If im right in thinking i can record a perfornance from the OT into one of these.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/cymatic_audio_live_recorder_lr_16.htm
If so how do i connect and make it work with a simple workflow(sorry very newb in hardware home recording).
And out of these which one would be a great partner in a studio set up.
Ps i have Ableton 10 and intend to import from the hardware at a later date.
Thankyou
Why not record straight into ableton?
I thought there were issues with direct recording (no overbridge).
Plus i dont want to record individual tracks into Ableton.
If you’re not tracking everything out anyway why would there be any problem recording to ableton? Just record your main outs from OT and perform, save your money for something you don’t already have. Do you have an audio interface?
No.
So i just record to one track and send that to Ableton?
In all honest i want a hardware mixer anyway. I thought this was a way to kill two birds with one stone. But i can see why peeps think im overdoing it. Perhaps its just a bit of gear lust. Is there any benefits for doing it via hardware recording mode as i asked?
Looks to me like you’re over complicating things. If you dont have an audio interface and you’re looking to get things into Ableton then make that your next purchase. A simple interface is a lot less expensive than the recorder route you’re looking at. Then just record a stereo out directly into Ableton.
Cheers. If i dont have an audio interface then is there a reason not to to get a recorder/mixer?
Think of it this way: If you get an audio interface, you will have a much more powerful recorder AND mixer inside Ableton. The interface is the connection, Ableton is the rest.
Loads of reasonable priced mixers with audio interfaces built in.
After recording into a hardware recorder you’d probably still wanna export an do some mastering/post-processing in a daw anyway.
Well, the nice thing about the recorder is that it’s standalone…
Featurewise reasons to use a standalone recorder are practically nil, you might do it just because you enjoy working that way though. I recommend going the interface route and then if that doesn’t work for you then you can look into standalone recorders. Here’s a thread from a while ago about them.
Thanks. The Boss BR-80 seems hugely popular. Such a vast array of ideas could be used in conjuction with recording from the OT. FX and stereo field recorder too. And all on AA batteries. Anybody else think this is a cool partner?
Seems bad. I had Boss Micro BR. Not intuitive at all. I’d prefer a Zoom H4 PRO / H5 / H6…
My favorite recorder for Octatrack, can’t be cheaper, 8m28s recording max :
https://www.elektron.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/octatrack_top_1920_white.png
IMO a decent audio-interface, including midi could be for you, if you are finishing your work in Ableton anyway. Your cost need not be higher than 200 €. There are quite good interfaces around for little more than 100 €.
There is no need to consider or worry about Overbridge, because Octatrack doesn’t support it.
If you use a computer, which is good enough to run Ableton 10 well, there is no problem, technically speaking, to use Ableton as a multi-track-audio-recorder, which also synchronizes with the OT via midi.
If you want to go all hardware, I suggest to check out the specs carefully. Many of the examples in your link should be sufficiant, if only the quality of sound recording is considered. Many of those machines don’t have midi-synchronisation, which would be very useful to synchronize recording device and OT. I use a Tascam DP-32 myself, but it has no midi-interface or midi synchronisation capability, which makes the machine hard to use for multi-track techno-like productions. This said, I use this only as a musical scratchpad, collecting ideas, having a playback, jamming to a playback and recording the idea.
You could get something like the Zoom R16, it works as an 8-input audio interface but can also operate totally standalone and record multitrack to SD card.
+1 to audio interface. Unless you’re recording other instruments live at the same time as the Octatrack, a mixer is of absolutely no use to you. Whereas if you get a mixer, you’ll still need an interface, unless it has one built-in.
The Zoom R16. Tell me more!
I get the audio interface thing now. But i can see the benfits of a standalone. If i do quick sketche s then the Zoom products could be very useful. I dont always want to involve Ableton. Only with the final editing. But the Zoom R16 seems the best of both worlds with built in AI. So now im coming down to something like that or just a field recorder. Thanks for the input guys.
I really like mine. I don’t use it away from my studio (always plugged in as an audio interface) but I can imagine taking it to a gig, or even a band rehearsal, and getting some decent multitrack recordings easily. It has two built-in microphones that take up two tracks (but can be switched to line in if you don’t need them) so it’s possible to use it for field recording as well… but I have a H1 for that.
It also works as a DAW controller; it’s compatible with the Mackie Control preset in DAWs like Reaper.
