I love my Octatrack. It’s one of the few devices I have that I just cannot bring myself to part with. I also hate it at times. I don’t need to go into details. There have been thousands of posts on here and the old forum.
This letter is a response to the years of feedback, bug reporting and feature suggestions that myself and countless other die-hard Octatrack fans have sent your way.
In return for all of the frustration, the ‘beta thing’, but also the loyalty and the flag-waving and given that the Octatrack is getting a bit old now, plus the recent speculation surrounding the 1.25F OS release (the idea that the code might be in fresh hands) I ask, on behalf of myself and other Octatrack users:
Could someone at Elektron take a little time out to give us an idea of your vision for the future of the Octatrack? What’s the road ahead look like in terms of the countless feature requests? Do you have your own set of new features (new machines, new FX, new routing possibilities)? Is there a plan? Do you consider it ‘done’ and are only able to assign maintenance resources to it from now on?
I know you don’t contractually owe it to customers to release this kind of information and you might deem it confidential or as strategically secret but I would really like to know so that I can reconcile my personal expectation from the Octatrack against what realistically can and will happen with it in the future. It forms the core of my live setup and there are certain issues with it that I’ve (as have others) persevered with in the hope that one day they may get addressed and my live experience with it will be that much better. I’m sure I don’t speak alone.
I don’t think this approach will get you what you’re after, for a number of reasons, but let’s just leave it at " a business won’t lay out promises from which it can only be judged harshly thereafter - look at the overbridge saga - then factor in that they are (i’m fairly sure) a company with shareholders, like it or not, in the cold hard world of business, treat’s probably the most prudent thing" - roadmaps fit into that whole thing too, so maybe read other press - but i’d imagine that sprucing up an item is less important than delivering a new one - so i can’t see that the financial news will help there.
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Sadly, the discontent is mostly grown here amongst all the speculation, realistic or otherwise (especially in relation to new devs conspiracy theory nonsense) - so to answer your final point, you’d best make peace with what you have and consider anything beyond that a bonus - otherwise you’re doomed to disappointment - the ‘expectation is a prison’ aphorism springs to mind
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i too find some aspects to be frustrating, but i’d be 100% happy if all real gremlins could be addressed and the unit was pretty much the best it can be for its given feature set and then bug-squashed if necessary
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another point relates to the idea that there is a world of feedback in these here pages for them to fix all our needs already - tbh, i suspect that if someone stopped what they were doing and tried to make sense of the mostly half-baked feedback on here, they’d have a full time job just working through it - let’s not forget, this is just a discussion forum, it’s not the support pages
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so, to make things work out as we would all like, i think it’s incumbent on the user-community to make a rock-solid case as to why something needs to be fixed or differs from the advertised or promised spec - we’d have to present an issue on a thread, debunk it or prove it, and if proven conclusively, provide the repeatable evidence directly to support in the form of a bug/complaint essentially and by sharing an unambiguous issue with the world, we may(should) get their attention- i.e., we have to make this work
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so you allude to issues in your second paragraph and imply these have been overlooked - start there, present these here in a more rigorous way so they can be submitted to support/devs as a strong evidence based and irrefutable case - I think this is a more compelling way to get a response, particularly if the issues are well documented on youtube/here etc
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all that’s easy to say however, one forum member started such an endeavour before he left following a tonne of abuse and i promised myself i’d do something similar to get to the bottom of the perception that pickup machines are, let’s say ‘awkward’ - there are definitely bugs, it’s just that it takes time and effort to find a repeatable simple way to illustrate some of them - most of the anecdotal complaints about them are useless to a developer and there’s no point to only posting that info here
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dreaming of new this and extra that is something we all suffer from, sadly most of it is naive or half-baked and therefore destined to be fuel to the expectation and general discontentment fire
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say e.g. we all agreed a granulating machine would be amazing (frequently asked for) and we all agreed that there needed to be a (let’s just say, i’ve seen this one too) a user option to ensure that stop had to be held in for a second or whatever to take effect (for clumsy fingers in dimly lit gigs)
… well, the way i see it, there’s next to no chance of the former and there’s high prospects of something as ‘doable’ as the latter, but ONLY if we act like a union about it, dropping ideas onto a forum wish list thread is a waste of time imho (and thus why i don’t bother)
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anyway, i think the best way to achieve any realistic aim is for the users (the ones with a vested interest) to work together to present a cohesive & irresistible case for something that is …
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i)demonstrably not as advertised
ii)buggy
iii)essential enhancement for minimal dev-time that prolonged the sales life and bolstered the good reputation of the device
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i also think what i’ve said is hopelessly optimistic, but it’s more likely to result in something we are all after
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so basically, this is an open letter to the elektronauts -if you want progress, the very minimum we need to do is box clever, and even then, it may not result in anything - it needs a team effort and this in turn helps Elektron sort the wheat from the chaff on here were they inclined to check in from time to time, which i strongly doubt, bar a few exceptions where the contributions are mostly informal
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that’s my pennies worth fwiw - not having a go at neil btw, but i’ll eat my hat if Elektron come back and address all your points
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If anyone wants to start a proper ‘Debunk This Bug’ thread for a given issue, i’ll do my bit to substantiate it / discuss it / disprove it / shed light on it and maybe if enough users do this we can hone in on the real issues that have been left unaddressed and maybe rank them - and then collectively send that compelling report(thread-link) to support to see what happens, patiently though! - if that happened and Elektron then did an Arturia on us I’d be joining the ranks of the dismayed too - the best we can hope for is probably an informal commitment to try to address (or even explain) some things, not a date or a promise to do so
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Wouldn’t a kind of wiki be the right format for such bugs/feature exposition ?
I mean, with a hidden part for discussion and debates, and a part for the plain clear specs, editable by anyone ?
I wish I had the time and patience to get involved in an endeavour as you describe. In the past I have contributed bug reports, feature requests and helped others with their issues when quirks of the OS are at fault. I have no desire to repeat that process. As someone who bought one of the very first units I consider myself a seasoned user and I don’t need to have my issues vetted or validated. No disrespect to your suggestion though; I think it’s quite valid and agree with your observation that the forum noise level regarding the Octatrack is high.
I’m as capable as others at reading between the lines and speculating that there’ll be an Octatrack 2 (though not likely to be marketed as that seeing as historically that’s not been Elektron’s strategy). Again, I don’t expect any confirmation or denial of that; no technology developer would make that kind of information public and it’s understandable.
I’m not so much interested in hearing promises and holding Elektron to task over those promises as I am just to hear from someone who can tell us how they see the Octatrack’s future.
My enquiry is merely as I described: is there still an active development roadmap for the Octatrack or is there not?
I feel the same and would love an indication of how much/little time that development will continue for on OT. But i don’t think we’ll see any kind of hints from elektron.
As a recent OT purchaser I scanned this forum and others prior to purchase. If it had been stated that it was at the end of the road I think I would have thought VERY hard about picking one up. Natural cynical tendencies made me Paranoid OT 2 would come out the month after I bought it anyway, such an old product etc. And if it had been confirmed development was at an end then I’d have probably not picked one up and waited for whatever elektron make next or for OT prices to drop.
So I guess from Elektron’s silence the educated guess would be that OT is near it’s end point now, as I can’t see what harm it would do for elektron to confirm OT was very much still in development if that was true. In fact if that was the case then making that public knowledge would be obvious good business sense, people would be more confident in buying a dated product etc.
So to me it doesn’t feel very hopefully we’ll get a lot more happening with OT now. That’s fine. It’s an amazing box and I have tons of it yet to explore fully. But if there’s a big price drop I’m gonna be feeling pretty sick next year when I pay the finance off! Always the way tho
Have you tried to contact Elektron directly about your question? Seems to me it’s the way they prefer to be communicated to. IIRC even Simon has stated that the peeps “who matter” never visit this board? Just a thought…
This board is just for us users to blow off steam and post links
Eloquently put Neil.
I’d love an answer but as Avontronica says I doubt we’ll get it.
Re development I don’t think they have the resources available, (i.e.man hours - financial return = loss) Overbridge is proving difficult/costly. As much as (I believe), they’d like to develop the Octatrack I think it’s off the radar, for the time being anyway.
Now if someone from Elektron pops up & proves me wrong I’ll happily eat humble pie
I’m just trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with the OT. Doesn’t it work as advertised or am I missing something? Maybe since I’m a newer user, I haven’t come across said bugs, deficiencies…
Not being sarcastic. I’m really curious as to what the problem is.
It depends how you use it. For a lot of people it’s fine, for others it’s fine for some of the time.
There are loads of posts on here & the old forum.
Pick up machines are the big one for me. I mean, I just want a non destructive looper that syncs to clock, how hard is that?
Well clearly it’s pretty hard for the OT!
Maybe (another) definitive list is in order. Maybe that’s a waste of time…
Well, if it depends on how you use it, then perhaps putting forth the argument that the Octatrack is unfinished is not the best way to get Elektron’s attention. Even a polite slap is still a slap. You’re not going to get their attention if you claim the Octatrack is unfinished, measured by your own preference on what it should be.
For what it sets out to be, it is finished.
For what it could be from this point and onward, only Elektron knows.
From my years in development, my educated guess is you won’t see anything beyond maintenance anymore.
If anything, Elektron has a new sampler up their sleeve, one which completes the Octatrack or presents the start of a different lineup. Any direct sequel to the instrument is likely two years away or more.
Their hybrid technology of analog engines and samples is interesting. Whatever they’re up to in terms of new instruments for sampling, I think it’s something along those lines.
No need for a list. I’m just curious. Your example is exactly what I was talking about as far as being new…I haven’t tried pickup machines because it seems overly complicated…now I see what you mean.
It depends how you use it. For a lot of people it’s fine, for others it’s fine for some of the time.
There are loads of posts on here & the old forum.
Pick up machines are the big one for me. I mean, I just want a non destructive looper that syncs to clock, how hard is that?
Well clearly it’s pretty hard for the OT!
Maybe (another) definitive list is in order. Maybe that’s a waste of time…[/quote]
Yep me too re: pickup machines. I got rid of mine but despite the pain it gave me, I still miss it and watch anxiously for news of some kind of replacement. The OT can do amazing things - things no other gear can. Unfortunately, it’s also like a crazed dog, liable to bite you, lick you or trash the house, you can never be totally sure.
You see. Things like this. Real user problems. Where do we stand on these?
I’ll throw another one in (though I said I wouldn’t): move the Track Mute to pre-fx so the audio doesn’t completely cut off when you mute a track. Even better, add a Customisation parameter to decide if you want mute pre or post fx.
It’s really not that old tbh and you’re more likely to see an updated MnM or MD, but seeing as they now have the A4 and rytm I’d dare say that there’s no rush to replace those older machines, even though they are digi vs analogue, I would, however, think that is where resource would go before replacing the OT. There’s simply nothing that’s like it out there so why make a mk2? Makes no sense.
take a look at some of the better instruments of time, they weren’t replaced inside a decade, this is one of the better creative weapons of this millennia
Elektron giving out their roadmap? No chance. They might as well help the opposition get their customer base. I’d love to know as much as the next user if there will be new engines/machines whatever for us to use but after 25 years in music tech I’m used to not knowing and stopped expecting companies to tell me a looooong time ago.
Going back to scenes anyway, I’m deep into it right now
