Review: Elektron Digitone II Synthesizer

The original Digitone is one of my favorite synths ever. To some that might come off as a bit of a backhanded compliment because, well, the Digitone isn’t just a synth. It’s a powerful multitimbral groovebox with one of the most versatile sequencers on the market. To me, its four tracks and eight voices of polyphony could feel a bit limiting. Plus it’s not exactly the best at drums. This led me to sticking the Digitone on a stand where I just treat it like a desktop synth controlled by a MIDI keyboard.

The Digitone II, at least on paper, seems to solve some of these problems. It now has 16 voices on 16 tracks, plus there are three completely new synth engines that expand its sound palette, including one completely dedicated to percussion. This is all in addition to the same sorts of sequencing, modulation, and filter improvements we already saw on the Digitakt II (8/10, WIRED Recommends), but just like its sample-based sibling, the Digitone II has received a significant price hike to $999. With the original now going for as little as $350 on the used market, the choice between the two isn’t necessarily that cut and dry.

This Is the New Sound

Before anyone panics, the four-operator FM engine from the original Digitone is still here. While I’ve seen some people suggest that it doesn’t sound exactly the same and that the original has slightly more grit and character, I think those people are hallucinating. I’ve loaded several presets designed for the original Digitone on the Digitone II, and I can not tell the difference between them. It is worth mentioning that, sadly, you can not load Digitone II presets on the original Digitone, even if they’re using the original FM sound engine. There are apparently some technical differences between them under the hood but, at least to my ears, they don’t seem to affect the sound.

Photograph: Terrence O’Brien

The other three synth engines are where the Digitone II really separates itself from the original. In addition to the original FM engine (called FM Tone in the new model), there is FM Drum, which tweaks the original sound engine to better suit percussion. Wavetone is a little less glassy and gets sounds similar to what you’d find on phase distortion and wavetable synths. It’s still decidedly digital, but not as harsh as FM. Then there’s Swarmer, which gives you super-thick sounds that are great for leads and organs by stacking six detuned oscillators on top of the main one. Many of my favorite new presets make excellent use of the Wavetone machine, which is able to convincingly replicate classic electro and Krautrock sounds.