Considering an octatrack

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#41

I agree with Peter in that it makes sense if your planning on buying an A4 and Rytm anyway, might as well get them first and see how you get along. The rytm may be totally suitable for your one shots, the OT would be extreme overkill for this function but would open up all sorts of other possibilities, which could be a blessing or a distraction. Any one box and especially two is powerful enough to make tracks, the trinity is outrageous, but certainly not required.

The learning curve of the OT is different for each user depending on how techy/scientific their mind is, and their past experience with gear. Some find the OT not difficult, and some find it extremely difficult. The two are not mutually exclusive. For example, someone with a studio full of midi gear, sequencers, and a few Elektrons for the past ten years is going to find the OT worlds easier right off the bat than say a not so tech savvy traditional musician with no hardware gear experience wanting an advanced looper. Iā€™ve been reading the forum for years and am also basing this on hundreds of accounts. Iā€™ve seen it takes days for folks to figure out how to use a main advertised feature, and I have even seen members in doubt convinced by the forum that the OT is not difficult, only to spend a ton of money and end up pulling their hair out. On the other side Iā€™ve seen folks comment on how it was much easier than expected and donā€™t understand why itā€™s difficult for others, but no matter how easy it is for them does not change how difficult it is for someā€¦ In the end many keep the OT and absolutely love it, and many sellā€¦

The OT with its many possibilities and configurations also requires more of an in depth understanding of how it operates on a subtle level to be able to utilize it to its potential and also get around tricky road blocks that can come up in certain use cases. This doesnā€™t really happen on the A4/AR so much as they are more streamlined and focused in use, they do what they do, and you donā€™t get stuck in strange corners which can happen in the OT, but these strange corners to explore can also be an OT advantageā€¦

The A4 + AR is an extremely capable combo, and plenty to chew on for a bit. I suggest downloading the OT manual and giving it a read to help determine if it seems difficult or not for youā€¦
I definitely would not buy an OT just for one shots, but it is an amazing addition to any rig if your up to use it to its potential. Iā€™d say see if rytm is good enough and learn it and A4 until DT is released, then decide if your good with rytm and if not choose between DT, OT, or other companies solutionsā€¦

Whichever way you take it looks like good times ahead!

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#42

The King was a reference to MachineDrum, :wink:

Elektron tried to work with Hendrix but he was burning any gear.
They finally chose Cenk, much more respectful of Elektron Machines.

JimiOCTA.jpg1457Ɨ1952 356 KB

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#43

Haha!
Bye the way thanks for my new IPad backgrounds! :monkey_face:

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#44

Thanks for the insight.

Although it wonā€™t be for a little while Iā€™m leaning toward the full scale jump into the elektron pool with the trinity.

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#45

This is very good advice and analysis ā€¦ there is one thing I would add, because it has been repeated often and is very true.

There is an ā€œElektron-Wayā€ to those boxes, which is different, compared to many other gear.

I started with the OT, maybe two years ago, but had embraced this concept from day one. People had advice that Elektron gear shouldnā€™t be forced to follow my ideas of workflow, but that I better should be open minded and learn the OT ā€œas isā€ and continue from there. I tried it and it worked for me.

IMO many complaints about Elektron gear seem to have their roots in trying things against the Elektron-Way :wink: And ā€¦ because of the complexity of the OT, it hurts and frustrates most, if we are working against its concepts.

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#46

Yeah, totally agree. The Elektron workflow can seem odd at first but makes lots of sense once you learn it and go with it. It does often seem that users get frustrated because they are just approaching the gear from the wrong way to achieve something, but if you flip it to the Elektron way the goal can be achieved easier with a different approach, and after awhile that approach sinks in and makes more and more sense as you goā€¦
I must say to @EnricoPolazzo and add to what I said above that I absolutely love the OT and am blown away with the things it can do. In a way I see it as multiplying the potential of the other boxes because of the way you can sample them and then free up their tracks again, and the stuff you can do with the sampled material is just ridiculous to mix back in with the other boxes, plus midi control, tons of fx, etcā€¦
I guess I just err on the side of caution whether to recommend one or not from the issues Iā€™ve seen others have with it, but really itā€™s my favorite piece of gear and highly recommend it if your up for it. If you put in the time to learn the octopuses ways, it will reward you with absolutely delicious deep sea audio treats!
:atom:

#47

That is one of the funniest pictures I have ever seen. I actually LOLā€™ed.

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#48

For sure if you only saw Octatrack pictures in your life. :smile:

#49

I will say the second time around has been a battle. I sold my first OT because I desperately needed money but regretted it immediately. A year and a half later Iā€™ve managed to get a used OT but the seller was less than honest. It has shown me the low battery message once already and has a failing encoder. Really frustrated but not with the Elektron workflow. Just be cautious if buying a used ā€œmintā€ OT.

#50

positive some deoxit would help the encoder unless someone decided to rave on the knobā€¦ battery is supposed to be user replaceable too.

#51

So where could I buy that? Or just google deoxit I guess. Take off encoder or just spray under it?

#52

Be careful with Deoxit. It is designed for cleaning metal on metal contacts only. Typical pots are metal on carbon, metal on plastic, or other combinations.

Using Deoxit in these situations can lead to making things worse. Look for another product from the same company (Caig) called FaderLube that is designed to be safe on plastic/carbon type controls.

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#53

Thank you!

#54

Depends, the stuff I have is Deoxit for metal/plastic. Works a charm on any scratchy faders and pots I have in my studio. Even works for metal/metal conductivity on my guitar switches. Just pop off the knob and give 'er a lil squirt, no need to get into the guts of it.

Its a little expensive for one use, so best advice, bring it into a guitar shop that does repairs (call first), most will be willing to give it a quick shot for ya.

#55

Iā€™ve been trying to figure out the color sceme I wanted to go with for my OT as I used neon puff paint to highlight the labelā€™s on my DT to be able to see them under a black light at night and am going to do the same to my OT.

And the ā€˜mystery machineā€™ ah, yes! Thatā€™s it! Iā€™ve got some blue and purple as well but I think Iā€™ll use the red and green to go around the outter most control labels and the blue and purple for the more center control labels. Itā€™s going to look good!

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#56

A misery machine! :content:
Paint it black!

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#57

I could do that eventually, then it would match with the DT. But Iā€™m not going to go through all of that for now. Itā€™s pretty painstaking just covering the screen print lettering and keeping it neat.

#58

Is there a image for screen printing the OT mki online somewhere? Iā€™m in a printing neighborhood in Mexico for another month. if I had the right dimensions, I guess I could paint the top panel any color and the screen print the lettering on there easy.

#60

Call me Ishmal.
Call me Ahab.
The Octatrack Mkii maybe grey, but itā€™s my white whale. Not to kill it, but you know, ā€˜kill it!ā€™