Don’t overlook Elektron’s budget electronic music instruments
Elektron’s Model:Samples and Model:Cycles are presented as overlooked entry-level grooveboxes that offer considerably more creative depth than their relatively low prices suggest. Although newcomers may favour more familiar brands and experienced musicians may choose Elektron’s pricier machines, the reviewer argues that the Model series combines accessibility with the company’s powerful sequencing approach, making it a strong route into electronic music-making.
Both devices have six tracks, velocity-sensitive pads and hands-on controls, but Model:Cycles uses FM synthesis while Model:Samples plays imported samples and cannot record them itself. Their main strength is Elektron’s step sequencer, which uses “trigs” and per-step “locks” to vary sounds and settings within a pattern; this can stretch the apparent limits of six tracks by allowing samples or presets to change from one step to the next.
- Elektron’s budget grooveboxes offer unusually deep sequencing.
- Model:Cycles synthesises sounds; Model:Samples plays imported samples.
- Per-step sound changes make six tracks more flexible.
New here? Start with this
Elektron is a Swedish maker of electronic music instruments, especially grooveboxes: compact machines used to create beats, basslines and other sounds without a computer. Its Model:Samples and Model:Cycles are lower-cost products aimed at people who want a hands-on way to make electronic music.
Both machines let users build patterns across six tracks using pads, knobs and a built-in sequencer. A sequencer records or programmes notes and sounds in time, so a musician can assemble a repeating musical section and then adjust it while it plays.
The two models make sound in different ways. Model:Samples plays audio files loaded on to it, while Model:Cycles generates sounds using FM synthesis, a digital method often associated with metallic percussion, bass and electronic tones. Elektron’s sequencing system can also change a sound’s settings on individual steps, allowing a short pattern to contain more variation than its six tracks might suggest.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Elektron’s Model:Samples and Model:Cycles make a persuasive entry point because they pair an approachable price and hands-on layout with the company’s unusually flexible sequencing workflow. Their six tracks can achieve far more variation than the specification suggests through parameter locks and sound changes per step, giving newcomers useful creative tools without requiring an expensive flagship machine. Supporters value instruments that reward experimentation and offer a serious route into producing distinctive electronic music.
The case against
Budget buyers may reasonably prefer more familiar brands, devices with broader feature sets, or software-based options that offer greater value and easier learning resources. The Model machines’ limitations are material: Model:Samples cannot record samples directly, Model:Cycles’ FM-focused sound engine may not suit every style, and the Elektron sequencing approach can be less immediately intuitive than simpler grooveboxes. Critics may value versatility, convenience and a gentler workflow over deeper pattern programming.