redundant.
Extra Points (if you still have doubts)
Top of the screen its printed “Digital Drum Computer and Sampler”
if its only samples then the only thing left to compute is the sequencing/fx (not drums).
“Digital Drum Computer” inherently implies that it is using Digital Computer processing power to compute (ie. create or synthesize drums)
They are clearly not putting sampling to forefront of the marketing and technical info for this machine.
Two examples are;
Digital Drum Computer & Sampler
(1) Most important !!! (2) Also does this, which is awesome but not the most important feature
From the specs;
-Sampling Capability (listed as the 6th feature from top of specs sheets-not priority)
Capability is a terrible word to use if this is the main feature of this device.
Example. ‘How is Johnny at dodgeball?’
‘He’s Capable’
Johnny is definitely not going to be first pick for dodgeball with that review!
Sampling Capability inherently suggests that this is an additional feature not a main feature!
***I’ll prove it with math (there is noway fing way anyone can argue against math)
a Digital Drum Computer
+ Sampler
- Sampler=
a Digital Drum Computer (Drum Sounds without Sampling must equal Synthesis)
IF ANYONE DISAGREES?!?...
COME AT ME BRO!!!
Cause, I think, this MOTHAF***ING case is closed!!!
Before playing on the true meaning of words, you should take into account that Elektron is Swedish and not the clearest communicant 
On Elektronauts they made it clear it was mono sample only. With resampling.
I also disagree with the notion that drum computer means synthesis. From the namm stuff floating around I immediately took that it was sample based, and you are limited (if it affects you) to 8 parts. The computing part, or “exquisite sound engine”, to me meant the fx.
And you know what…? I really like it. For me this year is about digitakt vs opz. One of them will be part of my setup, no doubt.
Edit to add: no need for profanity or aggression btw, it’s a music forum.
And we already know there will not be any synthesis onboard…
Apparently there are no real drum pads on this sampling drum machine - just buttons. So, no velocity-sensitivity.
So, is anyone pre-ordering it? I am still confused on whether it has a full drum synthesis engine in addition to sampling. Also, not knowing what the capability of the MIDI sequencing is makes me unsure of how useful it is. If it is only a sampler and MIDI sequencer, spending the extra money for an MPC Live might be the direction I go.
Happy with my recent MPC1000 purchase over this I must say.
Weird that it’s 8 Audio vs. 8 MIDI, I would have thought one could choose like on MD.
…looks like a microgranny PRO.
come on Bastl.
so, get a Rytm instead? 
@eesn I would love a Rtym, but worry about how much “practice” it would take to get to a point where I am just making music on it, instead of figuring out where settings are or something. What I was hoping for the Digitakt was that it would be a simpler version of the higher-end Elektron boxes. But if you have some feedback about the Rytm that counters that, I’d love to be wrong 
My wallet would prefer me to be right though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmhIIhsNoA
this is the best
@eesn I would love a Rtym, but worry about how much "practice" it would take to get to a point where I am just making music on it, instead of figuring out where settings are or something. What I was hoping for the Digitakt was that it would be a simpler version of the higher-end Elektron boxes. But if you have some feedback about the Rytm that counters that, I'd love to be wrong :-) My wallet would prefer me to be right though.
@GCF It doesn’t take much practice at all to learn the Rytm. I was nervous about that myself, but was making great music within an hour! That said, it’s extremely deep and I’m still learning new cool tricks after 5 months of owning it!
@eesn I would love a Rtym, but worry about how much "practice" it would take to get to a point where I am just making music on it, instead of figuring out where settings are or something. What I was hoping for the Digitakt was that it would be a simpler version of the higher-end Elektron boxes. But if you have some feedback about the Rytm that counters that, I'd love to be wrong :-) My wallet would prefer me to be right though.
I think the key to elektron gear is to just start using it. Read the manual when you’re not near the machine, or waiting for it to arrive, and/or keep it as reference, and just start playing around with it. Once you start getting a feel for the interface, then you can start getting deeper into the more interesting features etc…