Ezbot ive never watched, but max Marco is brilliant.
I have both and I use the digitakt a lot less. Whats nice tho is that you can use the octatrack for Song mode. They do compliment each other pretty well, altho when compared the digitakt doesnt really offer much except ease of use.
Happy Sunday all. I’m going to keep this endless conversation alive with a few questions as well. I promise I had a good dig around the forum first and watched TONS of Youtube videos as well, I’m not just being lazy!
I’ve recently got my Digitone about a month ago and I’m enjoying making music (well, noisy techno loops) more than I have for years so I feel “vindicated” that the cost (vs software) is worth it. I’m now debating adding a second box and I’m stuck on the usual OT vs DT thing as well. I think I can live without Overbridge as for me it’s a nice bonus but I’m trying to avoid getting tethered back to the computer. To be more specific, I think I’d be perfectly happy to just record a single stereo output either by getting a soundcard (I don’t believe OT has any USB audio capability) or by feeding the OT through the Digitone and doing it that way.
Long story short - if I wanted to get started by “just” using the OT very much like a Digitakt and using drum one-shots etc, is the workflow not as bad as people suggest?! I tried reading the OT manual a bit yesterday and I’m happy to admit that I started t get lost quickly around the project/pattern/set/whatever architecture. If I’ve got thousands of drum one-shots in nested folders on my laptop and I drop the whole thing onto the CF card is it easy for me to start browsing those drums, loading them into tracks, do sample/parameter locks etc on multiple tracks to use the OT as a one-shot drum machine like a DT? I’m asking because this seems like it would be a good place to start and to help prevent the OT brain overload that everyone seems to suffer from. If I can do that and get enjoyment from it then I can work my way up from there.
I really love the idea of the live looping to allow me to take more simple patterns and songs and turn them into more experimental and interesting performances but I appreciate that will take some learning time. I can live with that if I can also get started easily and get some immediate fun as well. I’m not the most patient person though, and I need to be honest with myself.
I have to say that I’d probably feel annoyed if they released a new OT (with Overbridge and all that jazz) soon after I got a MK2 but all the stuff I read here seems to suggest that it’s VERY unlikely. A new device perhaps, but that’s a different story.
The other side of this is, of course, that I just make the most of my MS+DN setup and be patient. I reckon we’re about due a new Elektron machine in the Digi range but that’s pure speculation based on past release schedule. Probably just wishful thinking give the 2020 that we’ve all had.
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If you are sure to use one shots only, in a simpler manner, I’d think twice about Digitakt…
USB storage only. You can record up to 8m28s internally. Better quality, simpler. The 8 recorders can be used at the same time. 8x1m04s recordings max.
You just have to understand Slots / Parts concepts for sample assignments.
A Set is simply a folder! Nothing to be afraid of, set once.
You can make sample chains with 64 slices for drums kits. It saves slots!
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One thing which Octatrack really does well is in the effects department. I love the fact that there is no send effect in sight (I mean that they’re individual per track and not global like on the rest of Elektron devices)
It really makes the octatrack stand out in the world of samplers, the only sampler which has a better FX architecture imo is the new MPC line which has some really great FX.
Sure they are a bit dated, but I feel like they serve a great role for shaping sound. And if you want a better reverb, by a pedal and use that as a send effect via the cue output
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I’m a simple man I see techno I see OT.
Seriously the OT is techno or at least for me it’s what it does best.
I mainly use for drums and sequencing synths.
Of course I had the same question DT vs OT.
I saw some videos and the DT felt like a copy of the OT from another company. Then I saw the OT mk1 and it was love! I know I know we shouldn’t get stuff based on aesthetic but that box ooks so sexy 
Anyway I found DT limitations stupid instead I found OT limitations understandable.
I didn’t have much problem using the OT in the beginning. I read the entire manual, watch some videos and I was able to do what I wanted. Honestly I found the OT really intuitive I don’t know what people find so difficult. Maybe I’m used with modular where having a general idea of what you’re doing in that mess is a lot helpful lol.
Also don’t feel you have to use every feature of the OT. It can do many things and it can be set up differently every time and that’s probably the main reason why I invested my money in it: today is your drum machine, tomorrow your mixer, in few years your looper or whatever. I think I will always found a purpose in my studio for the OT.
I know it’s hard to believe but that crossfader is everything. Seriously man I want that crossfader on every box.
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For me DT comes from AR, without its analog parts of course. Very similar structure. The fact that ARMKII inherited sampling ability after DT seems to prove it.
Yep. In my car too.
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Same M I found the OT easier than the DT - I just never got on with the DT - probably because I really wanted an OT but bought the DT as it was so much cheaper, but bought an OT anyway and absolutely love it!
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Agree with this. The Analog Rytm is a beast. The Distortion on it is insane, you can get insane noise/feedback if u push everything to the limits - heaps of fun. Delay, Overdrive, Reverb, Compression and the Distortion all sound fantastic. It’s fast, and sounds great.
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Interesting to hear! For the same purpose ok. But imho it takes much longer to know everything about OT. My goal with any musical gear. Harder for me to find a definitive workflow with all the possibilities.
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Yes - longer to get to know all the functions (I am way way off that !!) but I found it easier to use than the Digitakt for the sort of things I used the Digitakt for…
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shut up! I don’t have money! T_T
That’s where I believe the OT is amazing at: adaptive workflow. Straight forward device are nice but they don’t change, something that we do. The OT grow as you grow.
Other personal hardware things I don’t like about modern Elektron box:
The parameter page buttons are multifunctional. IMO it make no sense that Func/Double tap+Filter send you to the Delay page instead of an alternative page of the Filter. I think double tap on the Filter page and have things related to the Filter make much more sense.
I don’t like that the step sequencer is also track selection and mute. It makes much more sense that your 16 steps play in different way your tracks and you have dedicated buttons to select/mute tracks. On the OT it’s easier to visually separate what’s going on and I found extremely annoying the Kick, Snare, etc names on the DT.
I just wish the OT let you invert the func+track behaviour so I could mute on the fly and do func+track to select a track but still better than the DT.
I don’t like the backlit buttons so in this case I include also the OT mk2. A light is used to show you there’s something there as soon you put your finger on it lose its purpose. A bit like Ableton Push having the encoders on top of the screen make the screen useless when you adjust parameters.
I only understand backlit pads because they’re just a colour and your fingers won’t cover the entire pad so they still do what they suppose to. Also I found standard LED much more clear than backlit buttons.
I prefer the position of the OT Yes button because it allow to make Func+Yes combo(which you’ll use a lot) with one hand instead of two or stretch crazily one.
I don’t know about the AR but I prefer having the ability to record without going into a recording page. Just a buttons combo, done! While you do other stuff. It makes you want sample in it, there are input for a reason
List of what I like about modern Elektron box:
The track level is on the left side of the screen and not with the parameters encoders.
MS and DN and wait it out maybe ,but Ot over DT fof me because 3 lfos instead of 1 per ,crossfade, song mode and Stereo samples! Plus the live sampling later and mixer capabilities.
The OT is ace at drum machine and a great place to start - dumping samples onto card and assigning them is easy like you wanted.
Oh btw I am one of those that think the OT is very logic in layout.
If they redesign a mk 3 it’ll be a new thing, plus you said USB audio ain’t important and that will be the main reason for them making a mk 3.
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One thing with the Digitakt is if you know you always want a filter and overdrive on each track I would start to more heavily lean towards DT. That said OT does have all sorts of other advantages, like acting as a mixer if needed in a small set up, and just generally helping keep a set up small as it acts as a multi tool. I will say there is something to having a few more small standalone units for a minimal set up also. Like I’m not sure if I could give up having a little dedicated DJ mixer in my set up anymore, it’s just nicer to have a standalone mixer IMO.
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Which is a lot. If I want to make a bunch of patterns, I feel much more at ease on the digitakt. The streamlined workflow is ideal for sketching.
It’s really straightforward to sample the DN on the OT and further slice, resequence, layer, etc. The OT works well for me as the arranger, and the DN (and the DT) is great as the bank of clips I want to launch.
Eventually learning to use the arranger mode has also been really fun, and has eliminated some of my GAS for a polyend tracker.
There is still a learning curve, but it definitely started to enjoy my OT a lot more when I focused on on-shot slices and treating it like a digitakt. The difference in how it feels is because of parts and scenes on the OT, but the sequencing itself is almost identical to the digi boxes.
This is what prevents me from getting a deluge, mpc live, or whatever. You know that when elektron eventually try to top the OT it is gonna be so hard to resist. Until then the OT will keep me busy, there is still lots to learn.
You essential do the same if not faster with the OT.
If you use parts and scenes otherwise it’s like a DT.
The fact you have a Ferrari doesn’t mean you should be at max speed all the time. It can but you don’t have to.
OT’s filter has an overdrive parameter, better than DT’s overdrive imho. And OT’s filter is more versatile, it can combine hipass, bandpass, lowpass, dual resonance…
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I prefer the sound of the OT filter. OT also has Parameters EQ, DJ EQ and Comb Filter.
The OT can also run 2 filter in series, actually 8 of them and by using the CUE internally 16!
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