Best Elektron devices combo to get started with for me?

Isn’t it the case for everybody, except Loopop?

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Ok, none of you said it so I have to do it:
go for 2 OTs, arm yourself with patience and you’ll be greatly rewarded :totes:

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a newbie question: if you have the Octatrack, do you also need a separate mixer (assuming multiple electron boxes) ? or do all the boxes just go in the Octatrack directly? I’m trying to think future-oriented here.

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2 stereo inputs for OT.

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You have 2 stereo inputs on the octatrack so if you have more then two other boxes you definitely need a mixer

I would buy I mixer and use the aux sends to feed the inputs off the octatrack :wink:

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2 aux or a bus / group is even better imho.
Mackie with alt 3/4 are apparently practical.

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ahh you’re right, sorry! another dumb question: is any analog mixer ok to use or does it need to have any special capabilities?

welcome!

i too come from guitar and ableton mangling

elektron can nicely be thought of as focused quite sharply on 3 areas - synths, drum machines, and sampling.

they also do FX boxes, and also DAW connectivity via the Overbridge suite.

however i wouldn’t even say it’s neccesary to integrate elektron machines into ones pre-existing setup or workflow - for me, i approached them on their own, and very much enjoyed exploring them away from my guitar practice

buying an electronic hardware instrument is an exciting prospect, can give you months or years of enjoyment and exploration, learning new approaches and concepts along the way.

i’d say keep your ear to the ground on what makes you curious - there’s a lot of depth to the elektron catalogue that could certainly take you any which way :slight_smile:

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Thanks so much, you are right! (I would press “Like” on your post but apparently I used it too much in the past hours , this forum is just chock full with awesome information)

I got the digitakt in the shopping cart but now I’m seriously considering the Octatrack as well because I’ve seen what can be done with it and my god that thing looks insanely capable! oh god, the GAS is strong.

oh by the way, since you are a guitarist as well - I got a looper pedal already, is it worth to still get an Octatrack if you already have looping capabilities?

what I find really interesting with Elektron stuff, is, because each box is SO DAMN CAPABLE and they overlap somewhat, you really need to think in terms of what exactly you are lacking just as @Unifono wrote above. It doesn’t make sense to just splurge (even if the temptation is high)

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if it is your first elektron box go for the Digitakt for sure

Learn your way around and if you like it you then can buy a octatrack

A have a MM for 20 years now and I stil have a love and hate relation with it because some things are quite complicated

And it seems that the octatrack is one of the most complicated boxes from electron so :wink:

I bought a Digitakt in march 2018 and immediate I fell in love with it
For me he is so intuitive and a lot easier to use then the MM

And another thing a like is that you can modulated parameters with the lfo off a midi track of external synths where on that synth that modulation destination isn’t a part of its architecture
Im pretty sure you can do that also with the octatrack heck I evencan do it with my 20 year old monomachine
but its so easy to realice it with the DT (and also DN)

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yes the octatrack can do a lot, a lot more then just loop :wink:

As Kenneth says above, the OT is more than a looper. In fact I’d say the ‘Pickup Machine’ - as the looper is referred to on the OT - isn’t even it’s main feature. On the face of it, the OT is a stereo groovebox sampler, with a bunch of FX built in. But it has a suite of timing, triggering, routing, mangling and cutting tools than can really take your sounds into places you didn’t intend. The OT might be a mouthful as a first box - it helps to know why you would want such a device in the first place, perhaps it might be best to try one of the other devices first so get a feel for the workflow, and can then flow upstream to the OT from there.

Me personally, I once owned both the OT and Push and found there was a bit of overlap between both, and they both didn’t necessarily compliment each other, but your mileage may vary. You might even find the OT gets in the way of your current workflow.

Like I said before, it’s kinda nice just to approach the instruments on their own terms and discover them for what they are, rather than trying to shoehorn them into something else you want them to be.

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Best hardware looper / fx sequenxer / mangler imho.
Just recorded this.

Hx Stomp + 8 strings + OT decay looping / random mangling + 3 drum sounds

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^ that’s really great

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Other approach : sequencing incoming guitar sound and make bass / drums with it. No samples, realtime processing.
Lapstick Travel guitar thru Analog Heat as preamp.
@xtornzvt, Digitakt simply can’t do these things.


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Anyone here have their digitakt synced with another sampler? I use my Digitakt in combination with my Korg Electribe ESX-1.

Well done!

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Wow! I’ve never really GASed for an OT, but these videos might be changing that. Any chance you could give a quick rundown of what you have going on here?

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so cool

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