I am considering the ‘elektron dark trinity’ but am not quite sold on the octatrack
From what I have read there is a steep learning curve on this machine
I would be primarily using one shots loaded on compact flash and no sampling from vinyl record in etc. So very little to no slicing time stretching etc…
Would the octatrack be worth having or can these tasks be handled by the RYTM
sounds like the digitakt is what you want
Thanks for the suggestion yeah that might work better and also the overbridge function with digitakt is a big plus
rytm is very capable of what you want to achieve, but the sample management on it is a little cumbersome. digitakt seems more geared towards your needs and cheaper. the new MPC’s might be worthy to consider as well.
octatrack is more geared towards mangling and cool when you use the slices and stretch mangling.
As of right now I’m planning on purchasing the RYTM and A4 and potentially a Sampler to go along with
Would owning the RYTM make buying a digitakt redundant?
I think that owning both digitakt and rytm would make sense if you needed to use the midi channels on the digitakt
I get the sense from this forum that the Octatrack is an all or nothing machine… I’d wait until the Digitakt is out and about and there are more in depth reviews out there (especially on the midi). However, if samples (mono, not stereo samples) are your gig and you’re into what Elektron does then the Digitakt is a fair offering. I purchased one on preorder and it will be a companion to my MachineDrum. The MD (non UW) doesn’t have the updated sequencer or sampling so the Digitakt will compliment it well. I’d also hold off on the RYTM until the Digitakt is out unless analog synthesis is really important… The A4 can also do drums, which could be samples into either the Digitakt or Octatrack
I feel like a broken record saying this these days but i don’t think the Octatrack has a tough learning curve at all. You should read the manual, sure. But it’s not difficult to learn the device.
Breaking down the OTs functions into chunks, I’d agree.
But, I think most have at least at some point fallen guilty of trying to do to much with an OT at once. Ran before they could walk. That’s when the frustrations kick in. Or if you’re looking to do one particular thing you haven’t learned yet it’s easy to end up confused.
The basics aren’t tough to grasp but getting on top of it all is a challenge! Well, for me it was!
I agree. I never felt that it’s so difficult. It will take years or forever to master everything, but to get things going and have a lot of fun with it, it won’t take too long and it’s not that complicated as it’s reputation pretends
I agree, nothing difficult about it.
I agree. 
Can’t say it’s easy, if you’re used to other grooveboxes or Mpcs. I needed 2 or 3 weeks to realise it was better than in my dreams. 
I needed to master everything, after 2 years I’m not too far from it.
That sounds inspiring mate 
I should spend more time with it
I am yet another one thinking that the learning curve of the OT is greatly exaggerated. The use you describe will be very easy to figure out how to do. The more confusing parts of the OT are the different ways of how to sample.
I’d say go for the OT if you think you eventually might want to explore more advanced use-cases than just playing back samples. It is an amazingly versatile machine that seems to be an endless source for fresh ideas and sounds.
BUT, even though I use mine a lot and know it well, I still suddenly get confused and have “WTF?!” moments where something isn’t behaving as I expected. So all those possibilities and options might get in your way if all you want is a simple, no-nonsense sample playback machine.
Here is a picture of the learning curve on the Octatrack, i would still go for it and give it a try.
If it works for you PERFECT, if not just sell the Octatrack again.
Given the open nature of the machine, it’s very easy to get caught up in trying to do too many things at once, before you have a conceptual understanding of what it can do, and therefore how you can best fit it to your flow.
It just takes a bit of time. Fortunately, there’s a number of excellent videos on YouTube which accelerate the learning process, as well as Merlin’s excellent written document on the nature of the beast.
One thing I’ve found is that you can always find new ways of doing things, and that leads to unexpected, magic results. That is the genius of this device, it truly is a mystery machine.
Yes it was inspired by Scooby-doo !
It can be a misery machine sometimes.
hehe yes. I have also experienced those “what the hell…” moments. Luckily, few and far between.
Mystery > Misery
My Octatrack photo story : 
Birth
