Elektron Musical Instruments

To all you wonderful monomachine users out there,

my problem is this.  I was about to order a monomachine last week, 
but the "horror stories" Ive read of problems with midi, sound etc 
etc have put me off :-(  So, can I ask if:-

a) In your opinion do you find the keyboard version or the laptop 
version more reliable

b) do the latest units ship with the new o/s?

c) Does the new o/s cause problems? what has it supposedly fixed?

d) does it make better sense to order it from a nearby distributor , 
rather than elektron themselves?

Please remember that your answers will finally sway me with regard 
to "taking the plunge " or not, as it were ;-)

regards

> my problem is this.  I was about to order a monomachine last week, 
> but the "horror stories" Ive read of problems with midi, sound etc 
> etc have put me off :-(  So, can I ask if:-

Hmmm... what horror stories are these?
 
> a) In your opinion do you find the keyboard version or the laptop 
> version more reliable

Only used the kbd version, so I cannot compare. But the heart of the 
instrument is the same, so I assume both instruments are equally 
reliable.

> b) do the latest units ship with the new o/s?

I'm 99% percent sure they do. You can verify this at their website. 
 
> c) Does the new o/s cause problems? what has it supposedly fixed?

I find it very reliable. Some bugs are still in there, but they're 
not major. You should download the OS 1.04 at the MnM site, a text 
file in the download lists all bugs and bug fixes. I must say that 
the Elektron products are extremely stable hardware-wise. The "horror 
stories" you've heard probably spring from bugs in early OS's, which 
the Elektron guys work with continually to improve. 

> d) does it make better sense to order it from a nearby distributor 
> rather than elektron themselves?

Depends on where you live I guess.. Both ways should work just fine.

Elektron instruments are highly recommended. Intuitive, original and 
fat-sounding. I've done gigs with Machinedrums only.

Regards,
Nils

--- In elektron-users@yahoogroups.com, "shekharaugust1973"
<shekhardhain@s...> wrote:
> my problem is this.  I was about to order a monomachine last week, 
> but the "horror stories" Ive read of problems with midi, sound etc 
> etc have put me off :-(  So, can I ask if:-

I know of no horror stories.  I know of people having problems every
now and then.  But 99% of the time these are with brand new units that
had some defect.  So Elektron then promptly replaces/repairs the units
for them (free of charge).  And also remember that this is a users
group.  To some people that means "I'll ask here when I have a
problem."  But that shouldn't make you think that everyone has problems.

> a) In your opinion do you find the keyboard version or the laptop 
> version more reliable

Tough question!  the keyboard is quite excellent for programming and
fun for performance as well.  I like having a keyboard always there as
it makes it more of an instrument and I can improvise easier, etc. 
but then again, it would be nice to have more portability.... so it
depends on your own personal needs, I guess.  

> b) do the latest units ship with the new o/s?

I don't know, but if you're worried about not having to transfer a new
OS you shouldn't be.  it's very easy.  any problems that result are
usually due to interface issues or software issues and are resolved
fairly easily.  also, you should expect new MnM OS updates for a
little while still.  it's still pretty new and it seems Elektron like
to keep up to date on fixing all bugs and improving features until
they're 100% happy with it.  the MD for example has been out for 3 (or
is it 4?) years and it just got an OS update.

thanks to both joe (who seems to be an absolute king on terms of 
monomachine knowledge) and nils who replied ;-)

perhaps I should have said that I've been all sorts of comments on 
this very forum (such as strange noises,midi lock-ups, etc etc!!) and 
in the 13 years I've been using midi gear, I've never had a piece of 
hardware- yamaha, korg, novation, roland- ever behave even 
slightly "out of character" as it were, and I REALLY get up to some 
serious parameter punsihment midi wise too!  Hence the question, as 
it seems to me it isnt anywhere near as reliable as anything from the 
main aforementioned stalwarts , so to speak

I love the sound of it, and it looks delicious, but nothing is WORSE 
in my humble opinion than gear that makes you slap yourself in 
exhasperation when it misbehaves..I had an arp2600 years ago, and 
sold it on for that very reason, even though it had such amazing 
sonic capabilities, but je ne regret rien ;-)

any other comments guys (and gals if there are any there) ?

regards

I have roland, yamaha, korg and emu gear. I have never had any synth or gear from any of them that the company didn't update. And each item has had some bugs at some point (i.e. Roland often releases updates that provide no new features).

Ravi

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joe 
  To: elektron-users@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 4:47 PM
  Subject: Re: [elektron] Re: Hi to all monomachine users...can you help??


  On Mon, Oct 04, 2004 at 05:21:41PM -0000, shekharaugust1973 wrote:
  >    thanks to both joe (who seems to be an absolute king on terms of
  >    monomachine knowledge)

  no I just have no life so I reply to people's questions quickly :-)

  >    perhaps I should have said that I've been all sorts of comments on
  >    this very forum (such as strange noises,midi lock-ups, etc etc!!)

  yes... but again, this is a user's forum; people come here for help
  a lot.  and Elektron have updated their OS's several times and in the
  process, introduced new bugs. very often problems occur in the
  grace period following a new OS release, while it's still being
  beta tested.  Elektron are great that way - they allow their
  customers the option of trying beta level software instead of just
  letting five select people do it. there's greater chance for
  debugging it right if there's more people using it.

  for example, right now people are finding bugs in the individual
  swing feature of the Machinedrum; but that was their option to
  upgrade to the new (beta) OS.  they can very well resort back to
  the much more stable (but less featured) previous OS.

  >    Hence the question, as
  >    it seems to me it isnt anywhere near as reliable as anything from the
  >    main aforementioned stalwarts , so to speak

  perhaps not. but Elektron are only a few people, after all.  I guess most
  people who've used their gear are more forgiving, due to the enormous
  level that their gear is enjoyed.  in other words, though there are
  a few issues here and there, it's seldom that anyone comes in here and
  says "I'm selling this gear because its unreliable."  if that's happened
  at all, that is.

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On Mon, Oct 04, 2004 at 05:21:41PM -0000, shekharaugust1973 wrote:
>    thanks to both joe (who seems to be an absolute king on terms of
>    monomachine knowledge)

no I just have no life so I reply to people's questions quickly :-)

>    perhaps I should have said that I've been all sorts of comments on
>    this very forum (such as strange noises,midi lock-ups, etc etc!!)

yes... but again, this is a user's forum; people come here for help
a lot.  and Elektron have updated their OS's several times and in the
process, introduced new bugs. very often problems occur in the
grace period following a new OS release, while it's still being
beta tested.  Elektron are great that way - they allow their
customers the option of trying beta level software instead of just
letting five select people do it. there's greater chance for
debugging it right if there's more people using it.

for example, right now people are finding bugs in the individual
swing feature of the Machinedrum; but that was their option to
upgrade to the new (beta) OS.  they can very well resort back to
the much more stable (but less featured) previous OS.

>    Hence the question, as
>    it seems to me it isnt anywhere near as reliable as anything from the
>    main aforementioned stalwarts , so to speak

perhaps not. but Elektron are only a few people, after all.  I guess most
people who've used their gear are more forgiving, due to the enormous
level that their gear is enjoyed.  in other words, though there are
a few issues here and there, it's seldom that anyone comes in here and
says "I'm selling this gear because its unreliable."  if that's happened
at all, that is.

> a) In your opinion do you find the keyboard version or the laptop 
> version more reliable
i bought the laptop about 6 weeks ago, and i haven't found any
problems that bother me yet - in fact i haven't found any i've noticed
at all!

> b) do the latest units ship with the new o/s?
mine came with 1.01 when 1.03 was on the website. basically it would
come down to how long it's been on the shelf for i guess. either way,
i updated to 1.04 which came out a couple days after i got mine, and
it was very straightforward.
 
> c) Does the new o/s cause problems? what has it supposedly fixed?
like i say, i haven't found any issues yet, but maybe i'm not a "power
user" yet. i haven't put as much time as i would like into it yet, but
i've used it at weekly live rehearsals and for "basic"
composing/sequencing for now - it takes a while to get fully round all
the features!!
 
> d) does it make better sense to order it from a nearby distributor , 
> rather than elektron themselves?
i thought about buying off of elektron initially, as i'm in australia
and didn't think it would be stocked locally. through they're website
i contacted the nearest stockist, then tried it out, fell in love and
got a better price off of them than elektron! it also helps having
local warranty support in my opinion.
 
> Please remember that your answers will finally sway me with regard 
> to "taking the plunge " or not, as it were ;-)
If you like the sounds - get one! if not - don't! in the past i've
bought gear and found after a short while it seems limited, or not
quite on the money. so far i've been surprised consistently with how
well thought out and flexible the sfx/60 is!! it makes me want to use
it more.

anyway, good luck with it
Corey