Buying an used Octatrack - what to look for

Hey guys,

newbie here, just got a brand new A4 and found an used Octatrack, any idea what issues in particular I should look for?

I have in mind: traces of liquid, trying out all the button to see they work and so on.

Any input is highly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Tzuba

I bought a used OT with 2 major problems and fixing them has meant I ended up paying close to new OT for a used OT. They are…

  1. Bent CF reader pin. Have a look inside the card slot to check if any pins are bent or missing. My machine still worked with the card it came with even though one pin was bent but not new cards. So it’s best to check even if you’ve seen it working. This is not covered by warranty and is expensive to fix with Elektron as they don’t repair or replace the reader, but rather replace an entire board.

  2. Headphone crackle/drop out. This is a common problem where one side of the headphone output crackles, becomes quiet, or disappears completely. This is harder to check for as it comes and goes seemingly at random. You can try the OT with headphones for a few minutes but obviously that’s no guarantee. This is covered by warranty and a Elektron will fix it for free, as long as it’s within the 3 year warranty. Without the warranty this may be expensive to fix because, again, Elektron will often replace the whole board not just the output jack.

With all that in mind the best thing to look out for is warranty. Elektron honour warranties from secondhand units. They may want to see a receipt so if the seller has this, then that’s a bonus. Hope that helps, and doesn’t put you of your OT.

I picked up a second hand one, that luckily the seller refunded, which would reboot if you picked it up and moved it.

Make sure the crossfader is tracking properly! Its a fairly common issue for the crossfader to jump around a bit. Sometimes it can be fixed easily by compressed air to clean the sensor of dust but in my case unfortunately that doesn’t seem to work.

Wow, I am starting to love this community.

So best case scenario, it has at least 1month left of warranty, just so I can be on the safe-side.

The guy is advertising it for 650E so that is what made me think, why so cheap?

Will get to see it tomorrow, but most likely, if it has no warranty, it will be a no go for me.

@Smais: Just out of curiosity, how much was it to replace the whole board?

Thanks

My OT is currently in Sweeden having the headphone problem fixed for free, as it had warranty. So I just had pay shipping £60. When it returns I am sending it to 3rd party repair service who can fix it for about £50 (by actually fixing it, not just replacing the board), plus shipping maybe £20. The OT cost me £750, plus £130, £880. So actually I guess I will end up spending a little less than a new one, which I found for £950. However there’s only 1 month warranty left, and I haven’t had my machine for about month and there’s still more repairs to do, so not really worth the £70 saving. People have said Elektron wanted $350 in the US for the repair, so probably about €300 for the new board but that’s a guess.

Honestly for €650, if it’s in good condition that’s probably worth it even without warranty. I had warranty and still had to spend.

Always run a test mode. Power up + Function : Test Mode - pg140 in the manual

Cf Card Pins, as stated, should be checked. A visual inspection will do. Just make sure none are bent.

Everything else previously mentioned.

This is probably the “power cord does not go all the way into the socket” problem. I sent mine in 2 or 3 times for this issue and it still does not go all the way in and still is prone to rebooting but it is better than before.

Don’t know if anyone else here has experienced this but I find the encoders on the OT are nowhere near as resilient as other boxes.
Check they don’t wobble too much & they track correctly.
Had mine serviced under warranty b’cos values jumped around.
Again this is covered under warranty & Elektron were quick to sort it.

Set up a proper contract. Agree in writing on the state the OT should be in and define a consequence if the seller does not live up to that standard.

I had mine bought new (actually ex-demo unit) but with full warrranty and i had encoder-A that if turned slowly it was ok, but if moved fast (acceleration) it wouldn’t behave correctly, actually sometimes, going in the opposite direction.
So…make different-speed encoders (all!!) movement tests.
Plus the crossfader: lock the two Scenes to known sounding states and check if the extreme positions (full left/full right) give you expected results.

Hi guys,

thanks a lot for all the info. The seller sold it even before I got there but, I think, after reading everything you’ve told me, buying a used Octatrack doesn’t worth the effort, unless you are super lucky.

I will probably put money aside and get it new from a shop here in Berlin, so they can deal with it in case it doesn’t work or anything like that.

Many thanks again :slight_smile: