You can have 16 Samples play at a time, if you just assign them to the 16 “pads”. You can chance the samples on those pads from as many Samples as you can fit on the SD Card.
If you prepare them well, you might be able to load way way more per pad, as they are multi-sample ready.
So its 8 Samples simultaneous and in direct access, because instantly trigger able on the OT with 128 in the Samplelist to change those 8 tracks vs 16 Samples on the Blackbox with “unlimited” to load form the SD Card.
I think you won’t have 80 play at a time.
In preparation of the gig, you prepare the pads with the first samples you need. As soon as you fade one out, that you don’t need anymore, you load a different sample to that track be choosing it from the SD card. As Samples are streamed from the SD Card, they don’t have to be loaded. They are ready to go as soon as you select them.
You keep mentioning that the Blackbox is “unlimited” because it can stream from SD.
How is this any different from the Octatrack? (I don’t own a blackbox btw)
Octatrack can stream files up to 2GB from the memory card.
When it comes to loading files, it seems to me the Octatrack has the advantage because you can prepare 128 short +128 long samples in two lists, as well as swap any of those out with files on the memory card.
On the blackbox you are limited to 16 before you have to go browsing through the SD if I understand correctly. Using multisamples would only make this more complex.
There is still a hard limit of 80 samples per project vs 128 flex + 128 static in the Octatrack.
The Blackbox only trumps the Octatrack when it comes to polyphony(24 voices vs. 8) and playing samples chromatically. The swapping out samples part can be done by any machine that streams or loads samples from a memory card.
The Blackbox is a lot cheaper though, and the MIDI mapping and USB host are a nice touch.
But it arguably needs to be pared with a controller because of the touch screen and the low amount of physical controls.
O ok! Yes that makes sense! I wouldn’t play 80 at a time, and to be able to “load” new samples without there being a glitch or a hard stop because they are already on the SD card is great. Now all I need to figure out is the midi mapping to volume for the samples, that’s awesome!
I mentioned that Blackbox once because it’s setup is way more easy than creating tons of scenes for the different combinations and as she only wants to play samples, all the other stuff you get with the OT and makes it that powerful but also complicated, won’t be needed. After that I am only answering questions.
I own the OT currently but not the BB currently, but I am able to question wanting to do everything with it just because it is somehow possible
Midi mapping is kind of midi learn. You go to the tracks volume, Klick something (don’t know newest firmware) and then move the fader or knob that you want to use for it. bb assigns the CC of the fader/knob to the volume for you.
That works on a lot of parameters that way (but again, they enhanced the BB a lot over the last months. Manual was quite good and tons of videos on YouTube.
@fuzzylogic do you have experience with Ableton Live Session View clips? That’s comparable to how you can use the 16 pads of Blackbox; hitting them to make them start play, with the ability to loop, etc.
@Uija
I agree that the Octatrack is maybe a bit much for the request.
I also agree the Blackbox seems a bit more easy to set up, but I think you make the Octatrack seem a bit more complicated than it is.
I only have the Octatrack for a couple months now and haven’t even used it that much, but I know that you can easily set up a single pattern with 8 free running tracks.
No need for tons of scenes, just 8 static machines and a list with all the samples.
Maybe I understood the requirements wrong, but she wants to fade between different samples. Have 3 play, fade one out for another, than fade a different track out and add a forth etc. with 8 tracks and every possible combination that should be more scenes than the OT provides. So with the OT she would have to use a controller too to get that running.
Oh, and I neither want to bash anything or promote anything, I just wanted to help to reach what she wanted and showed up options. No need to start a fight about samplers here. I really don’t care personally what device the one it, that someone uses! I just think that, as much as I love my OT, it’s not for everything even if it could. (It’s hard enough to put nails into walls, but maybe you should use a hammer :))
I wanted to make clear that it can be done with just two scenes and a single pattern.
No need to overcomplicate things.
I’m just trying to make sure the information offered is correct so people can make an informed choice, whether that involves the Octatrack, the Blackbox or an MPC.
It’s not my intention to start a fight , I’m sorry if it came across like that.
I personally wouldn’t want to menu dive on the OT for switching samples in the Static/Flex slots during a performance.
Is that process similar on Blackbox? Or easier/different? (Is it easy to switch kits? Would all running sounds stop when switching kits)
It’s funny how I have no skin in this game but still feel like figuring it out. Maybe I do secretly dream of a BB as a way easier way to play/record loops than OT.
Regarding the OP, it seems definitely like a lot of tracks being ready to be fired at the same time. I would honestly just use an iPad and eventually a controller like a LaunchPad. I don’t know any hardware with 50+ tracks.
You might want to check out the Akai Force. It has 64 pads and they added disk streaming I believe plus it does have a Crossfader and Microphone preamps. I don’t know if it can do what you want or if what you’re thinking of is even possible in general but it’s probably not a bad idea to check it out at the very least.
With sample chains, you could have access to 512 samples without ever touching the sample slots, although you couldn’t crossfade between two samples stored in the same chain. With that AND swapping in different chains from the sample slots and you have 8192 static samples available.
There are a lot of old threads about sample chains on here, I’m not sure which one is the most helpful.
The best way to organize the samples into chains and achieve the crossfades would depend on how youlike to work, and it’s not something I really do with mine so I don’t have much advice on that. I think I would use plays-free tracks (so that you can manually start and stop samples playing directly from the pads) and use long attack and release times, so say track 1 is playing and you want to crossfade to a sample on track 2 (which isn’t playing) you could press trig 1 and trig 2 at the same time, which woul stop track 1 and start track 2, with the attack and release times creating the crossfade. Again, not really what I do with my OT so maybe it’s not the best way in practice but it makes sense to me. Organize your samples into chains into groups of sounds that don’t need normally need to overlap (obviously that would completely depend on your music), and you could still load the same chain into two machines if you needed to overlap two sounds from the same chain. Use the STRT parameter to manually select a sample in the current chain.
Treating the OT as two four-track “decks” with scenes to crossfade between them, like described earlier, should work well with this, too.
Sort of like DJing vinyl (in the raidio/club DJ/selector sense, no the turntablism sense), where your 128 static slots are records and each record has 64 different cuts you could play (slices).
, I’m sorry if it came across like that.