[decided - I will keep it!] OT mk II, thinking about returning it (why I decided to keep it is now in the main article)

Just one week !!! I was making super shit with my octatrack after 1 week use . This is the hardest elektron i have used give it a lot more time

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I doubt that :wink:

The OT effects are only passable, nothing exciting. I prefer to feed my OT samples that already have lush reverbs. From there you can just play with the amp env to shape it.

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Or, IF you have the cash to do it, keep the OT MK II (it’s a beauty) and sell the Digitakt and buy some type of an effects unit and pick up a Rytm MK I. Talk about a powerful combination there! Of course you’ve probably already thought about this as well. :grinning:

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Scenes and p-locks are great fun on the Octatrack! I am getting some crazy tunes that way. The FX especially lo fi and dark reverb are fantastic. Love the LFO creator that adds tons of flavor for FM style sounds as well.

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A huge pile of info in there - i’m still trying to parse it all - so thank you for the deep bit of info.

You noted in your post about the desire for drums and being able to do samples with them…
This (to another post) asked - why two samplers? Well, I love the Digitakt for it’s “Playability” - I feel that for some reason with it’s UI and setup it’s super fun to sequence drums with it… This was ONE of the reasons I looked at the OT so that I could do other stems and such with the OT and have the Digitakt by my drum machine.

As for the sequencer - I’ve enjoyed it deeply for some reason I get along well with that style of sequencing…

Overall thank you for the long and detailed post - plenty to think about in there.

Thanks,
Brett

Thank you for taking the time to respond - I appreciate it.
Brett

Thank you - I think that is part of my plan to try here for a bit along with an external set of gear I have as well to see how it all plays together… More to come for sure.

Thanks,
Brett

Yeah I’m with you dude. I’m also pairing my OT with an AH, it’s like they were made for each other.

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The OT is the one Elektron piece of gear that rewards you the more time you give it and patience and learn new things. The Machine Drum also is complex.

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The OT really rewards sample preparation and forethought. I think it’s one of the most important aspects that is often overlooked.

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if the OT does not suit your need, you should have a look at the gotharman little deformer 3. it is currently available for pre ordering, and will be available in sept.

it features 16 tracks (but with 8 notes polyphony), with 2 filters per track + 8 fx bus +2 master fx + an optional analog board that makes it possible to insert 2 analog filters. And you can add some extra audio and cv in/out…

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Thx for the info. Interesting piece of gear for a reasonable price.

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or deluge , very capable box…configurable , lots of storage … clever sequencer … decent price.

google it / youtube …

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I’ve had the Digitakt for ages, and also been considering moving up to the OTmkII. In my opinion, FX are Elektron’s biggest weakness. I’ve owned several of their boxes and hate all the reverbs, even on the Digitakt, they are metallic and lacking diffusion and modulation I think, the delays are basic but decent enough.

I’m wondering though, if you used the Cue with external FX, is there any way to have 2 different tracks going to 2 different external FX? Though thinking about it, I’d probably only use a good reverb.

If the tracks are mono (panned hard L R), yes.

Not optimal.

I’m fine with ot’s fx.
they all sound proper to me. don’t forget that they don’t freeze/click/glitch when you p-lock them a lot.
i have a lot of outboard fx and can say that ot’s fx color is a good addition to tonal pallete i already have. yeah they are all really dull/neutral/insipid.
and i don’t like strymon’s tone for example, i find it too obtrusive.

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A bit more than a year, and I’ve owned mine since day one. Saying that, I feel I understood it fairly well after a couple of months. But you also notice its limitations very quickly

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To be a total pedant, the DT was publicly available at the tail end of May 2017. I bought one 2 June and had it returned on 23 Aug with dodgy triggers :frowning:

Anyway, it def is comparatively easier to learn that the OT that’s for sure.

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After toying around with my recently reacquired OT- I still say that both have their distinct purposes.

The DTis more easily capable of taking an audio file and turning it into an instrument. The extended melodic range linked to the play rate- it seems well suited for taking short one shots and putting more intricate melodies to them- the addition of OB will be even more conducive for this. While the OT CAN do this(though- speeding up an audio file is wildly inconvenient) its much more of a workaround- get those other octaves by adjusting the rate- it’s borderline a hassle, while the DT just does it automatically per its methodology.

The DT has SOME sample mangling abilities- the OT is greater(and after putting some effort into familiarizing it’s live sampling capabilities) it’s equally as fast as the DT for taking what you feed into it and warping it around- but, again, the DT is more for warping one-shots into something interesting while the OT is greater for warping longer audio files. OT plays the time as an instrument, while DT is more musically straightforward.

Even the performance capabilities of each are perfectly aligned with their methodology.

Both are great, both combined equally distribute the massive capabilities of sampling in musicality and atmosphere

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