Elektron Model:Samples and Model:Cycles: Underrated Grooveboxes — SkimNews
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- Model:Samples and Model:Cycles are Elektron's budget six-track grooveboxes (priced at $349 new, roughly $200 used) that sit in a marketing no-man's-land, overshadowed by Teenage Engineering, Telepathic Instruments' Orchid, and even Elektron's own Digitakt, Octatrack, and Tonverk.
- Model:Cycles runs a streamlined version of the Digitone's FM synthesis engine capable of DX7-style cold bells and icy pads alongside modern glassy keys and aggressive turn-of-the-millennium EDM bass, while Model:Samples plays samples loaded over USB but cannot record samples directly.
- Both instruments share Elektron's step sequencer built around "trigs" (step events) and "locks" (step-specific settings), with sound locks letting a single track swap samples per-step—so the six-track limit effectively expands as long as samples don't play simultaneously.
- Advanced sequencing features include trig conditions (firing steps only every third pass, on a fill button press, or when a prior condition is met), 64-step patterns, pattern chaining for evolving arrangements, and a live-performance Control-all mode for effects mangles.
- Documented drawbacks include mediocre velocity-sensitive pads, no direct sample recording, and monophonic sequencer tracks limited to one note at a time, though the reviewer concludes the $349 price—and $200 used-market floor—makes them one of the best hardware bargains in electronic music production.
Why it matters: The Model:Samples and Model:Cycles deliver a beginner-friendly version of Elektron's typically intimidating sequencing architecture—trigs, locks, and trig conditions—at roughly a third to a half the price of the company's Digitakt or Syntakt, giving cost-constrained producers access to live-jamming tools normally reserved for higher-tier gear dominated by Korg, Roland, and Novation recommendations.
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