Elektron Musical Instruments

>Moog Voyager
>Korg Triton Pro-X
>Korg Electribe ER-1

Er-1 is nice, a special little one. A bit like the machinedrum in that
it's pure synthesis and capable of a lot more than percussive sounds.
You've got the classic synth sounds in the voyager and the high detail
textures in the Triton(is there's a MOSS/Prophecy in the Triton Pro?).
Think the MD would compliment the setup better than another synth sound
source. 

I've had the machinedrum a year longer than the monomachine, so I'm of
course more comfortable with that one, but I still think that the MD is
the better one of these beasts. 

It's the original machine, built from scratch to suit one purpose only.
SFX is an idea superimposed on an already existing design. Makes a few
things seem stupid. Like the "function" button, essential to operating
the machine. It's placement works fine on the MD, giving one hand
access to the mutes. On the SFX this is stuck on the same spot as on
the MD, but all the operations done by the function button is moved to
the other side of the machine. Result? Awkward operation. A few other
things are like this as well, showing off it's "number two" design. 

Not that the SFX is bad, by no means, I Love It! But it's not the
totally integrated and well thought out unit it could have been if it
had been built from scratch. 

Regarding the sampler and this issue: feel the worst thing Electron
could do when designing their next gear is to stick to this formula
instead of thinking new. Every machine needs it's own specific control
surface! 

MD works brilliantly fine without midi controller. Truly a
techno-band-in-a-box machine! So I thought I better shape up my
hand/menu speed rather than getting a controller for the SFX when I
first got it. But it was still bothersome after months of use, so I got
a fader controller for it and now enjoys new-found power. But it's not
as easy to lug around as the MD, not as integrated, and setting up an
external controller is truly a bitch. I feel that if the SFX had been
as brilliantly built, from scratch, as the MD, this shouldn't have been
necesarry. 

All IMHO, of course. I'm very demaning when it comes to studio stash..
=)


Cheers, 

Andreas/Norway