How to Record an Elektron Digitone II into Your iPhone

Four things and one setting change that matters more than any of them.

• An Elektron Digitone II.
• Its PSU-3c power adapter. The Digitone II is always mains-powered and is never powered over USB, so it needs its own plug.
• An iPhone, plus the right cable for it. The Digitone II has a USB-B port, so the cable differs for USB-C and Lightning iPhones.
• A recording app. Reel is the one I make and use for this, but any class-compliant iOS audio app works.

This is the step everyone misses. On the Digitone II press SETTINGS, the gear button, then go to SYSTEM then USB CONFIG. You get two options. Pick USB AUDIO/MIDI. That is the class-compliant mode your iPhone can record from.

The other option, USB MIDI, sends notes but no audio, so if you connect the Digitone II and your phone hears nothing this is almost always why. You will not find an Overbridge line to choose here, and that is fine. Overbridge is a computer-only thing that runs through this same class-compliant connection, so there is nothing extra to switch on for a phone.

The Digitone II uses a USB-B port, the squarish printer-style connector, not USB-C. So for a USB-C iPhone (iPhone 15 or later) you need a USB-C to USB-B cable. The USB-A to USB-B cable in the box will not plug into a USB-C phone on its own.

Plug the USB-B end into the Digitone II and the USB-C end into the phone. That is the connection.

For a Lightning iPhone (iPhone 14 or earlier) use the USB-A to USB-B cable from the box together with an Apple USB camera adapter. The Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter is the one to get, since its extra power port lets you keep the phone charged while you record.

Connect the adapter to the phone, run the A-to-B cable from the adapter to the Digitone II and plug a charger into the adapter's power port. A plain third-party Lightning cable often will not show the audio device, so the Apple adapter is the reliable path.

Unlike a battery-powered box, the Digitone II is never bus-powered by the phone. It runs on its own PSU-3c adapter into the wall, full stop. The USB cable carries data only.

This is actually simpler than gear that can draw power from the phone, because there is no risk of draining your iPhone battery or under-powering the instrument. Plug the Digitone into the wall and forget about it.

The Digitone II runs at 48kHz, 24-bit. Set your recording app to 48kHz so nothing has to resample on the way in. In Reel this happens automatically when the Digitone is connected.

Over class-compliant USB you get a stereo pair, the main mix, not each track as its own input. True multitrack streaming is an Overbridge feature and Overbridge only runs on a computer, so on a phone you capture the stereo main. If you want a rough split you can use the Digitone's USB OUT setting to send specific tracks to the left and right of that one stereo pair. The Digitone II can also pass its own analog inputs over USB, so a synth or pedal plugged into its IN L and R can reach the phone through the same connection.

With USB CONFIG set to USB AUDIO/MIDI and the cable connected, the Digitone II shows up as a stereo input. Arm a track in your app and hit record. In Reel each take lands as a clean 48kHz capture you can overdub and mix.

One thing to watch: Elektron outputs run hot. Keep the USB TO MAIN level low and pull your track levels down a touch if the meters are pinning, rather than pushing the gain up. Monitor from the Digitone's own outputs or headphones for zero latency while the phone records. If the audio ever cuts out after a few minutes, try stopping any MIDI clock the phone is sending to the Digitone, which some players have found frees it back up.

Reel is the app I use to record these takes, so if you want to see the workflow before you buy, here is a quick overview of how it works.