Digitakt vs. Octatrack

I still think it’s a lot of money for a piece of gear. It also annoys me that they call it a ‘drum machine’. It’s a sample player - I really think the term ‘drum machine’ is misleading - as we’ve seen on this forum with the endless speculation about synthesis engines.

oh, i thought somewhere in the promotion there were indications of digital drum machine synthesis.

Nope. I still hold out some hope that this will magically appear down the line and be unlocked but doesn’t look likely.

the reason i could understand peeps wanting the Digitakt is if they are really into one-shot sequencing.

personally i gravitated towards using the OT as a one-shot sequencer, ignoring much of its capabilities and yet using them subtly here and there.

yes the digital synthesis machines might spontaneously appear, automagically. that would be cool. even so, i would buy it just for the nice oled screen :smiley:

Yeah seems like a kind of ‘Mmmm, this is pretty limited, let’s call it a drum sampler to justify it’ marketing thing… Then people can go ‘oh it’s actually pretty good as a regular sampler too’. Instead of, ‘damn, not much here for the money’…

Maybe that’s cynical tho and it has some great performance stuff that is focused on drum programming etc. Can’t really form an opinion until it’s released. But so far it seems pretty bare minimum in most areas. Sequencer is its saving grace. Not sure how long Elektron will be able to use that as a draw tho. Next couple of years id imagine most/all boxes like this will have p-locks and conditional trigs etc or equivalent/other stuff…

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My sentiments exactly.

Really, don’t look at how small is. Look at the interface.
Would you really take seriously a metal box with big toddler-proof pads and a touchscreen instead of a machine with the necessary controls and functions?
DT looks like a musical instrument as other Elektron devices,
MPC looks like an expensive toy for bourgeoisie wannabes in their teen IMHO :slight_smile:

Then I think really blasting music can came out just from every instruments, what I’m critizing is the marketing behind the developement of an instrument.

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Fair enough. To me it looks fairly well like a modern-day MPC. The DT, to me, looks like a speak and math.

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Never used an mpc before but heard the pads are real nice? Think the idea is prob for them to be enjoyable to ‘play’ like an instrument, not only to sequence? And the mpc is velocity sensitive. I know I prefer the feel of hitting in sequences on my Sp555 to doing the same on my OT. Just feels more expressive. Obvs YMMV tho.

MPC pads are usually fantastic. Considerably better than the AR’s (for example) and far easier to play then something like Push.

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I can’t help but think this is like comparing apples to oranges, but the orange fruits haven’t even set on the trees, as the bees are still pollinating. We know the fruit is coming, but can’t say how it will taste yet.

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I hear what you’re saying, but the thing’s about to ship - there really can’t be THAT much they haven’t revealed.

And there can’t be that much functionality they’re going to pack in that wouldn’t make it the same price as their other boxes.

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Yeah hard to get full picture before release. But can definitely say that people seem to be pretty expectant for ‘more’ on this. I mean when other companies release specs for a machine, people take it as word and judge it on that. But with the DT people have been more like, ‘nah, it’ll do more than that. It’s going to be amazing’. I’m not trying to be a dick, just seems strange. Did the AH end up being a lot more than was initially described? Genuine question, I can’t remember…

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No it didn’t. Other than it had to be heard to be believed. But in the case of the AH it was a genuine step into the unknown. This is, in my opinion, more of a marketing exercise - Elektron trying to get as close to that £500 sweet spot as they can to expand their customer base.

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The list of things we don’t know is just as long as the list of things we do know.

  • Program change? Send/receive?
  • Sampling machines? What will they look like, what limitations will they have?
  • We know the playback of samples is mono but will there be a stereo source input for the stereo inputs (using it as a stereo input FX processor)?
  • What do the MIDI machines look like / how many parameter’s will we be able to automate per MIDI machine? Will we be able to automate program change?
  • There doesn’t appear to be a kit structure like other Elektrons, how is that different?
  • Will sample slice length be the same as Rytm or OT, or something new all together?
  • How will the reverb and delay sound? More like OT or more like Rytm/A4?
  • Will the digital distortion that Cenk mentioned as a “maybe” be added?

I could go on.
Many of these details will sway a purchase. And all remain to be seen.

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I mean, and this may be unfair, this was the first time when I felt the Elektron guys were having to act it up a bit in terms of their excitement over the product. Cenk claiming this is ‘the box he always wanted’ seems a bit far-fetched to me.

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Assume all those to be true/at the positive end of each variable and I still can’t GAS for it. But on the flip side, I can’t blame Elektron for wanting to expand their market share - I’ve seen a few guitarists looking at the Analog Drive and saying things like ‘This seems cool, but who are Elektron?’. I’m not down on the idea of the Digitakt, I just feel it may be a bit redundant to established Elektron users - doesn’t make it useless or anything, I’m sure it will find its home and I hope it does very well.

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Mutual exclusivity.

Back on topic… comparing something which is fully known to something which is not can be an exercise in futility.

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