dimanche 28 décembre 2014

My Tempest vs Analog Rytm review

So I want to write a short review for anyone still curious about how the two compare since I now own both.



The bottom line is that both of these units rock. The tempest can in fact sound fat and punchy. I would say its harder to program percussion in the higher frequency range than lower because of how the analog engine is set up. You can definitely make some nice sounds with it though. I never had to open the manual for it. It is very easy to get started on it if you know ajything about synthesis in general. It is also super fun to use. The distortion and compression are pretty noisy on it, but it still sounds good and punchy to my ears.



The Rytm is a different beast. I spent 30 min on it without looking at a manual and could not get a sequence going. Of course, once I did look at it, it became very easy. I do not see this as a difficult machine to master. Once you learn the sequencer, you basically have 80% of the manual down. The sequencer is beautiful. It is super easy to modify individual notes, or "trigs." Everything is pretty easy to do. I could see how this instrument could be difficult to master for someone with a rudimentary understanding of gear. I gave up on my mpc1000 back in the day cause I thought it was too slow of a workflow... But mostly because I wasn't ready for the hardware workflow.



The pads are indeed a little better on the tempest. They're about 4x bigger no lie, yet Rytms are 4x stiffer and less responsive to subtle touches.



Making patterns is easy on both. The tempest has note repeat which can be adjusted to different speeds so you can do 32nd and 16th note rolls on the same track or sound. Rytk doesn't have note repeat but you do the same thing but with the sequencer by selecting a note on your desired sound and clicking the up and down retrig arrows to change the rate of that note and then you can adjust the length of that note pattern to basically almost any length. Its all on the same screen. Speaking of screen. I think its fine. I don't have a problem with it. I agree with others who have said that once you learn the commands you don't even really need to look at it.



Programming is pretty basic on the elektron. Some of the drum machines like the hi hats and whatnot have like just 2-3 parameters to change. The good thing is that they sound good.



I was afraid that the buttons on the Rytm would feel cheap, but quite the contrary. The controls feel pretty solid. I like how easy it is to press the buttons on the rytm. The tempest feels good too, but honestly, every time I use dsi gear I get the feeling like one day one of these buttons won't click anymore.



As far as the look... The tempest wins by about 35%. The wood is a major contributor. Its the ass on a synth. However, dsi went with that glued on overlay that can be found on the evolver and prophet 08. Not sure about the 12. The rytm has everything painted right on the frame. No stickers. I wouldn't say the rytm looks better, and I could even see the tempest sticker outlasting the rytm paint.



OK I'm not sure if I covered sound, I'm typing on my phone. They both sound great. I am keeping both. I have no regrets as of yet. There is s lot more I need to cover but I haven't had the time to fully delve into each. I have had any glitching with either so the new OS's seem to be cool. The rytm is a true drum machine, wheras the tempest is a rhythm machine/mono or a poly synth.





My Tempest vs Analog Rytm review

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