Elektron

L
ast year I really
enjoyed reviewing the
standard Digitone and
one of my suggestions
to Elektron in that
review was a knobby
keyboard version. Well
hey presto – my wishes have
seemingly been granted! For a more
detailed in-depth feature/engine
review, check out our original
Digitone review (issue 330) as the
sound engines are the same.
However, the Digitone Keys has
some rather nice additional
functionality that will be the subject
of this review – time to see what’s
new then!
Firstly, the DK (as we shall hereby
call it!) is ideal for using live and as
a central studio hub, as it can now
be a controller for external MIDI gear
(when using its new keyboard,
wheels and eight assignable
encoders which run across the top of
the keyboard). While it does look a
little awkward (and like the Digitone
has been tacked onto the end of a
keyboard; which is essentially
actually the case!) ergonomically, it
works fi ne in practice except that
without due care, you can hit the
octave buttons by mistake when
using the wheels. Regardless, the
keybed feels very good quality with a
nice amount of resistance (which
enables more controlled playing),
plus the aftertouch response feels
great too.
The large pitch and mod wheels
feel solid and high quality as
expected, with a grippy rubber-type
coating and these can be assigned
as ‘macro’ controllers with each
wheel controlling external MIDI gear
sustain pedal inputs plus a stereo
audio input too, not forgetting
standard MIDI DIN connections plus
USB for MIDI and for outputting
audio when you’re using Overbridge
on your computer.
Couple all this with the classic
Elektron 64-step (more than four
pages) sequencer with parameter
locks, the overall classiness of the
sound, the excellent effects,
arpeggiator per-part, new per-part
hold button, great sounding unison
mode and various portamento types,
and the DK is really a welcome step
up from the standard Digitone!
or four user-defi ned internal sound
parameters simultaneously, in
varying amounts. These parameters
are easily user-assigned by simply
hitting the pitch or mod buttons
below each respective wheel.
In addition, the new Sound
Manager button takes you directly to
the many excellent sounds onboard
and using Map Setup you can now
assign each of the four tracks/their
sounds to different areas of the
keyboard which comes in very handy
if you want a bass in the bottom
octave and a lead or pad in the top
two octaves (for example). Having
said this, a four-octave keybed would
have been ideal here but then the
unit would have been longer and
likely needed a ground-up redesign.
Further to this, the
aforementioned assignable controls
above the keyboard (which are preset
to key parameters such as FM ratios
and fi lter) are in a great place for
instant live on-the-fl y tweaking and
grabbing and the DK now has stereo
outs for each of the four sequencer
tracks (which is great for running the
sounds from each track into a mixing
board for external processing).
There’s also CV, expression and
THE PROS & CONS
+
Now a complete,
self-contained
instrument
Sounds classy and
has a very versatile
sound engine but
now with lots more
live/hands-on
parameter control
Solid keyboard,
aftertouch response
is great and the
wheels feel nice too
-
The raised octave
button placement
under the wheels
means they can be
inadvertently hit
Looks a little tacked
together given the
extra cost
The three-octave
keyboard is a little
short if you want
more expansive
splitting of sounds
FM VERDICT
9.1
The Digitone just got
better! Some may not like
the look or price, but new
performance controls and
features really add appeal
The new Sound Manager
button takes you directly
to the many excellent
sounds onboard
Elektron Digitone Keys | Reviews
105
FMU347.rev_elektron.indd 105 7/9/19 5:05 PM