I stand corrected. Keep the pickups 
sounds like it’s time to get a friend over, bust out the Foria and recline to some lush pickup machinescapes… nice work
You are misreading these posts. We love the OT too, but it’s not blind love, it’s tough love.[/quote]
I didn’t misread anything.
Unfortunately for you and a few others, Elektron have their own vision and project plans. As it is now, the Octatrack kicks ass and takes names.
Maybe you should have bought a looper machine to compliment your OT-instead of getting another OT-just sayin…
[/quote]
The looper part doesn’t bother me.
The problems using it as a slave does (especially if you own 2 or 3 OTs, they all can’t be a master).
The sampling and LFOs don’t bother me.
The incomplete MIDI control does.
I appreciate that Elektron has their own vision and project plans.
I don’t appreciate them being absolutely silent on any further Octatrack development. Once the Analog line and Overbridge came into existence, there has been silence on the Octatrack front. Elektron personnel clearly read these forums and see how many people have asked for a simple status/update on the OT’s future. Since Elektron has chosen to be silent, that in of itself is an answer.
Probably what I should really do is just spend less time reading and responding on forums and more time with the gear.
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i wonder why… it seems like an awful lot of people seem to need to return their black boxes for warranty jobs lately… wtf? i mean, how many dudes you know had to roll like this? not many? if any?
its not personal guy, just a question… i think i need to use the warranty repair service too… looks like its not just me. octa is well built, not as sure about the a4… its another topic, forget it dont get down… maybe try listen to scribe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hyD2yAZFwE
fair enough, stuff breaks. i gotta say that i’m probably used to my vintage equipment being reliable to a point. but its like 30-40 years old now so im expecting that to be an issue… not hanging on you or elektron - you took my cryptic post the wrong way, too hard sorry for being unclear.
i meant to literally ask you what went wrong with your OT.
the 3 year warranty rocks and elektron have always been ultra responsive to any issues i have had, including warranty repairs and otherwise, ive bought 9 elektron machines over the last 12 years so i want to compare the revisions and durability of the different design phases. thats all to me, the silver boxes are probably the most durable so far. its another thread
The two different layers of mandolin and the vocals were all recorded with pickup machines (field recordings and some effects added with the OP-1) and it was fun and no hassle.
How do you manage clicks at the end of the takes? I’ve tried all kinds of FIN FOUT amounts, and also fixed-length recording at 32 and 31 (because supposedly the fades add fractions of a step to the take), but I always get a nasty click at the end. It’s even visible in the sample editor.I can cut it out, but that’s a total hassle.
Anyone?
I still havent dived into tapr madnedd on the OP-1. So impossible to get rid of clicks huh? That sucks. I spose something like rx2 or something will clean it up though
I can totally dig a bit of scratches and dust but these m—e-f—ers are LOUD. I never get this with manual recording.
Have to say, these are massive subaquatic drones. Wouldn’t be as bad with more transient material.
The OP-1 is apparently a no-fades no-snap type experience, so for continuous audio you’d have the same deal.
that scribe track is cool… hiphop not being my thing, i still enjoy that … AAANNDDD
the avatar pic is the same (cat inversed color BW) like from another user in this forum… is that the same person?
There are three ways to deal with the clicks in the OT I know of:
-
in the recording menu: setting fade in and fade out amount to the lowest value
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in the amp page: decreasing hold and release amounts; sometimes dialing in the attack a bit
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in the sample editor: searching for zero crossing points by holding down FUNCTION while scrolling around with the sample start and end points.
While in production this is the method I rely on and can get rid of…almost all clicks lately…
I have to admit that the PICKUPmachine song has this noisy downpitched mandolin backround wobble with all those noise artefacts from a bad preamp and a shitty mandolin pickup and therefore obscures this technical issue by praising it…
I tend to record fixed length takes (almost always 64 steps) with the pickup machines with a rec trig on the first step and try to end my noodling within the four bars limitation.
Regarding the OP-1 I watched a nice tutorial by dj thomas white on youtube where he recommended to cut loops in the OP-1’s tape recorder by hopping from bar to bar using SHIFT+arrow keys, a method that works astonishingly well I think.
But…all things considered:
I might be click-deaf 
Click-deaf.
That’s the way to live.
Clicks are evil. They’re like the little dots in the upper right corner of the frame in 35mm movie theaters. Supposedly they would ruin the experience for machinists and overly attentive people. I never saw them. I was happy.
Thanks for the lantern. I should have been more specific. It seems like the sampling end fade isn’t consistently applied. It works when I just grab a section manually, but when I trigger the PU, it seems like the fade envelope isn’t applied, thus hard-clipping the end of the take. The fade IN always works, it’s just the end that flakes.
Maybe some more people can chime in and verify this? I find the pickup machines otherwise to be pretty useful/productive. Surprisingly so.
Note on page 52 of the manual they mention how Pickup machines use FOUT (unless that’s a typo).
manual:
FOUT applies a fade out to the recording. The value is expressed in sequencer steps. The fade out is added after the recording stops. If for example recording occurs for 16 steps and FOUT is set to 2, the total length of the sample will be 18 sequencer steps.
This parameter behaves differently for Pickup machines. In this scenario the fade out will be applied to the beginning of the captured loop.
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Aight.
Mystery solved.
For what it’s worth - just never do the takes with DIR set to REV. Seems like the end fade just doesn’t strike. Recording FWD and then reversing works. PIPO is - as we all know - broken.
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Except that I think something is still broken. You would think there would be a difference in some way between FOUT=0 and FOUT=64, but there isn’t (at least with a RLEN of 32).
On the other hand, setting FIN=32 with RLEN=32 works as expected – the input is recorded and slowly ramps up to maximum volume by the very end of the loop.
I haven’t got FOUT to do anything audible yet.
Other Pickup notes – if you record direction forward, you can later reverse (and also use PIPO) the sample and it works.
If you record with direction set to reverse, changing the direction to forward does not change it (it continues to count backwards through the steps) and PIPO creates a nice little tone when it hits 0.
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So many straw arguments here, always, it gets so boring.
I don’t want a solve-all-problems sampler.
I want the fricken sampler that they advertised when I bought it., with full implementation of the products and services described at point of sale.
Elektron is great - I’m thankful - but they’re not my mates. Some of you sound like you think they pop over and have a beer with you and a jam. They’re a commercial company.
As a commercial company, you honor your promises. You cannot advertise one thing, sell it, then not honor what it is that you have promised. Likewise, I can’t get the item and then not pay, and bring up a bunch of excuses why.
And it is an especially bad look to go forth making $$$ off new products while you neglect to honor the promises that you have made to paying customers.
People CAN find a philosophical release valve if they want. I make great stuff inside the limitations, sure. I’m a DIY guy. But people don’t HAVE to respond that way, and customer’s shouldn’t.
If you go get a burger and they F your order up, do you say “oh well, let’s go get philosophical now…”? Maybe you do, but most people don’t, and SHOULDN’T. This isn’t a crippled child or the Pope we’re buying off here. There’s no “oh well, you’ve done the best you can…” attitude to be taken.
Worst of all is the constant silence from Elektron over widespread dissatisfaction regarding the OT, from multiple sources. That is the slap in the face that really tops it all off.
They see the posts, they read the emails, they understand that they have not delivered the product that they advertised, and yet there is no display of customer care, no sense that they value the $$$ that we have spent on this product. Our $$$ allows them to do what they do and to profit from it. Without a customer, you have nothing.
@KONTARE and why I wont purchase anymore Elektron products
currently have 3 with a possible sale of 2, 1 being the box in question
if they fix the octa to my satisfaction I will re-consider my position
I’ve said it before so I’ve given voice to my concerns
its all I can do.
To me the octa has the most convoluted hierarchy possible and competes with the infamous Yam TX16W and Korg S3, both of which I’ve owned, learned to use and quickly gave up on.
When I read things like this, I wonder if I’m missing something, or if we are using the same machine. The OT was my 3rd Elektron, after the MDUW and MNM. It took me a minute to get my head around the MDUW (my first, and I found it so frustrating that I considered just quitting making music a few times), because I found the Elektron way to be convoluted, but after I got it, I found it pretty easy to learn the Mono, and thus far the OT has come to me faster than the previous two. Maybe I’m still in the afterglow and haven’t gone deep enough to be frustrated by the machine, and I know that my cumulative knowledge and a few years between EU and here have made navigating it more intuitive, but I don’t think it is any more of a head scratcher than any of my other Elektron experiences…in many ways, less so because it is so much more flexible than the silver boxes. Maybe in a few months I too will be cursing it, but so far it has been the most intuitive of all their equipment for me.
When I read things like this, I wonder if I’m missing something, or if we are using the same machine. The OT was my 3rd Elektron, after the MDUW and MNM. It took me a minute to get my head around the MDUW (my first, and I found it so frustrating that I considered just quitting making music a few times), because I found the Elektron way to be convoluted, but after I got it, I found it pretty easy to learn the Mono, and thus far the OT has come to me faster than the previous two. Maybe I’m still in the afterglow and haven’t gone deep enough to be frustrated by the machine, and I know that my cumulative knowledge and a few years between EU and here have made navigating it more intuitive, but I don’t think it is any more of a head scratcher than any of my other Elektron experiences…in many ways, less so because it is so much more flexible than the silver boxes. Maybe in a few months I too will be cursing it, but so far it has been the most intuitive of all their equipment for me.[/quote]
Think of it like you are playing that old MS Windows game Minesweeper. You can go for a long time without stepping on any mines, but if you play long enough, you will hit one (or more).
You can (and I can and others can) use the OT successfully for years without hitting a single bug. Depending on how you use it and how it is slotted in your overall gear setup, experiences may differ widely. Some people bought it to do a specific function (or two) and if it doesn’t work properly for that then they are understandably upset. Others bought it with less specific purposes (or maybe more mainstream purposes) in mind and they are very happy.
It just depends on where you are walking at the time.
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Sorry, did me and the other bad undersatisfied customers ruin your customer service relationship?
O dear. How sad for you.
It’s a good strategy that you have, to blame the dissatisfied customers while not fixing your mistakes, honoring your promises, or taking responsibility for your incomplete product.
With that kind of attitude I am sure you’ll be working for the company in no time. What a natural kind of guy! Top marks for you!
The Elektron mantra - “it’s your fault if it’s broken”
@Baddcr: RIGHT.
On the topic of the PU click bug, I have figured out what’s going on - at least rudimentarily - on a systemic level. It seems like the PU machines have a script element that writes a fade after the recording end runtime event, ie at the beginning of the heard sample. Fair enough. This is explicitly stated in the manual (thanks oldgear for pointing that out). What seems to happen is that when the pickup machine starts in reverse, the fade is written at the position of the playhead, ie the end, fading in instead of out, which creates the click.
Adding a condition to write a fade-out instead of a fade-in for PUs in reverse mode would solve it.
Sorry about the wordy and layman-esque description. I only really understood LISP as far as programming goes.
recursion > iteration
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