The Elektron Model:Cycles Thread

[BlinkyLights]

A first modelcycles only track with my daughter singing :

I like this very much, you guys.

I will buy a lossless copy if it. Cheers.

[dropthedyle]

A first modelcycles only track with my daughter singing :

I like this very much, you guys.

I will buy a lossless copy if it. Cheers.

(glad you like it, we are working on a live set and the model:cycles is worth taking on stage)

[SnipeCatcher]

Got my M:C right when they came out and still love it to bits. I have a decent amount of gear, so the simplicity of the M:C is often so refreshing. Honestly wish Elektron would do a ‘deluxe’ version with a few more parameter controls and individual audio outs. I’d buy it in a heartbeat

[Funky40]

....... and individual audio outs. I’d buy it in a heartbeat

YES !
they are NOT good in reading the market.

single outs would mean we can patch it "per voice" thru modular, stompbox FX, or VST FX loaded in a VST Host.
Nearly everybody who likes the Cycles would buy one, no ?


anyway, Elektron sucks now. Wrong CEO
YMMV

[SnipeCatcher]

....... and individual audio outs. I’d buy it in a heartbeat

YES !
they are NOT good in reading the market.

single outs would mean we can patch it "per voice" thru modular, stompbox FX, or VST FX loaded in a VST Host.
Nearly everybody who likes the Cycles would buy one, no ?


anyway, Elektron sucks now. Wrong CEO
YMMV

Both Cenk and Ess have left Elektron, which is sad. No idea what the future holds. Sure love my Octatrack and Model:Cycles though!

[Funky40]

Both Cenk and Ess have left Elektron, which is sad.

as i sayed, wrong CEO !

they don´t get it that they could serve the market, the musicians AND the investors !....in one go


sometimes its not just some "new shiny features" that would make people buy,
OR a low price point. There is more to it..........

first: make well thought out products !


True: bringing toy for kids and noobs, will make them buy new every second year, if not each year.
Thats why everybody is building this small "Toy stuff"since years, and doing well, doing so.
True: at the end of a 2-3-4-5 year cycle, will you have made more money with those folks, who will buy half assed stuff,
over and over again. Its a buziness thing, its completly predictable. And the buziness model behind it is in plain sight visible.

But with GOOD, thought out stuff, do you reach the pros, the advanced users, and you create your reputation from there.

Reputation is like a banana or an apple that you would place in an open field.
If you just wait, ....will there be sun, ...and rain, ....and one day is the apple gonne, or the banana, haha.
So is the reputation......

[HenryBurlingame]

Reputation is like a banana or an apple that you would place in an open field.
If you just wait, ....will there be sun, ...and rain, ....and one day is the apple gonne, or the banana, haha.
So is the reputation......

This is one of the strangest metaphors I have ever heard... but I like it lol.

[Aleksey]

Now that it's discounted to 250$, I'm seriously debating if I should get one. I sold bunch of equipment recently and have the funds to go either more modules route or some non-modular but sounds cool devices. Choice is a dangerous beast.

[oscilloscope]

But with GOOD, thought out stuff, do you reach the pros, the advanced users, and you create your reputation from there.

LOL ... if this was as simple as that.

On the other hand such belief is probably behind half of the gear makers sales revenues.
How many people bought a Moog One thinking just that ... I wonder.

Anyway .... imo getting a "reputation" is largely irrelevant to "GOOD, thought out stuff".

It is based on perseverance, knowledge and creativity.
With these, nine times out of ten crappy gear will "outperform" top shelf gear used by uninspired and/or lazy musicians.

In fact, with the right character traits, and something as humble as this below, some had no problem acquiring an acclaimed and lasting "reputation":

[marugenji]

I was on vacation using my model:cycles along with my pulsar 23 and the differences in philosophy between these two instruments is striking. They differ in almost every way. One thing I kept thinking about was how it seems like elektron purposefully limited what the model:cycles can do for no other reason than to not have it take away sales from their other devices. So after a week of constant use I can say the model:cycles is frustratingly capitalistic. Thinking of Vlad doing the same thing just makes me laugh, so I'm very happy SOMA is around.

[SnipeCatcher]

I was on vacation using my model:cycles along with my pulsar 23 and the differences in philosophy between these two instruments is striking. They differ in almost every way. One thing I kept thinking about was how it seems like elektron purposefully limited what the model:cycles can do for no other reason than to not have it take away sales from their other devices. So after a week of constant use I can say the model:cycles is frustratingly capitalistic. Thinking of Vlad doing the same thing just makes me laugh, so I'm very happy SOMA is around.

I’m happy Soma is around too, but comparing a $300 box to a somewhere around $1,800 box? Model:Cycles ain’t my main box but it comes in handy and is awesome on so many occasions. It’s a very simple, straightforward box, but a lot of folks like that about it. I know after a bunch of sessions with my eurorack and Octatrack, just plugging into the Model:Cycles can be a nice distraction. Lots of ways to look at it

[Aleksey]

It took a lot of effort not to grab one during their sale and I hope I won’t regret that choice. Spent a lot of time watching videos on it, definitely a very capable and nice sounding device. I hope they come out with a more rounded Model series device at some point tho, what killed the deal for me was I thought this one leaned over the drum/percussion side more.

[HenryBurlingame]

I think I agree with both of you. Model cycles is probably the most powerful box for the money. It is sooo close to being really really great but falls short because there are some simple things that are missing and I don't know why. It drives me nuts. Like the attack part of the envelope. It definitely would not cost them more to put an attack stage on the envelope, so I can definitely see this being purposefully left out to keep cycles more in drum machine territory and not compete more with the digitone. Also things like portamento and scales are not there. And why doesn't the step sequencer send parameter values via midi as well as just velocity, duration, and note value when a step is parameter locked? I mean, parameter CCs can already be sent out through manual knob movement...

If it had just a couple more totally easy to implement features it would be a no brainer to get it, but the way it is if I had to buy it again I probably wouldn't.

[orangehexagon]

Amazes me that there are folks here that will spend $260 on a eurorack envelope module, but then complain that a $300 groovebox is too limited.

I agree that this thing feels like the result of a board meeting about optimizing profits by repacking existing R&D, but it's still a good piece of kit

[Beewo]

I always thought part of the fun of the cycles is just misusing the different engines to create stuff, its limitations breed a certain type of creativity.. it's still a lot more powerful than 90% of other companies drummachines just limited for an elektron product.

I dont quite get the doom and gloom wrong CEO stuff, all that has happened since the change was likely already in motion quite sometime, end of the day we need to see the dust settle.

[Scories]

Amazes me that there are folks here that will spend $260 on a eurorack envelope module, but then complain that a $300 groovebox is too limited.

Must be some kind of wiggler's cognitive distortion !!

[kohpnyn]

Does anyone else find the headphone output really quiet?
I'm only using 250ohm headphones, but still I'm having to have it on max volume and with each instrument distorting fully to really be able to hear well

[zollenz]

Does anyone else find the headphone output really quiet?
I'm only using 250ohm headphones, but still I'm having to have it on max volume and with each instrument distorting fully to really be able to hear well

What is the set value when you go to Config Menu -> Audio Config -> HP Max?

I think it's set to 68% or something like that by default. Try maxing it out if it isn't already.

[kohpnyn]

Does anyone else find the headphone output really quiet?
I'm only using 250ohm headphones, but still I'm having to have it on max volume and with each instrument distorting fully to really be able to hear well

What is the set value when you go to Config Menu -> Audio Config -> HP Max?

I think it's set to 68% or something like that by default. Try maxing it out if it isn't already.

That sorted it out - thanks!

[emperor bohe]

I need to give my model cycles a bit more love. The few times that I used it I was loving it. Have it synced with my ASR-X Pro.

[Kattefjaes]

Got my M:C right when they came out and still love it to bits. I have a decent amount of gear, so the simplicity of the M:C is often so refreshing. Honestly wish Elektron would do a ‘deluxe’ version with a few more parameter controls and individual audio outs. I’d buy it in a heartbeat

With multiple outs and a song mode, I'd tear their arm off. Hell, even with Overbridge and a song mode- I was really hoping that the Syntakt would be exactly that. It sucks balls that none of the Overbridge-capable boxes seem to have a song mode (I've probably overlooked one, and someone will be along to correct me, fingers crossed)- and the pre-Overbridge Octatrack has the most gloriously powerful song mode that shows you what might have been.

Not everything can be A peRfoRmanCe inStuMenT!!!one, if you have a few boxes going, you need to be able to automate them a bit, unless you're an extremely talented octopus. It's a shame, M:C sounds so nice- it's a charming device.

[forestcaver]

It sucks balls that none of the Overbridge-capable boxes seem to have a song mode (I've probably overlooked one, and someone will be along to correct me, fingers crossed)

Two - A4 and AR

[Kattefjaes]

It sucks balls that none of the Overbridge-capable boxes seem to have a song mode (I've probably overlooked one, and someone will be along to correct me, fingers crossed)

Two - A4 and AR

Excellent, thank you- I suspected as much.

I was on vacation using my model:cycles along with my pulsar 23 and the differences in philosophy between these two instruments is striking. They differ in almost every way. One thing I kept thinking about was how it seems like elektron purposefully limited what the model:cycles can do for no other reason than to not have it take away sales from their other devices. So after a week of constant use I can say the model:cycles is frustratingly capitalistic. Thinking of Vlad doing the same thing just makes me laugh, so I'm very happy SOMA is around.

Yes, there is a strong element of "product segmentation", leaving out features that are not resource-intensive or hard to implement, to differentiate between models- it's very much getting the most money per function instead of giving the best functionality for your money. Reminds me of Canon cameras in that respect (a few of which I've had to hack to restore peaking and zebras etc.).

[kohpnyn]

I ended up returning the one I bought. I found the trig buttons really hard to press and it made me not want to use it. Sounds were fun but I think I would rather just have a Volca FM or save up a bit for a Opsix for my purposes (with sequencing from Digitakt)

[lisa]

So after a week of constant use I can say the model:cycles is frustratingly capitalistic. Thinking of Vlad doing the same thing just makes me laugh, so I'm very happy SOMA is around.

Um, isn't the Pulsar 23 something like 7 times more expensive than the Model:Cycles?