Correct. You hold down a step and twiddle the knob just like on elektron. But you must have motion record on, AND you need to have a reset lock after your first step lock. Yes you can sequence it from OT. Very easy if you are familiar with the OT midi sequencer.
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It’s also great for layering since the channel insert effects offer a lot of scope for compression, drive, filtering, and EQ. Not as extensive as in a DAW, but much more options than in something like the Rytm.
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I often pair mine with a Digitakt… great combo. TR-8S for drums impro, Digitakt for more prepared grooves.
the tape delay is great… sometimes I just push the feedback to the max and the unit starts making drones on its own.
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One of the things I really appreciate is that for velocity / accent you don’t need to have the “reset” step, it just saves separate velocity for every trig as a matter of course. And you can enter it by holding the trig and turning the Accent knob. It’s so fast.
I’ll raise you an AR track:
This is not the hardest I’ve been squeezing out of my AR but I don’t have good recordings of those. No other synths than AR used. There’s some external fx: AH filtered reverb & delay.
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Rytm or TR-8S would both work very well for this. I find the flow of the Rytm to be preferable to the TR-8S (though for just X0X drums I really like the simplicity of the TR-8). If you’re used to using Elektron gear, and pairing this with the Octatrack, then it may make more sense to go with the Rytm for consistency of the process. That said, a TR-8 with some effects would be super fast and easy to work with.
So, that probably doesn’t help much. If it was me, I’d probably stay Elektron. I’m using just a Rytm right now, with no other gear. (I’ve designed and started building a new analog modular to go with it, but it’s only partially done right now.) You could probably do everything you want to do on JUST the Rytm honestly for this style of music.
Another option might be a Tempest or Alpha Base, (though these are obviously a lot more expensive).
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This is really nice. Is the ‘rumble bass’ from the tr8s?
I would love to be able to jam like this but with a smaller setup
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Cool! I like Ansome.
That s an AR right there. And is that a TR8 on top of the modular? Doesnt help you choose I guess 
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I don t hear the need for a lot of post processing drums there (unless starting with a dry 909). Any device with built in distortion and fx can get into that territory. It wouldn t be hard to get this with an AR. (Sounds like i m fanboying but i just dont know the TR8 so can t comment on it.)
Love that vid, but too bad Ansome doesn’t mess with Elektron anymore.
yes… this one took a fair amount of tweaking and resampling for that “cabinet” sound
Lost between tons of euro modules, there’s a toraiz there… won’t help you much either ^^
Years ago, he used to have a tempest…
Anything goes really.
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Nice:)
There comes a point where it really doesnt matter which machine you choose. So long as you connect with it enough to want to play it more, and explore its capability, and make music you like with it.
I do like the sound of the AR, but the interface just didnt grab me. I am totally happy with my TR8S, love it!
Hopefully this thread is helping the OP, some good comments in here.
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How easy is it to dial in your sounds on the tr8s? Is it done via the little screen?
Yes and no. Every channel has a dedicated pitch and decay knob, plus a control knob. The parameter for the control knob is selected by pressing ctrl. Deeper parameters are found in the instrument edit menu. To be honest, I didnt find it any more laborious than the page hopping we do on Elektrons. You just have different menu buttons instead of page buttons.
Pattern edit.
Kit edit.
Instrument edit.
There is also the utility menu for some really deep stuff.
So the way I work is design my sounds, assign control knob parameters. Then save the kit, after that, the front panel controls give you immediate access to every voice concurrently, plus immediate access to basic fx parameters. Elektrons cannot do that.
Sure the screen is smaller, but the AR screen isnt exactly enormous.
It took me a little while to learn my way round the TR8S, but nothing compared to Octatrack 
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Thanks. All these glowing endorsements and given that it’s less than the half price of an AR, the tr8s has taken the lead…
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Yep. I had the same conclusions. I think TR8S has two workflows. 1) Design your sounds. This involves some menu diving, just like elektrons. 2) Playing! There is no menu diving here.
Happy hunting mate, enjoy what ever machine you choose. 
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Mine has a state that is continuously morphing. No pattern or kit is fixed. The memory just changes as I’m playing it. It turns it into a great improvisation machine. Speaking of improvisation, it has quite a unique feature: you can program a pattern while another is running. So basically you can just start with empty patterns and build your rythms and breaks as you go.
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