The challenge isn’t making the CPU run these features, it’s adding them in without compromising the UI. I think it would benefit from an attack envelope as well but there’s no knob for it, so you’d need to put it in a submenu or add a shift interaction that isn’t labelled on the front panel. That seems simple enough, but the Models are designed very well around the UI they currently have, so adding another layer of complexity may detract from the experience.
1 Like
“Func + release” could = attack.
simples 
“Func + parameter” is already assigned, when you hold func and move a knob it shifts that parameter in larger increments. Do you change that just for one knob? If so, do you then have to add a menu option to switch the behavior back and forth? If you add it as a menu option, what happens when you load a pattern that uses the attack parameter while the decay knob is on the old mode?
2 Likes
nevermind 
“Somehow” is doing a lot of work here. The point I’m making isn’t that it can’t be done, just that Elektron may have considered it already and decided that there wasn’t a satisfying way to implement it with the current UI.
4 Likes
nevermind
I’m just worried by not having a dedicated attack parameter, some people might miss out on the magic of combining punch with a slow attack setting 
1 Like
Well yeah, you can do plenty of work on a problem without solving it. They might have tried multiple solutions that didn’t fit with the UI and ditched them, or they might have found the perfect compromise and have it ready to go for the next big update. If you spend too much time agonising over this stuff as an end-user it gets in the way of enjoying the instrument as is.
As other people have pointed out, better to assess whether it’d work for your music as it currently exists rather than buying it for future updates that may or may not happen.
nevermind
I often imagine Elektron employees reading these threads in the cafeteria at lunch break and laughing their asses off
11 Likes
I think you can use and, god forbid, even enjoy an instrument that isn’t constantly getting firmware updates every few weeks. If it works as intended I don’t see what the issue is. Do you think pianists sit around waiting for Bosendorfer to add portamento to the baby grand? It sounds like you’d be happier feeling like your needs are constantly being met, so go buy that other thing.
1 Like
nevermind
Plenty of people make music on the Models every day without agonising over firmware updates - they’re fit for purpose and launched with a bunch of features that took years to be added to the larger boxes. As far as I know there aren’t any major outstanding bugs that need to be squashed - the battery handle was a fucking mess but it doesn’t really have anything to do with adding portamento. If there are missing features you absolutely need and can’t compromise on then buy something else that has them, simple.
1 Like
nevermind
It’s largely a percussion synth. Not many percussion instruments have a slow attack.
Not trying to make excuses, but percussion is kinda a main focus of the machine. From what I can remember, the Machinedrum didn’t have an attack parameter either.
It was designed that way, it’s a drum machine first with some features for getting tonal sounds. This might shock you but there are instruments with arbitrary limitations that are still well loved in spite of or even because of those limitations. The TB-303 is missing most of the features you’d expect from a monosynth, but people are still using it 40 years later and aren’t too bothered about not having an attack phase.
If you want a general purpose FM synth there are plenty of those out there, this isn’t one of them.
2 Likes
nevermind
I don’t really know how the Models are optimized and how much resources are remaining for that CPU, I was thinking more of the extra LFO and slide trigs for what might run into constraints.
Redoing the Models UI at this stage around the one knob per function ethos seems the less likely of the reasons, and “we ran out of time” doesn’t necessarily mean that it was ever ready to go in shippable state.
I’d be happy if there were any late updates, perhaps before they go EOL we’ll see a series of smaller fixes for the patient but I do not expect anything offhand. Certainly with dev effort that would not necessarily be backported to the Digitone/Digitakt or Syntakt.
In a world of infinite possibilities and far fewer guarantees, embrace limitations, accept the character of and optimize for what you have today and in front of you!
2 Likes
What do you think supporting a product means, maybe I can try doing some passive aggressive bolding as well? Presumably Elektron are still responding to customer support requests and honouring warranty claims. I don’t like that the price has gone up, but so have production costs. They’ve released updates to fix bugs and improve performance, the only thing they haven’t done is add new features that weren’t advertised as being part of the instrument in the first place.
I’m not suggesting that you hate the instrument, but it does seem like you are having difficulty accepting the limitations inherent to the design. If those limitations are a dealbreaker for you now then it’s unlikely that a firmware update will change that.
4 Likes
nevermind