Digitakt vs. Octatrack

I sense the flex in you, if you choose the path of the Octatracker the wind will be on your side…
:monkey::sparkles:

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Hello…!

I want to make my digitakt more for synth duties so i need another digitakt for drums but i’m very interested in octotrack mk2.
In this case i would use it mainly for drums that i make from single drum hit samples and drum breaks. I wonder can i just simply load the samples in to the projekt and start making beat like in digitakt? Peoole say octatrack is difficult but in that kind of use is it really?
Thanks. (:

You should have no problem simply loading samples for one-shot drums and drum breaks. OT is perfect for those type of things. Plus, you are already familiar w/ Elektron so go w/ the OT if you can afford it. :thup: It can do all kinds of things besides sampling but as a sampler it can’t be beat in my opinion.

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OT doesn‘t have conditional trigs to my understanding (is this correct?), something to consider when talking drum duties as those conditional trigs allow for flexibility and variety in base patterns.

That said, I would still most def get an Octatrack to complement the digitakt (rather than two digitakts), the Octatrack to me seems like the most exciting & creatively flexible of all Elektron machines…matter of fact I‘m gonna do that myself in the near future :slight_smile:

EDIT: I should add that the Digitakt is OK for synth work but really shines for sample based rhythmical work. So maybe, if you insist on the synth+drum machine combo it may be wiser to get a dedicated synth to compliment your Digitakt rather than „abuse“ your Digitakt for synth duties (it can do it, but not as well as a synth can). The Analog Four could be better for you, or if you want cheaper and cheerful, I‘m a BIG fan of the Dreadbox boxes (in particular the NYX and Erebus are wicked).

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OT has conditional trigs :thup:

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Great thanks for clarifying, I had heard that in a YouTube video just an hour ago and was surprised by it but thought maybe that‘s a matter of some capitalist product tiering strategy :slight_smile:

Thanks guys.
I have to think more about this with time but maybe i choose octatrack anyways.
I like digitakt very mutch, it’s great for drums. It’s also amazing sample synth with 8 tracks and i want to do that more. I have another synths also(digitone example) but they cant play samples. Digitakt is great synth in the setup. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Not too hijack but figured perfect spot to ask. I saw a post on the now closed OT thread about guitar and vocals that made me second guess my soon DT purchase. What I’m looking to do is record my guitar patterns and add drums/bass/etc over them but would also be great to add vocals and what not. How well would the OT work almost like a Multitrack? Have the DN now and I’m in love with the sequencer which is why I was going for a DT. Thanks in advance.

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ot is what you want then. you can set it up as looper (which the dt can’t do) or a recorder trig on each channel and record in like a multitrack, without stopping the music. you can do longer patterns, etc.

this is a video i made doing something similar

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Oh my, vid was awesome, you killed it. So if you were to say add vocals over that loop on another track your not limited to that pattern length right?

@Kegeratorz Well i’m far from an ot expert and haven’t actually recorded directly in with a mic (i assume you would need a preamp) but you can have 16 bar loops if you do 1/4 timing. You can have way longer files if you import but don’t know if recording in. Although in my experience you can do pretty mich whatever you want in the ot if you dig in.

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Such a great surprise for TRC, OS upgrade, same OS for MkI owners. :thup:
Doesn’t make OT simpler. :slight_smile:

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It’s more like being blasted by solar flares of existential and OT related knowledge :smile: . 2nd the recommendation to check out @Open_Mike postings. He has shared a deep well of knowledge regarding looping on the OT accompanied by guitar/vocals/etc.

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Without any premade samples loaded your max time for all recordings is:
16 bits : 8m28s (508s)
24 bits : 5m39s (339s)

Your recordings aren’t limited by pattern length, sometimes you have to play with different techniques to launch them and have them fit into and work with pattern cycles, but there’s ways…

At 120bpm a 4 bar pattern cycle is 8 seconds, two cycles 16 seconds. Say you have three 8 bar loops going, that’s 48 seconds, maybe you have 3 alternate 8 bar loops as well so another 48 seconds. At 24 bit you get 339 seconds, 339-96(total of 6 8 bar loops) = 243. So you have 243 seconds or just over 4 minutes of sampling time to record a vocal pass over a progression of combinations of those loops… More loops, longer loops, slower bpm, or any preloaded samples will subtract further from this time, you’ll get more time if using 16 bit…

I use a DAW for recording purposes so I only sample vocals into OT if I want to loop or warp them. If just straight long vocal passes I’ll have the OT doing all the looping of instruments and whatnot but it and the vocals get recorded straight to DAW… I usually just use the DAW for recording only, all audio would sound the same if just going into a mixer, it just wouldn’t get recorded… You could do it in just the OT though and if you start needing more time just move loops/samples from flex machines to static and you get your ram back for more recording, the static machines stream from the cf card…

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Thanks for that detailed response, exactly what I was looking for. Been trying not to use PC but I don’t mind if only for Multitrack recording. That being said I may put the sights back to the DT and save the $600ish and time learning.

Though the OT looks amazing, especially in the video by @Stemshade. Looks like wonderful hours of getting lost in the moment. Dam these decisions!

Edit: what makes it harder is I got the green light either way last night. Even ok’d a new MKII. Any one have any luck at Musicians Friend getting a discount by calling them?

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If you really wanted to record just with OT you can make up to the full 8:28(16 bit) or 5:39(24 bit) track recordings, move each to static, and then make a final capture of the same max length by recording the OT mains once everything is moved to static. Basically getting the max record length for 8 tracks without using loops and then summing them into one recording by OT resampling the main output which would be the 8 static tracks, you can mix them and apply scenes and effects during the summing recording pass. Individual tracks could also be summed together before the main out sum is made, giving you seemingly more than 8 tracks. I have an interface and DAW and like using it for easy recording, but I think you could get pretty far with just the OT if you wanted…

Working with loops and shorter passages though you can record/play/warp everything in realtime and build tracks without ever taking time or stopping to move samples to static, etc… It’s super fun building jams from loops in realtime, and there’s realtime slice playback and a ton of awesome audio tricks you can do once your loops are in the OT as samples. You can always live play longer passages over loops that are making the groove. You can live record your sources as you go and then use the sources for different material once the intial samples are looping, layer up huge jams and then be able to break them down, build them back up, add fx, mix in warp flex remixes of any of them, and basically dj what you just recorded live a minute ago, again being able to sing or play instruments at any time over it. Eventually drop earlier elements as your adding new ones, maybe keep their flex remixes going for awhile and then drop those, and continually evolve your jam.

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Thanks. I like the digitakt too but for other uses.

And i use musicians friends almost exclusively these days. Make sure you sign up for backstage pass, it’s free and you ‘ll get back about 100 bucks on the purchase of the ot to be used after 45 days. Free money. And most things i have called in for get any coupon applied.

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Ot master, still have to circle back to my own thread about this that you were so helpful on, but then you went too far and proceeded to blow my mind up and i gave up looking too far into it. I think i’m ready now. :sweat_smile:

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Wow, thanks again for that response. You may have just destroyed my wallet.

If it is OT then I’ll have to decide used MKI or new? Could save a pile of cash but something like that feels I should have a warranty.

@Stemshade Thanks for the reply, I’ll def give MF a call and sign up the pass.

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I don’t know how much easier it is to use the OT MKII, But I have the DT and the OT MKI, and they are a great combo…It’s a lot to learn, but hey… And on the used market you could get a MKII and a DT for the price of an MKII. Maybe sell the MKI and upgrade later. Just a thought.

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