Elektron Model:Samples Reviews

First Time Groovebox Experience: completely satisfied.

This is the first sequencer I've ever bought - I'm a complete novice.

I decided on the M:S after first considering the Digitone and Digitakt. A more experienced friend said that those weren't really 'starter' machines.

I've found this machine a joy to use. You can't record samples directly but I haven't found that a problem. I've never used a sequencer before, so I had to learn the 'vocabulary' of sequencers as well as how Elektron products - and specifically the M:S - work.

It took a little bit of time to get my head around, but there are useful YouTube tutorials and after a few weeks I found myself not only being able to do most of what I wanted, but also discovering features through experimentation. The small screen is sometimes a bit limiting but that would be my only criticism. You do get used to it, though.

The build quality is really good - everything feels really solid. The knobs and pads have a really solid feel to them. It's light and portable and you can power it by USB (and so a powerbank) with the right lead.

Overall, I highly recommend it as an entry-level machine.

Fun device, but I ended up selling it after 3 months

Ok, so this thing is fun and pretty hands on (mostly). But I ended up selling the unit after 3 months or so, for the following reasons:

a) Only the single pair of stereo outs. Feels pretty limiting when it comes to post-processing your stuff.

b) Browsing samples is tedious

c) . The small screen makes all the tiny little menu diving you do pretty awful. You can't see your whole sample names, you can't een see the whole name of some projects etc.

d) After getting the grip of it, I realized I'm just not a fan of the "elektron workflow" - it feels like lots of tiny menu-diving actions. where each knob has its own little menu. It's very powerful, but just does not come natural to me.

e) I was using it with squarp pyramid, and even when trying to only use the m:s as a sample playback device + effects, there are some annoying bits, like you can't use the mutes on the m:s if the notes are being played in through midi etc.

That being said, it is powerful and if I only had a simple mono-sequencer with it, it would probably be a better fit.

Top notch sequencer

OK, so it doesn't sample but that's not really the point - Load up samples and play with pretty much one-knob per function. Has a great sequencer, is very compact and light and doesn't cost the earth. Possibly portability would be improved with battery/ USB power but I mostly plug stuff in anyway, so this isn't an issue for me.

Well done Elektron

I've been wanting to get hands on with Elektron gear for a long time and a while ago it finally happened, I bought a Digitakt. After months of research I was sure that was going to be the perfect Elektron machine to start with. Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I liked it, it was a bit too much menu diving and too little playing for me and in the end I ended up selling it again.

But then came the model:samples (a simpler version of the digitakt), could that be the one?

YES! For now this is exactly the Elektron device I was looking for.

Parameter locks, Sample locks, CTRL ALL function for happy accidents.

And waaaay deeper than it appears to be!

Want to start using Elektron?

Start here!

I love this device !

Great sound, very intuitive, no menu diving, immediate gratification. Very direct, instant fun. Same with it's broter Model:Cycles.

Amazing little device. Feature packed beast tbh. I really like the distortion on the unit. Combined with reverb / delay it allowes to create amazing ambient noise landscapes.

The only drawback for me is that there is no attack envelope, however you may use LFO modulating volume level and get it anyway. However you loose LFO per track this way. Hope they add separate attack envelope in future firmware update.

I suppose i should mention that this is NOT a sampler, but sample based groovebox. Not a drawback for me though as i try to keep minimalist setup and rarely need to sample live on a device.

Elektron sequencer is still the best - it is a steal at around 300 eur. Go get one :)

Immediate mangling

This is a great little device for immediate mangling, tweaking, experimenting with beats and melodies. I have an Octatrack as well, which is both much more powerful but also much more cerebral. I've found the model:samples to be a great companion piece to handle the drums. Giving me the tactile feedback and immediacy of mangling beats.

I was looking for a small but powerful groovebox that was easy to use, and this fits the bill perfectly.

6 tracks that can each either handle audio (samples) or midi output, 64 step sequencer with unique length and scale settings per track. Knob for every function, parameter locks, per-track or ctrl-all parameters. Chance parameters. Far from being a "toy", there's a lot of powerful stuff in here - but it's all accessible. It's missing the Sample Locks of the Digitakt and Octatrack, but that can be worked around with sample chains, as the Sample Start and Length parameters can be locked per step.

It comes with 300 factory samples preloaded, and you can load sample packs or your own sounds - this needs to be done from a Mac/PC as you can't record direct. The class-compliant USB connection has stereo-out - pity it's not 6 tracks out - but you can easily mute tracks if you need to record each separately.

Super-light (800g!) and smaller than a 12" laptop - very easy to carry around (you'd probably want to put it in a sleeve, as it is plastic with knobs sticking out).

Very happy with my choice.

Edit: a recent firmware update added Sample Locks! Fantastic! Extra star for features for that.