I am borrowing a friends MD since I wanted to get into Elektron gear without spending 2k on a new Elektron OT and drum kit. Love it. But why are these old units still so expensive? I see them online selling for over $600!
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Because they are arguably the best machine that Elektron ever made?
Solid and reliable from the get go. A mature product from day one. Not plagued with issues. Instantly reliable.
16 freely assignable tracks which can be any Machine, including Midi machines.
Provide a wonderful array of digital drums, with a number of different drum synthesis types and flexibilty that can be mixed and match in any way you see fit.
Can be used as a 16 track drum machine, a 16 track midi sequencer, or anything in between. Used it once upon a time as 8 internal tracks; and 8 Midi tracks driving a JoMox 999ā¦ best of both worlds 
User Wave models add in sample playback and sampling functionality. Sure itās limited, and 12bit, but if you are not happy with the kicks, or snares, drop a couple of carefully selected samples in there to beef up where itās lacking.
Ctrl-All, instant patch recall, wonderful āClassic / Extendedā switch to trip cats up.
Iāve had a Machinedrum since forever; on my third now, went from a MD MkI (my first Elektron) to a MD UW MkI, to a MD UW+ MkII
What else are you going to get for $600; and how does it compare?
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This is why o want to trade my rytm for a MD again. Would be my fourth MD. Maybe missing features of the sequencer are a little bit annoying but the sound cuts so well in the mix.
By the end of the day this is what itās all about
This! So many sounds you could pull out of it just using the synthesis. Once you shift over into samples- just whoa!
Also the rarity has probably set in and each day past itās funeral only inspires a greater longing for the machine.
If youāre looking for a similar sound- either go Microtonic for ITB- or try to find a Nord Drum 2/3P. Or possibly both with the TE Tonic PO
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And currently the digital synthesis of the MD is not even āfashionableā. Once people rediscover how good these things sound and how insanely flexible they are, expect the price to get up to $2k+, assuming thereās no refresh of it and Elektron continues in the DT/DN mode of making things small, accessible, one-or-two-function, and instant (rather than the open-ended, near-infinite routing and capability of MD and OT)
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donāt forget 2 mono inputs with possible external resampling
another set of individual outs with interesting routing
double trig tracksā¦ as in hit 1 track and trigger another simultaneously
plus
equalizer
plus built in COMPRESSOR
donāt forget a design from the future
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I think the next instrument Elektron release will be a digital drum machine, and the MDās wonāt be so sought after.
Currently they are the only digital drum machine Elektron have released hence the price they still fetch
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No doubt they will, and it will be highly desirable! But I donāt think Elektron is interested in making any more units that approach the open architecture and high learning curve of their earliest designs, so Machinedrums will still be highly prized and sought after by a certain kind of user.
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600 is not so expensive, 3 years ago they were selling at 1200 / 1400.
Think of it like a minimoog, it is what it is and excels at what it does whether is new or old.
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+1
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A few weeks ago I bought an UW+ in perfect condition for 600ā¬ (750$). Very hard to find cheaper in France.
MKI can be 450ā¬.
I can see many MDs to sell so maybe the price will be a bit lowerā¦
Can you give me a hint to an ad?
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24 adds, main second hand musical gear in France.
https://fr.audiofanzine.com/elektron/machinedrum/petites-annonces/
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Itās funny to think thereās a certain number of them that exist and they float aroundā¦
I wonder how many there are?
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Yup. Digidrum. Mark my words. Instant buy for me. Loved my MD with OTO Biscuitā¦
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I literally wonāt ever be selling my UW. And I hope it lives forever
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And the digidrum will be 8-12 track audio and 4-6 miditracks. No separate outs. But looks amazing Next to the digitone 
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ever heard of digitakt?
Probably better off making a bunch of āMachineDrums Outdatedā and āDays of MachineDrum are Overā type threads. Then weāll all lie on them saying how much they suck and that all these other things are so much betterā¦
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Machinedrum does this? I feature requested this for OT
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