Elektron's budget grooveboxes earn steady recommendations despite low market profile
NEW YORK, Aug 15. Elektron's Model:Samples and Model:Cycles grooveboxes deliver more than their bargain pricing implies, Terrence O'Brien wrote in The Verge. O'Brien, who also took the photographs for the review, said both instruments are his first recommendation whenever someone asks how to get started in electronic music.
Key takeaways
- Terrence O'Brien of The Verge recommends Elektron's Model:Samples and Model:Cycles grooveboxes as his first pick for anyone starting out in electronic music.
- O'Brien said both budget instruments deliver more than their low pricing implies, and he wrote and photographed the review himself.
- The Model:Samples and Model:Cycles receive less attention than competitors like Teenage Engineering, the Telepathic Instruments Orchid, and the more widely recognized Korg.
- Within Elektron's own lineup, buyers often overlook the Model series in favor of the higher-end Digitakt, Octatrack, and Tonverk.
- O'Brien said he kept returning to the two budget models even as his collection grew to include fancier, far more expensive gear.
NEW YORK, Aug 15. Elektron's Model:Samples and Model:Cycles grooveboxes deliver more than their bargain pricing implies, Terrence O'Brien wrote in The Verge. O'Brien, who also took the photographs for the review, said both instruments are his first recommendation whenever someone asks how to get started in electronic music.
The devices attract less attention than their competitors. Teenage Engineering's hardware and the Orchid from Telepathic Instruments draw more coverage in the electronic music market, O'Brien reported. Among first-time buyers, Korg, a brand with broader consumer recognition, tends to come up before Elektron's budget models do, the review said.
The overlooked status holds within Elektron's own product line. The company makes the Digitakt, Octatrack, and Tonverk, which the review characterizes as higher-end and more niche offerings. Buyers who do find Elektron often pass the Model:Samples and Model:Cycles in favor of those instruments, O'Brien noted.
His recommendation rests on extended personal use. O'Brien said his instrument collection grew to include gear that is fancier and far more expensive than the Model series. He reported coming back to the two budget models throughout that period.
The Verge review carries no prices for any of the instruments it names and provides no technical specifications. O'Brien's answer, as he described it, is consistent: when someone asks where to start in electronic music, the Model:Samples and Model:Cycles are it.