Elektron Musical Instruments

if anyone's got experience with both i'd appreciate it if you could speak to the differences 
between the two.

Whew, kinda hard to sumarize, but here's some random thoughts on it:

Ultrabeat is bit more flexible in a way, since you aren't starting
with default kits geared towards specific sounds.  Just basic OSC and
envelopes, much more similar to say a Korg ER-1 in this regard.  That
said, the MD is a lot faster to get sounds on for precisely this
reason too.  Both sound great and have x0x style sequencing obviously,
no worries there.  UB loads samples of much longer length than the MD,
isn't limited to 12bit mono, and there's some workarounds for making
your own velocity layered samples via EXS24 as well, none of which the
MD can do.

In terms of interface, the MD kills UB imo, it's way more immediate
and easily one of the most 'playable' pieces of gear I have.  In
comprison, UB's controls are very small and fiddly, and way
modulations are handled is a bit weird compared to other gear out
there.  Nice once you get used to it, but not the easiest to grasp at
first.

I honestly find the MD a lot more fun to play with, and it's far
easier for me to come up with unique sounds.  UB's no slouch, but you
need to mouse everything as midi control surfaces like the Novation SL
don't really work well with it.  I had thought when getting Logic 7
that i might be able to make do with UB for my synthetic drums, but
honestly I didn't get on with programming it as much as I'd hoped, and
I still find myself reaching for the MD far far more often.

On 8/25/07, wavplant <waveplant@...> wrote:
> if anyone's got experience with both i'd appreciate it if you could speak to the differences
> between the two.
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


-- 
Tarekith
http://tarekith.com

Tarekith,

Thanks for the reply - this is great, exactly the kind of comparison I was hoping for.

Agreed that the flexility of software often comes at the expense of a lack of playability.  
And it sounds like MD has a good combination of both.  Do you find that the advantages 
of the MD derive from it being a tactile piece of hardware, or does it present some 
advantages over UB in terms of synthesis modes/sound quality as well?

--- In elektron-users@yahoogroups.com, Tarekith <Tarekith@...> wrote:
>
> Whew, kinda hard to sumarize, but here's some random thoughts on it:
> 
> Ultrabeat is bit more flexible in a way, since you aren't starting
> with default kits geared towards specific sounds.  Just basic OSC and
> envelopes, much more similar to say a Korg ER-1 in this regard.  That
> said, the MD is a lot faster to get sounds on for precisely this
> reason too.  Both sound great and have x0x style sequencing obviously,
> no worries there.  UB loads samples of much longer length than the MD,
> isn't limited to 12bit mono, and there's some workarounds for making
> your own velocity layered samples via EXS24 as well, none of which the
> MD can do.
> 
> In terms of interface, the MD kills UB imo, it's way more immediate
> and easily one of the most 'playable' pieces of gear I have.  In
> comprison, UB's controls are very small and fiddly, and way
> modulations are handled is a bit weird compared to other gear out
> there.  Nice once you get used to it, but not the easiest to grasp at
> first.
> 
> I honestly find the MD a lot more fun to play with, and it's far
> easier for me to come up with unique sounds.  UB's no slouch, but you
> need to mouse everything as midi control surfaces like the Novation SL
> don't really work well with it.  I had thought when getting Logic 7
> that i might be able to make do with UB for my synthetic drums, but
> honestly I didn't get on with programming it as much as I'd hoped, and
> I still find myself reaching for the MD far far more often.
> 
> On 8/25/07, wavplant <waveplant@...> wrote:
> > if anyone's got experience with both i'd appreciate it if you could speak to the 
differences

> > between the two.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> Tarekith
> http://tarekith.com
>

Yes and yes.  I really like the hands on interface of the MD, 8
endless knobs and very similar screens for each type of machine make
it very fast and intuitive to get sounds.  The type of programming
where you really don't need to look at the display at all once you get
used to it.  Also, because you are forced to worked on machines
geared towards certain sounds, it's even more fast to dial in
something.  Once you know what each machine can do that is.

UB has more scope, especially as you can add any type of effects after
it, but the really small controls and the cramped interface get tiring
to me after awhile.  It's not justa  software thing either, something
like uTonic is miles better on this front too.  In fact, if I was to
recommend a software drum synth, I'd pick uTonic over Ultrabeat.

I've heard UB gets an overhaul in Logic 8, but obviously that's all
rumors still, and I can't confirm.  The one place I heard this from
has been fairly reliable in the past though, so I have my hopes up on
this.  UB is a cool drum synth, just has a crappy interface IMVHO.

On 8/25/07, wavplant <waveplant@...> wrote:

  Do you find that the advantages
> of the MD derive from it being a tactile piece of hardware, or does it present some
> advantages over UB in terms of synthesis modes/sound quality as well?
>

-- 
Tarekith
http://tarekith.com

As a heavy UB user I would have to agree with Tarekith's assessment.
The interface is probably good training for surgery.
Also, some of the features don't seem to work as advertised.
It's supposed to have a "pattern" mode whereby you can set it up to do
one-shot patterns in response to an incoming midi note.
I chose not to upgrade to the Universal Binary of Logic, so that might have
something to do with it. Unsure.
It was a paid upgrade that's supposedly no longer offered.

At this point though, UB is the center of my workflow despite it's quirks.
24 synths with snappy envelopes + 1 "bass" synth. Also, once you see the
possibilities offered by a via modulation scheme it's hard to go back. It's
very easy to make kit's "breathe" in response to variables like velocity. I
don't use the internal step sequencer, I trigger it with external home-made
ones.

I don't own an MD, but have had plenty of time to get acquainted with my
friends unit.
It's very cool, just wish they'd come up with more "machines", let you do
patterns of different lengths + bring the price within the reach of

well me.


ehdyn







On 8/25/07, Tarekith <Tarekith@...> wrote:
>
>   Yes and yes. I really like the hands on interface of the MD, 8
> endless knobs and very similar screens for each type of machine make
> it very fast and intuitive to get sounds. The type of programming
> where you really don't need to look at the display at all once you get
> used to it. Also, because you are forced to worked on machines
> geared towards certain sounds, it's even more fast to dial in
> something. Once you know what each machine can do that is.
>
> UB has more scope, especially as you can add any type of effects after
> it, but the really small controls and the cramped interface get tiring
> to me after awhile. It's not justa software thing either, something
> like uTonic is miles better on this front too. In fact, if I was to
> recommend a software drum synth, I'd pick uTonic over Ultrabeat.
>
> I've heard UB gets an overhaul in Logic 8, but obviously that's all
> rumors still, and I can't confirm. The one place I heard this from
> has been fairly reliable in the past though, so I have my hopes up on
> this. UB is a cool drum synth, just has a crappy interface IMVHO.
>
> On 8/25/07, wavplant <waveplant@... <waveplant%40mac.com>> wrote:
>
> Do you find that the advantages
> > of the MD derive from it being a tactile piece of hardware, or does it
> present some
> > advantages over UB in terms of synthesis modes/sound quality as well?
> >
>
> --
> Tarekith
> http://tarekith.com
> 
>


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