Elektron Musical Instruments

hi, boys and girls. thank you so much for replying to my first 
message. you really helped me out. but i have some more questions:

what about the casing. it looks really, really nice and so beautiful. 
but what about the quality of this box? what about the 
potentiometres? do they live for long time? or are they damaged after 
some turns? i mean they don't seem to be very solid...

what about bugs and so on. are there many bad, nerve-wracking, nasty 
things that come with the machine? 

what about the service by the elektron-staff? are they friendly, 
helping, trustworthy people who help me out if i have a problem with 
the gear?


these are some really fucking questions, i know. but last year i 
bought an xbase. i was so happy to get one the weeks before it was 
finally at my house. then it was like a punch into my face. there 
where many bugs and stuff like this so i really began to hate the 
machine. also, the jomox staff was not that cool as i expected. i was 
really disappointed. this is the right word.
and this time i don't want to be in the same situation, you know?
so, thanks for your informations. i really need them. thank you very 
much.
have a nice day. phil

The case is built like a tank and the knobs seem to be very reliable too.
I did have an issue with the powersupply and/or internal fuse but Elektron fixed it.
Took them 2 weeks though which i found a bit too long especially because it 
happened after the first week of ownership.
They took care of all the shipping cost.
From the phonecalls i found them to be very friendly and cool.
They seem to be a bit on the freaky side but i like that.

Havent found any real bugs sofar. I hate the fact that the delay screws up when you 
change patterns that use different delay settings but i guess thats something that 
simply cant be fixed because the delaybuffers must be cleared anyway.

best
Hans


--- In elektron-users@yahoogroups.com, "philipp_angleitner" 
<Philipp_Angleitner@a...> wrote:

> hi, boys and girls. thank you so much for replying to my first 
> message. you really helped me out. but i have some more questions:
> 
> what about the casing. it looks really, really nice and so beautiful. 
> but what about the quality of this box? what about the 
> potentiometres? do they live for long time? or are they damaged after 
> some turns? i mean they don't seem to be very solid...
> 
> what about bugs and so on. are there many bad, nerve-wracking, nasty 
> things that come with the machine? 
> 
> what about the service by the elektron-staff? are they friendly, 
> helping, trustworthy people who help me out if i have a problem with 
> the gear?
> 
> 
> these are some really fucking questions, i know. but last year i 
> bought an xbase. i was so happy to get one the weeks before it was 
> finally at my house. then it was like a punch into my face. there 
> where many bugs and stuff like this so i really began to hate the 
> machine. also, the jomox staff was not that cool as i expected. i was 
> really disappointed. this is the right word.
> and this time i don't want to be in the same situation, you know?
> so, thanks for your informations. i really need them. thank you very 
> much.
> have a nice day. phil

--- In elektron-users@yahoogroups.com, "philipp_angleitner"
<Philipp_Angleitner@a...> wrote:
> what about the casing. it looks really, really nice and so
> beautiful. 
> but what about the quality of this box?

built like a TANK (and heavy as one, too). it's all steel casing with
an aluminum face, by the way.

>  what about the 
> potentiometres? do they live for long time? or are they damaged after 
> some turns? i mean they don't seem to be very solid...

"don't seem" - does that mean you've played one and used them? (just
wondering, because if so I don't know why you asked your first
question :-)

they are quite solid, to me. my MD is less than a year old still. but
I've done quite a bit of tweaking of the knobs and they seem great so
far (knock on wood).

part of the reason why they might seem a bit "flimsy" (but I wouldn't
go that far, really) is that they have the triggering/pressing ability
too. so they don't sit *right on* the casing like 99% of all other
knobs out there. so they wiggle a bit, but it seems like its more the
nature of the potentiometers themselves than a quality issue.

> what about bugs and so on. are there many bad, nerve-wracking, nasty 
> things that come with the machine? 

*so far*, i've had no major problems. i've had a couple freeze-ups,
but those were usually when i was doing something weird anyway. and
i've yet to own a machine that didn't freeze up or do something weird
from time to time. but as far as nasty software bugs, i think *most*
of them have been ironed out to the point that if someone has a bug,
it's usually the result of faulty hardware.

> what about the service by the elektron-staff? are they friendly, 
> helping, trustworthy people who help me out if i have a problem with 
> the gear?

they've been incredibly friendly and helpful with my Sidstation
problems; even going above and beyond what I expected them to do. for
example, they covered repair and shipping charges for a unit that I
purchased used. when I had further problems, they offered to send me a
unit the've been personally testing for months. furthermore, before
all of that, they sent me a new power-supply free-of-charge in hopes
that it would fix the problem.

so yes, they're great at taking care of problems with their units. the
downside is that they're in sweden and they're the only repair place.
so some people might experience extra customs fees or heavy waiting
periods, etc. but i've heard there's a possibility of incorporating
outside repair facilities in the future.

the bottom line (to me) is that it *is* well built and it *is* an
incredible machine and you most-certainly *will* fall in love with
it... and when and *if* there are problems, Elektron will be there to
help you through them.

Joe.

--- In elektron-users@yahoogroups.com, "philipp_angleitner" 
<Philipp_Angleitner@a...> wrote:

> what about bugs and so on. are there many bad, nerve-wracking, 
nasty things that come with the machine? 

I never intended to rant about my MD, but I thought I may be able to 
help you make a decision, Phil.

I experienced problems with my MD. It simply died one day less than 
one year old. It wouldn't power up. I had to pay to send it back to 
elektron for repair. I had to pay customs AGAIN on the way back in. 
It worked for another couple of months then died again. I paid to 
send it to elektron again and paid customs duties for a third time. 
In all fairness to elektron, this was one of 1st few hundred of MDs 
sold. But is that scary or what!?
 
> what about the service by the elektron-staff? are they friendly, 
helping, trustworthy people who help me out if i have a problem with 
the gear?

Well, again I have had a different experience from most of the people 
who post on this list. In my MANY communications with elektron, I 
found the staff to be willing to help, but often incompetent. 
Elektron refused to pay postage to send the unit to Sweden for repair 
both times. Elektron marked the packages in such a way that US 
Customs charged me duties two additional times. Elektron only 
replaced my defective MD after I demanded it. IN TOTAL, I PAID AN 
EXTRA $95 IN SHIPPING AND $115 IN CUSTOMS DUTIES TO REPAIR MY 
INSTRUMENT. PLUS MORE THAN 6 MONTHS OF NOT BEING ABLE TO USE IT. Even 
after all this, elektron won't even give me a free t-shirt. So, I 
have had an experience similar to your JoMox situtation, Phil.

It's an amazing instrument but one that, for me, has come with more 
headaches than it is worth. I wouldn't recommend getting into this 
Machinedrum if you haven't already.